As the world becomes more closely connected economically and socially, the ability to communicate and understand each other has never been more important than it is today. Whether you travel, do business or study, learning another language is a must. The article presents a list of the ten most important languages that will definitely come in handy in life.
Experts advise starting to learn the language that you like or that is extremely necessary, since the most important link in mastering a new means of communication is motivation, which forces a person to study tirelessly. If you still find it difficult to make a choice, you can refer to this list.
Languages are selected according to their global significance (degree of prevalence, influence in the field of politics and economics), ease of learning and usefulness for a particular person (for example, when traveling or getting a job).
10. Portuguese
Compared to Spanish, Portuguese has a separate, distinct history, including influences from Latin and Celtic. This language is more difficult to learn than Spanish. More than 230,000,000 speakers of Portuguese consider it their first language of communication. In fact, it is the official language in ten countries. It is spoken in places as far away as Angola in Africa and East Timor in the Pacific.
9. Russian
With over 250,000,000 native speakers, Russian is the most widely spoken language geographically. Using the Cyrillic alphabet may seem a little intimidating at first, but once you become familiar with it, you will realize that it provides a good basis for understanding Slavic languages such as Ukrainian, Serbian and Bulgarian. Apart from its importance in the business world, this international communication tool boasts the largest collection of scientific and technical literature in the world, making it extremely practical for those with a thirst for knowledge.
8. Japanese
The Japanese language is important to understand. When you travel in Japan, you may be surprised to find that few road signs are written in English, and most of the population does not speak English at all. Over 120,000,000 people speak Japanese, and some consider it the most difficult language in the world. It has three intricate writing systems, levels of formality, and a structural grammar that many may find puzzling. However, those who study it find it quite funny.
7. Hindi
Along with English, Hindi is the official language of the Indian government. This is a truly rich language that has expanded its lexicon from Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Turkish and English. Although most people associate it with India, it is also the official means of communication of Fiji, as well as a regional language in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Mauritius.
6. Arabic
Arabic is official in 26 countries and has approximately 422,000,000 local and non-local speakers. It has become extremely important in the energy and security sectors, especially in Middle Eastern cities such as Dubai, UAE, Doha and Qatar. However, it contains various dialects (for example, there are large differences between Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic) and has a complex writing style.
5. German
There are many good reasons to learn German, first of all, because it is an oral language in the EU. Communication in business is carried out in German, since Germany is the economic center of Europe. While the younger generation of people in Eastern Europe more likely to study English, those who grew up under the Iron Curtain were more likely to study German. Although it has a more complex grammar compared to English, it is more logical.
4. French
After World War II French became European. It was extremely necessary for business and tourism. Today there are 110,000,000 of its speakers. In addition, 190,000,000 people speak it as a second language.
Americans who want to speak French with native speakers should visit Quebec and New Brunswick. Residents of these Canadian provinces use it as their main means of communication.
3. Spanish
About 470,000,000 people speak it as their first language, in addition to 100,000,000 people who speak it as their second language. It is the official means of communication for 20 countries. Primarily, it is distributed in South America and the Caribbean. Of course, it is also a much-needed language for Americans, who are learning it due to the growing number of Latinos in Florida, Texas and the Southwest. It should be noted that it is very easy to learn.
2. Chinese
China is set to overtake the United States as the world's largest economy. Thus, the most widespread communication tool in the world (about 955,000,000 speakers) has acquired great importance. It is an extremely complex language at first: changing the tone can change the meaning of a sentence. The grammar system is relatively simple, although writing Chinese letters is notoriously difficult.
1. English
More than 400,000,000 people speak English as their first language, and another 1.1 billion speak it as a foreign language. Simply put, it is impossible to travel or conduct business internationally without knowing this medium of communication.
A good career is unthinkable without knowledge of English. In fact, commercial pilots are required to speak it, and most diplomatic positions require it as well. Difficult spelling rules and specific grammar may present serious problem, but if you've mastered it, then it's just great.
Language is the main way of communication between people and this article presents the most popular, widespread and in demand languages of the peoples of the world.
