The Most Spoken and Popular Languages Around the World
- U-Report
VIVA – Language is a means of communication used by people to convey messages or purposes. With the existence of language, humans can express thoughts, desires, and opinions through words.
There are many various languages ??in the world. The languages ??of several countries and even regions have different speech tones, dialects, and rhythms.
According to The Ethnologue, English is the most widely spoken language in the world in 2021. There are 1.34 billion people who speak English globally, either as a mother tongue or as a second language.
Well, here are the most popular and spoken languages ??around the world.
1. English
As already stated, English is the most popular language in the world. English is also one of the six official languages ??of the United Nations. English is the first language in many countries around the world on all continents. Also, it is spoken by nearly a billion people as a second language.
2. Mandarin
Mandarin is spoken by around 1.2 billion people. Mandarin is also one of the six official languages ??of the United Nations. There are 1200 million varieties of this language. Mandarin is popularly spoken in North and Southwest China.
This language comes from the Sino-Tibetan family. However, just because it's at the top of the list doesn't mean it's easy to learn or pronounce. It has several dialects, and each has some tones, as a result, all areas of Mandarin have different pitch values.
3. Hindi
Hindi is one of the official languages ??of India and the list of Sanskrit languages ??of Hindustan. It is spoken by millions of local Indians but bears a close resemblance to Urdu which is the native language of Pakistan.
A large number of dialects of Hindi are well known throughout India, with about 615 million people speaking Hindi.
4. Spanish
Spanish is the fourth of the most widely spoken languages globally in terms of the number of native speakers. In addition, it is the most spoken of the Romance languages, and many people on the internet use this language. Also, Spanish spoke by around 586 million people.
Its enormous colonial expansion took it not only to America but also to Africa and Asia. Due to migration, the United States is the second country with the largest number of Spanish speakers in the world.
5. Bengali
Bengali or Bangla is the native language of Bangladesh, as well as West Bengal, southern Assam, and Tripura, in India. The national anthems of Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka are all written in Bangla.
This language has a long history of evolution from Indo-Aryan dialects such as; Prakrit and Pali, developed from Sanskrit. Although the language still retains its originality, it also absorbs words from foreign languages. Some of the greatest literary works were written in Bengali, including that of Rabindranath Tagore. About 265 million people speak this language.
6. Portuguese
This Romance language of Indo-European roots is spoken by more than 270 million people. It is the official language in Brazil, Mozambique, and several other places. This language is spoken in many countries around the world.
7. Russia
This Slavic language of Indo-European origin is one of the six official languages ??recognized by the United Nations. This language is spoken by more than 258 million people.
This language is not only in practice in the Russian Federation and other constituents of the USSR but also in the Baltic states and the United States, to name just a few. In addition, many literary and cinematic masterpieces have been created in this language.
8. Urdu
Urdu is considered to be one of the sweetest languages ??in the world and is on the list of Hindustani languages. This language is spoken by more than 170 million people mainly in Pakistan and 6 states of India.
This language bears a close resemblance to Hindi and is also associated with Muslims. Urdu is a language that belongs to the Indo-European and Indo-Aryan families. Urdu poetry and songs are celebrated all over the world.
9. Indonesian
Bahasa Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world. Peculiarly, it’s not the native language of most of its speakers. Rather, it’s a second language necessary for mutual understanding in a country with more than 200 languages.
10. Japan
About 128 million people speak Japanese. Especially in the East Asian country of Japan and some other parts of the learning and speaking this language. The language is a member of the Japonic family, and its history still debated.