Mandarin Chinese
885 million people. This is the most spoken language in the
world and also one of the most populous country. Mandarin consists of a number
of dialects.
English
400 million people speak English. English does not have the
largest number of speakers, but it has become the language of business and
employment in more than 100 countries. This language has now become dominant
because of the economic and cultural importance of the United States.
Spanish
Spoken by 330 million people. In the United States the
number of Spaniards expected to reach 40 million by 2025. This language is the
official language of many countries in South America.
Arabic
200 million. Arabic is spoken in the Middle East. That first
appearance dates from the 7th century. It is the sacred language of Islam.
French
180 million worldwide and 72 million in Europe. It is spoken
in France, Canada (mainly Quebec), Africa, Belgium, Switzerland, Lebanon, Haiti
and other places in the world. It is the language of diplomacy internationnale.
Hindi
180 million people speak this language which is mainly
spoken in the north and central India. It is the official language of this
country since 1965.
Portuguese
175 million speakers worldwide. Mainly spoken in Brazil and
because more than half the population of South America is Brazil, this language
is the most widely spoken of the continent.
Russian
170 million people speak Russian. Russia is the largest
country in the world and its language has the most speakers in Europe. It is
also one of the official languages of the United Nations.
Bengali
168 million. It is the second most spoken language in India.
Japanese
125 million people speak this language. It has
the distinction of having names and verbs that indicate the status of the
person speaking.
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