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14. French
Even though this language is not among the ten most widespread languages in the world, in our short presentation it takes an honorable 14th place, opening our ranking. The French language, in addition to being one of the most widespread, is also one of the most beautiful languages in the world, which is very often called the language of love, just as the capital of France, the city of Paris, is called the city of love. This language is part of the Romance group of languages and has the status of an official language in 29 countries, in particular Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Monaco and, of course, France. It is one of the six official languages of the UN and is spoken in a number of African countries and former French colonies. According to some estimates, French is spoken by about 250 million people around the world, but 75 million speak it as a native language.
Many people learn French because of its beauty, others learn it because it is a fairly popular language in Europe and knowledge of such a language will be useful for work and travel. This language is not very difficult to learn as a foreign language. Of course, French will be easier for some, more difficult for others, but many agree that in terms of difficulty of learning it is somewhere between German and Spanish.
13. Korean
Korean is the native language of approximately 78 million people, is the official language of South Korea and the DPRK, and is partially spoken in China, Japan, the United States and Russia. This language is not very popular and not many people study it in other countries. However, in terms of the number of native speakers, it takes an honorable 13th place in our ranking of the most common languages on earth. Most researchers classify it as an isolated language, that is, a language that is not included in any known language family. However, some believe that the Korean language may be part of a hypothetical Altaic family. According to some linguists, the Korean language may have some degree of relatedness to the Japanese language.
Some people think Korean is easier to learn than Japanese and Chinese, but the grammar in Korean is still more difficult, in their opinion. Chinese and Japanese languages are studied mainly for romantic reasons, out of a desire to get closer to the culture of the East and learn about the centuries-old history of the region. Korean is taught mainly to earn money.
12. German
German is the most popular and in demand language in Europe after English and many people learn it not for cultural reasons or for travel, but for doing business and business negotiations. German is the official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Belgium. This language is native to 100 million people, and there are more than 120 million native speakers. The German language is part of the Germanic group, like English, but the German language is considered much more complex than English, like some other languages.
Beginners learning a language are frightened by words that are 2-3 times longer than their counterparts in other languages, many tenses, different conjugations of regular and Irregular Verbs, the presence of a definite and indefinite article, the genders of nouns not always matching. However, the German language cannot be called one of the most difficult languages of the world, since with the right approach it can be studied without any problems, like any other European language.
11. Javanese
There are so many languages in the world, but not many of our citizens even know about the existence of this language, not to mention the fact that the Javanese language is one of the most widespread. The language is spoken by about 105 million people and is spoken mainly on the Indonesian island of Java and several neighboring islands. It is the largest Austronesian language in terms of speakers. This is a fairly developed language that has a rich literary tradition with different genres of poetry and prose, and many varieties of theatrical genres. Despite the fact that almost half of the Indonesian population actively uses the Javanese language in everyday life, it, like all other existing languages in the country, does not have official status.
10. Punjabi
This language belongs to the Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-European language family and is one of the official languages of India. Punjabi is the language of the Punjabis and Jats, ethnic groups in India. The language is spoken in the eastern part of Pakistan, as well as in some parts of India. There are approximately 112 million Punjabi speakers in the world. There are approximately 105 million native speakers living in Pakistan and India. While the rest live in countries such as the UK, Canada, UAE, USA, etc. Among the features of the language, one can highlight the fact that it is a tonal language. In tonal languages, the height of a stressed syllable changes its meaning. In Punjabi, a stressed syllable can have three different pitches. For Indo-European languages This is very unusual.
9. Japanese
Ninth place in our list of the most common and popular languages in the world is occupied by another language from Asia. There are 130 million native speakers of this language. Japanese is studied mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the language is studied for doing business, since Japan is one of the strongest economies in the world. Secondly, Japan has a rich and interesting culture that attracts thousands of people and sooner or later makes them interested in the country's language. Japanese is by no means an easy language. One of the main difficulties in learning this language is the hieroglyphs, which came from Chinese, but have changed slightly over time as the language developed.
