Listing the top-most spoken languages in the world is not an easy task, although you may guess that English, Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic are the most spoken languages. Read on to know more about the most spoken languages.
Chinese with 1.3 billion native speakers
It’s estimated that there are 1.3 billion native speakers out of which 1.1 billion speak Mandarin. Probably the most spoken native language in the world, learning to speak Mandarin can give you a great competitive edge.
Spanish with 471 million native speakers
If we purely consider native speakers, i.e., people who learned to speak the language of a place where they were born and not learned as a foreign language, Spanish edges ahead of English. If you want to communicate with a vast continental area, Spanish is the right language as it is spoken in South and Central America and Spain.
English with 370 million native speakers
In addition to 370 odd native speakers, English is also spoken as a second language by over 978 million people. For a long time, English has established itself as a language of business, travel, and international relationships across the world, hence, propelling its mass acceptance. It’s seen as a language that offers you a better standard of life.
Hindi with 342 million native speakers
Hindi is one of the most popular languages and is spoken extensively especially in Northern and Central India. As we move towards South and East India, the language loses relevance and may be spoken as a second language. Astonishingly, Hindi has given many English words to the world such as Shampoo, Bungalow, Jungle to name a few.
Arabic with 315 million native speakers
Just like Chinese, Arabic also sees a wide range of dialects used across different Middle Eastern and Northern African countries and can be grouped together as Arabic for the sake of ease. Interestingly, spoken and written Arabic languages also differ extensively in the broader region.
Portuguese with 232 million native speakers
As Portuguese traders started establishing their supremacy in Asia, America, and Africa at the start of the 15th century, the Portuguese language also spread vastly across the globe. Today, Portuguese language native speakers live in Brazil, Goa, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé, and Príncipe, and Macau.
Bengali with 229 million native speakers
This comes as a surprise, right? Spoken across West Bengal in India and Bangladesh, Bengali speakers are expected to double by the next century. Russian with 154 million native speakers and Japanese with 126 million speakers are also some widely spoken languages across the world.