IN Japanese Almost all hieroglyphs have not one, but two or more sounds, depending on the words in which they are used. Today in Japan, about two and a half thousand hieroglyphs are the most commonly used, while in China at least 3,500 hieroglyphs are used. Japanese is a simpler language compared to Korean and Chinese, but Japanese grammar is very complex. There are no tones in Japanese, but there are two alphabets. The Hiragana alphabet is the basic alphabet, used for purely Japanese words, grammatical markings, and sentence endings. Katakana is another Japanese alphabet, it is used for words foreign origin and names.
8. Russian
Russia is one of most important countries world, occupying a vast territory inhabited by many peoples. Rich, vibrant and vibrant culture and most beautiful cities The country attracts many foreigners who are also interested in the “mighty” Russian language. There are about 160 million people for whom Russian is their native language. In total, there are about 260 million Russian speakers. Russian is the official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. This is the most common Slavic language in the world and the most widespread language in Europe in terms of the number of native speakers. Russian is one of the working languages of the UN. It is quite difficult to learn, its grammar is complex but logical. Russian can be called one of the simple “complex” languages.
Many foreigners choose French or German because they are common in Europe. People choose Russian when they want to experience Russian culture, when they have Russian friends with whom they want to speak their language, when they move to live or work in Russia. Basically, people study Russian because they like it, like, in general, any other language. You cannot learn a language through force, it must interest and attract, there must be a desire to learn it.
7. Bengali
The language of Bengalis, one of the languages of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is widespread and is the official language in Bangladesh and India. There are about 190 million people for whom it is their native language and about 260 million people who speak it. Some aspects of the language are often different in India and Bangladesh. The letter in most cases fully matches the pronunciation. The written language is based on Sanskrit and does not always take into account the changes and mergers of sounds that have occurred in the language over time. Story Bengali language dates back at least a thousand years, as evidenced by both the dating of the first literary monuments and the data of linguistic reconstruction.
6. Portuguese
Portuguese is the mother tongue of approximately 230 million people, and the total number of speakers is approximately 260 million. It is the official language in Portugal, Brazil, Angola and some other countries. Most of the native speakers live in Brazil. The Portuguese language is comparable in difficulty to learning to Spanish, French and Italian, as it is in the same group of Romance languages. There are two main varieties of the language, European Portuguese and Brazilian, as well as a number of varieties in African and Asian countries, differing from each other at the level of phonetics, vocabulary, spelling and grammar. IN African countries The European version of Portuguese is used with a large number of lexical borrowings from African languages.
5. Arabic
Arabic is spoken in 60 countries around the world, such as Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt and Libya, and is official in 26 of them. One of the working languages of the UN and belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family of languages. The number of native speakers of the language exceeds 245 million people, and the total number of people speaking it is more than 350 million. Arabic plays a great role in political and economic spheres, in the field of energy and security. This is a very popular language and people who know it will always be able to find themselves Good work. Arabic is one of the five most difficult languages in the world; there are many dialects of Arabic that differ significantly from each other.
4. Hindi
The language is one of the 23 official languages of India and is also spoken in Pakistan and Fiji. There are 260 million people who speak Hindi as their mother tongue, and the total number of Hindi speakers is approximately 400 million. At the colloquial level, Hindi is virtually indistinguishable from India's other official language, Urdu. The latter is distinguished by a large number of Arabic and Persian borrowings, as well as the fact that it uses the Arabic alphabet, while the traditional Hindi script is the Devanagari syllabary. English is one of the official languages of India, but, nevertheless, according to some sources, Hindi is quite a promising language and it can become one of the most popular languages by 2050.
3. English
The top three of our list of the most popular and widespread languages opens with English, which is the most common language for learning as a foreign language. This language is native to 350 million people, and the total number of speakers is about 1.4 billion. English is one of the working languages of the UN, the official language of Australia, New Zealand, USA, England, Canada and some other countries. English in modern world plays a huge role in many areas of life from politics and business, to culture and travel. This is explained by the colonial policy of the British Empire in the 19th century and the global influence of the United States of America at the present time.
English is also considered one of the easiest languages to learn, if not the easiest. However, this language also has its difficulties. In many countries around the world, English is taught in schools with almost no primary classes as a foreigner.
2. Spanish
In second place is a very beautiful language, which is official in Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba and most countries South America. Spanish is very similar to Italian and Portuguese, as it is in the same Romance group with them. Approximately 420 million people speak Spanish as their native language, and there are about 500 million speakers around the world. It is the most widely spoken Romance language, with 9/10 of its speakers living primarily in the Western Hemisphere. It is a fairly easy language to learn, which, in addition to the Spanish culture and beauty of the language, adds to the desire of foreigners to learn Spanish.
There are several dialects of the Spanish language, but Castilian is considered the true, original Spanish language. Castilian, Catalan, Basque and Galician dialects are common in Spain, while in South America there are five main dialect groups. The first group is used primarily in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Mexico. The second is in Peru, Chile and Ecuador. The third is in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The fourth group is the Argentine-Uruguayan-Paraguayan variant, which includes Eastern Bolivia. The fifth group is conventionally called Mountain Latin American Spanish. This language is spoken by the inhabitants of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Andes of Colombia and Venezuela, Quito (the capital of Ecuador located at an altitude of 2800 m), the Peruvian mountain range and Bolivia.
1. Chinese
The Chinese language is a collection of very different dialects, and therefore is considered by most linguists as an independent language branch, consisting of separate, although related, language and dialect groups. In fact, Chinese is made up of many other languages. But at the same time, the hieroglyphs are the same. The writing of basic characters has become much simpler since the mid-20th century, after the reform in China. The unified Chinese language is called Mandarin or simply Mandarin, which is called Putonghua in China. The Chinese language has 10 dialect groups and seven main traditional dialects.
Many people consider Chinese to be the most complex language for learning, more difficult than Japanese and Arabic. Mainly because it uses over 3,000 characters, which are noticeably more difficult to write than Japanese or Korean. The use of tones in a language also makes it difficult to learn. Despite all the difficulties of learning, Chinese remains one of the most promising and popular languages in the world. It is the mother tongue of 1.3 billion people and has more than 1.5 billion speakers. China is one of the strongest countries in many areas, one of the largest in terms of territory and the largest in population. Nowadays, the Chinese language is very popular and interesting, both for doing business and for understanding ancient culture on the planet.
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Language is perhaps the most important communicative and civilizational ability of a person - it allows us to obtain almost all the knowledge accumulated over the long history of the development of human civilization, through reading books, listening to radio, films, communicating with other people, etc. Today we have compiled a list (in order from least common to most common) of the most important and common languages used today.
10. French. Number of native speakers: 129 million.
French is considered by many to be the most in romantic language in the world, French is used in many countries, including Canada, Belgium, Cameroon, Rwanda, Haiti and of course France. We're probably really lucky that French is so popular, because without it we'd be stuck with Dutch toast, Dutch fries, and Dutch kisses (ugh!).
Saying “Hello” in French is saying “Bonjour”.
9. Malay-Indonesian. Number of native speakers: 350 million
Malay-Indonesian is spoken in Indonesia and Malaysia. There are actually many dialects of the Malay language, the most popular of which is Indonesian. But they are all largely based on the same language, making it the ninth most widely spoken language in the world. Indonesia is a charming country; The state is located on more than 13,000 islands, and is the sixth most populated country in the world. Malaysia borders two large areas Indonesia (including the island of Borneo), and is mainly known for its capital city Kuala Lumpur.
To say “Hello” in Indonesia is to say “haI” and “ Good morning- “Selamat pagi”.
8. Portuguese. Number of native speakers: 191 million
The amazing story of the Portuguese language, which could have remained the language of one country, like Swedish or Albanian. In the 12th century, Portugal gained independence from Spain and expanded its influence around the world with the help of famous explorers such as Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator. Having captured colonies all over the world, the Portuguese passed on their language to the local population. This happened in Brazil (where Portuguese is the national language), Angola, Macau, Mozambique and Venezuela.
Say “Hello” in Portuguese, say “Bom Dia”.
7. Bengali. Number of native speakers: 211 million
In Bangladesh, almost the entire population of the country (120 million people) speaks Bengali. And since Bangladesh is practically surrounded by India (where the population is growing very quickly), people in the adjacent territories also speak Bengali.
To say “Hello” in Bengali, say “Hey.”
6. Arabic. Number of native speakers: 246 million
Arabic, one of the oldest languages in the world, is spoken by almost the entire Middle East, in particular countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Moreover, since Arabic is the language of the Koran, millions of Muslims in many countries also speak Arabic. Therefore, many people in the world can speak Arabic, and in 1974, Arabic was adopted as the sixth official language of the United Nations.
Say “Hello” in Arabic, so to speak, “As-salaam Alaikum.”
5. Russian. Number of native speakers: 277 million
The Russian language is a strong and nuanced language with a long history, which has given the world famous musicians, singers, poets, artists, scientists, playwrights and prose writers. One of the six official languages of the UN, Russian is used not only in its native country, but also in Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and even in the USA.
Saying “Hello” in Russia, saying “Hello”.
If, after renovating an apartment in Moscow, you want to enjoy the cleanliness and newness of the renovated housing without unnecessary hassle, then perfect solution Such a problem is the service “cleaning apartments after renovation Moscow”.
4. Spanish. Number of native speakers: 392 million
Spanish is spoken in almost every country in Central and South America, not to mention Cuba, Spain and the southern United States. In English, there are already many borrowings from Spanish, such as tornado, bonanza, patio, quesadilla, enchilada, and also grande, etc.
Say “Hello” in Spanish, say “Hola.”
3. Hindi. Number of native speakers: 497 million
Hindi is the main language of India with a rapidly growing population. This language includes, among other things, great amount dialects (of which the most common is Hindi). Some scientists predict that India's population will soon surpass that of China. If you are interested in learning the Hindi language, then there is a very easy way learn it: take and watch an Indian film. The film industry in India is the most prolific in the world; here in Bollywood, thousands of action films, melodramas, and musicals are produced annually.
Say “Hello” in Hindi, say “Namaste”
2. English. Number of native speakers: 508 million
While not many people speak English, it is the official language of more countries than any other language in the world. This language is spoken all over the world, including the USA, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, South Africa, Canada, Australia and of course in England. Knowing English, you will easily feel at home in a hotel in any country in the world.
To say “Hello” in English say “Hai”.
1. Chinese. Number of native speakers: more than 1 billion.
Surprise, surprise! The most widely spoken language on the planet is spoken in the most populous country on the planet. And it's Chinese. It is said that learning Chinese is very difficult because every word can be expressed in four ways, and a beginner will inevitably have difficulty distinguishing one tone from another.
To say “Hello” in Chinese is to say “Ni Hao”. In this case, “Hao” is pronounced as one syllable, but the rules of the language require that you first lower your voice halfway through the word, and then raise it again at the end.
And also about her legend. It was she who said that previously all people understood each other, and the language was the same for everyone. However, this continued exactly until the moment when humanity angered God, who divided the understanding of the linguistic speech of his former comrades, forcing them to settle throughout the world, founding their own peoples with unique traditions and culture.
Whether it was true or not, today there are over 7,000 languages in the world. Of course, this figure is quite abstract, because specific dialects and many different conventions of difference between languages cannot be excluded. The most widespread language in the world always varies in time periods: in different times“linguistic” dominance was occupied by Latin, French, Spanish, Arabic, Greek and other languages. Time is running- established traditions are changing. Nowadays English is firmly rooted in the world, but can it survive long? Let's not talk about this now. The most widely spoken languages in the world in 2013 are English and Chinese, due to the economic and political dominance of the United States and China, as well as due to historical events.
World languages
Humanity has always strived for new discoveries and exploration of unknown lands, which prompted brave men like Francis Drake to undertake long journeys. paved the way for the English, Portuguese and Spanish languages to the remote corners of our planet, raising their overall rating and recognition. On this moment There are 8 languages that are “world” - English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, French, Portuguese and German. They are the ones who have greatest number carriers, the number of which is equal to 4.3 billion people, which is about 60% of general population Earth.
The most widely spoken language in the world is English, which has 1.4 billion native speakers and is also a universal language for international communication. Next to these “giants” in the linguistic environment, there is another side of the coin, which contains those doomed to complete extinction. For example, these are the languages of Udege, Itonama, Kaguila, Goundo and others, each of which is native to less than 100 people around the world. Typically, these are the languages of tribes in remote areas of Africa or South America.
The most difficult languages in the world
Now we will try to compile the TOP 5, that is, a rating of languages that are not only the hardest to learn, but even learn to at least explain a little to its native speakers. Of course, it is impossible to accurately name the most difficult language to learn, because for most people the relatedness of languages will play a huge role. For example, it will be easier for a Russian to learn Ukrainian or Belarusian than French, and for a Japanese it will not be particularly difficult to learn Chinese, but it will be difficult for him to understand Spanish and the like. However, it is possible to identify an objective point of view on the most complex languages, which will be based on many rules and generally accepted traditions. So, let's begin.
Chinese
For several reasons, this particular language took first place in our TOP. Firstly, significant difficulties arise with the hieroglyphs used in writing. Often it is difficult even for the Chinese to understand this or that symbol, not to mention foreigners. Each word is designated by its own hieroglyph, and not phonetically, which makes it impossible to know in advance the pronunciation of a particular word. The tonal system, numbering 4 tones in the language, also adds fuel to the fire. Finally, Chinese has an extremely high number of homophones, which makes learning the language much more difficult. Finally, let's say that Chinese is the most widespread language in the world in terms of the number of speakers who consider it their native language.
Arab
And another language where significant difficulties arise with writing. The fact is that some letters have 4 different spelling forms, which depends on their position in a particular word. Plus, vowels are not used in writing. Sounds are also difficult to master, and words are even more difficult. Verbs in Arabic usually come before predicates and objects. The verb also has 3 numbers, so nouns and verbs need to be studied in singular, dual and plural. There are currently 13 various forms. The noun has 3 cases and 2 genders. The list of problems of Arabic is supplemented by dialects, which differ as much between the language in Arabic-speaking countries as, for example, French and Spanish.
Tuyuka
This language is one of many spoken in Eastern Amazonia. The sound system should not cause any particular difficulties, but agglutination may shock some. For example, the word hóabãsiriga translated means “I don’t know how to write.” There are about 50-140 classes of nouns (genders) in the language, but the most amazing thing about it is that the speaker needs to use specific verb endings that can make it clear how he knows what he is saying. Let's give a small example. Diga ape-wi translates as "the boy played football", but the speaker can only say this if he himself saw it . And here Diga ape-hiyi - even if it is translated into Russian in the same way, however, in the Tuyuk language the speaker will say so if he assumes or is not exactly sure of the reliability of the information. Such endings are required in this language. Well, if you suddenly want to learn the Tuyuk language, then always first think about where you learned this or that information.
Hungarian
The most complex languages are replenished with the first European language - Hungarian. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it has 35 cases, which automatically puts the language on the list of the most difficult. In addition, Hungarian is quite difficult to pronounce, and learning the words will challenge even the most erudite.
Japanese
The last one in our TOP. Firstly, difficulties arise in writing, because it differs from pronunciation. Plus, there are 3 forms of writing. The kanji system uses Chinese characters, and two native Japanese syllabaries are used for (katakana) and for writing suffixes, as well as various grammatical particles (hiragana).
and statuses in other states
What is the most common language? If we talk about the territorial superiority of carrier countries, then English (UK + dependent territories, Australia, USA, New Zealand, Canada, India, Pakistan, Iceland, Ireland, most countries of Oceania and Africa) and Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Cuba and all countries of South America except Brazil).
If we judge by the number of speakers (who consider the language to be their native language), then the most common languages are Chinese (848 million people), Spanish (406 million people) and English (335 million people). Perhaps it will not be a secret to anyone that English is compulsory for learning in many countries of the world, including Russian-speaking ones. However, such a globalization of English could not but affect the language itself, which is why “incorrect” English with distorted words, erroneous use of tenses, and the like is more widespread around the world (except for states where it is considered official). The most widely spoken language on earth (English) also ranks first in websites (approx. 56%) and percentage of native speakers' contribution to GDP (approx. 29%). When it comes to individual language learning, people often strive to master a “beautiful” and sweet-sounding language, as you can see by looking at the results of many online surveys. These include Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. As we can see, most of the leaders belong to the Roman group. The most widely spoken language in the world, English, has repeatedly been included in the TOP 10 most beautiful languages due to its euphonious literary and mass popularization in music and cinema.
Mankind's speech skills have evolved over many centuries. There is still no reliable data that reveals the secrets of the origin of speech communications. Language statistics show that some types of speech have long disappeared, while others are actively spreading and becoming in demand.
History of origin
The role of languages in the world is very great. With their help, communication between people is carried out. Today more than 6 thousand types of speech are known. However, no one can say for sure how they appeared.
There are many theories about the origin of speech communications. Some believe that everything happened as a result of evolution. Others believe that this skill was given by God. However, existing theories do not provide comprehensive answers to the questions. For example, evolutionists cannot explain how the simplification of speech communications occurred. After all, the most ancient languages (Latin, Sanskrit) are much more complex than modern ones.
This pattern contradicts the principles of the theory biological evolution. Modern science about the languages of the world, among the various versions, the theory of gestures is most accepted. According to scientists, people constantly developed and improved the sign system. They began to use gestures, and sounds were added in the process. However, the vocabulary was not rich.
So, there are many versions - from creation by God to sudden emergence. Each of them has the right to exist. But no one knows exactly what contributed to the spread of languages in the world.
Number of media
Language statistics include 6–7 thousand types of speech. Many of them are spoken by only a small part. Scientists classify types of speech into groups according to their characteristics. The similarity of languages implies the same sound, similar words. One of the main ones is the genealogical group.
The number of languages in the world is constantly decreasing. On average, one species disappears every two weeks. As a result, the number of forgotten languages is gradually increasing. What are the statistics of languages in the world? 80% of the world's population speaks 80 languages. The rest are distributed among the remaining inhabitants of the planet.
The uneven distribution of types of speech among them threatens complete extinction. According to UNESCO, 50 types of speech are under threat in Europe alone. Globalization also contributes to the decline.
Most populous area by number of speakers different types speeches - Papua (New Guinea). Many tribes live here. Moreover, the region’s territory is smaller in area than Ukraine. About 6 million people live in Papua. Language statistics list from 800 to 1000 dialects common among tribes.
The most common
The most common are:
- Chinese– ranks first in the TOP 10, as it is used by 1.3 billion people in 35 countries. Chinese language is one of the most ancient in the world. It has 85,568 characters. It is also considered the most difficult language in the world.
- English- second most common. It is official in the UK, India, Canada, Ireland. It ranks 1st among the most popular languages in the world. It is used by about 600 million people in 106 countries. It also leads in the number of words - 490 thousand. However, a person’s vocabulary is no more than 60 thousand words. Knowledge in English in the modern world it helps many people get high-paying jobs. International business is also conducted on it.
- Hindi– takes third place. Language statistics include 490 million speakers in 4 countries.
- Spanish– the language is used in 31 countries. It is considered official in the European Union and the UN. Spanish is the most in easy language peace. It is spoken by about 437 million people.
- Arab– it is used by 290 million people in 58 countries. The Arabic language is spreading rapidly throughout the world thanks to the Quran. Until 1924, the Arabic alphabet was used in Kabardian. Today its carriers are especially in demand on. Most energy negotiations avoid this type of speech.
- Russian– the most popular in the Russian Federation and Europe. It is used by about 270 million people in 17 countries.
French is ranked 10th in the world. The number of speakers is 150 million people in 53 countries. It is also considered one of the most beautiful. From the list you can see how many languages are spoken most in the world.
Certain languages are spreading and becoming in demand in different countries peace. The main factors are political and economic influence, as well as ease of study. So they gradually become international languages peace. The graph shows what type of speech websites on the Internet use:
State standards
Among the official languages of the world, English ranks first. Official languages in other countries of the world:
The most ancient dialects
It is technically impossible to identify the most ancient of existing languages peace. They were used long before writing appeared on earth. List of the most ancient languages in the world (some are no longer used):
However, some scientists claim that the Proto-World language is the founder of other types of speech on planet earth. Many have long fallen out of use and exist only from written monuments. They are called the dead languages of the world.
Latin, although not included in this list, is also one of the most ancient. Latin language has a large number of fans in the world. They are trying to introduce methods of teaching Latin in different countries. As a result, its popularity does not decrease.
From complex to simple
Many foreign languages are easy for people. However, studying other species requires a lot of effort and time. Sometimes it may take several years. 10 most difficult types of speech:
- Basque– the dictionary contains about 500 thousand words. Due to its complexity, it was used by US cryptographers during the era.
- Navajo– it is unique in that, in addition to vowels/consonants, it has 4 more tones (high, low, rising, falling). It, as one of the most complex types of speech, was also used during.
- Tabasaran- one of the current ones state languages Dagestan. It is included in the Guinness Book of Records.
- Eskimo(Wikipedia - Eskimo. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ) - linguists do not distinguish it as such. It provides 63 present tense forms. Apparently this applies to the entire Eskimo branch.
- Chippewa- belongs to the Chippewa Indian tribes. Has 6 thousand verb forms.
- Chinese– for a person to be able to read at least a little, it is necessary to learn to draw 1500 hieroglyphs out of 85568.
- Finnish– has 15 cases and more than 100 conjugations. Verbs are also inflected like a noun. However, it is easy to pronounce.
- Kosinski– there is a threat of complete extinction. It is spoken by 370 thousand people in southern Africa.
- Abkhazian– in 1862 an alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet was created. It is also used in Turkey.
- bale– it is used by the inhabitants of the Amazon basin. Here one word sometimes means a whole phrase.
Of the union republics of the USSR, Kazakh, Armenian, Russian and Persian can be called complex.
Study statistics foreign languages in the world shows that Spanish, English, French and Italian are among the most popular languages. At the same time, after English they often study German. It is usually used in business communication. Among the studied languages of the world, Russian is also recommended.
The list of easy languages of the world also includes Turkish. One of the new types of speech was Esperanto. It was created by Warsaw ophthalmologist Lazar Markowicz in 1887.
Unusual types of speech
Gestures are among the most unusual languages in the world. They are used mainly by people who are hard of hearing. In Iceland, sign language is considered the official language. Language statistics show that there are several types of such speech. For example, American and English are very different from each other.
There are also funny languages of the world. For example, Chalkatongo-Mixtec. There is no difference between interrogative and affirmative sentences. The peculiarity of Berik (Papuan) is that when something is said, it is necessary to indicate where and when it was done. The phrase “I was in the store” in lordly would be “I was in the store after lunch.”
What place does Russian take?
Russian is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is also used as a worker - UN, UNESCO. It is included in the list of the richest languages in the world. However, not all speakers use Russian words correctly.
This language is spoken in 17 countries around the world. It is considered state for Russians, Belarusians, Kyrgyz, as well as residents of Ingushetia. In Kyrgyzstan, the language is used by about 48% of the population. Most technical terms in Ingush are borrowed from Russian. Along with the Chechen language, it is widespread in the North Caucasus. It ranks sixth in terms of the number of speakers.
What are the statistics of the Russian language in the world? There are about 270 million people who speak it. Of these, 137.5 million speakers live in Russia.
Russian is also well known in Ukraine and Latvia. Language statistics show that 92% of Ukrainians and 81.2% of Lithuanians are fluent in Russian. Interesting Facts:
- The alphabet is similar to the Latin version.
- Has a word with three letters "E" - long-necked.
- The English use the English phrase “Yellow-blue bus” to teach “I love you” in Russian.
- There are no original Russian words starting with the letter “A”.
The great importance of the Russian language in the world lies not only in its widespread use. It is also used in international relations. Great literary works make the Russian language even more popular in the world. This contributes to the spread of the culture of the Russian people.
Study methods
Which one is the best best language peace? No one can give a definite answer. Language statistics highlight only the most popular ones. One of the most popular is English.
There are also different methods to study them. You can study with a teacher or study on your own. The main thing is to practice every day. There are many that provide the necessary training materials. Audio courses are also sold to help solve pronunciation problems. And by country it will only consolidate the knowledge gained.