What are the 5 Most Spoken Languages in the World?

Have you ever thought about what languages are the most popular in the world?

Many people might assume that English is the most common, but actually it is estimated that 1026 million people speak Chinese as their 1st language, compared to 765 million people who speak English.

Of course there are plenty of people that speak more than one language, but when we look at the most spoken languages in the world it is important to look at what people’s 1st spoken language is.

Actually, the 5 most spoken languages in the world are:

Chinese – 1026 million people
English – 765 million people
Spanish – 466 million people
Hindi – 380 million people
Standard Arabic – 353.5 million people

Chinese – When you think about it, seeing as China is the most populated country on the planet it might not be surprising that Chinese is the most popular spoken language. In fact it is so popular that it beats English (in second place) by over 250 million people, which is pretty impressive. That said, do not be expecting Chinese to be an easy language to learn – there are lots of ways to say something that have the same meaning, which can make it a complicated language to learn.

English – English might only be in second place, but it is actually the official language in more countries than any other language. Countries that boast English as their official language include England, New Zealand, America, Australia, Canada and South Africa. However, seeing as you can read this article – you probably already know what there is to know about English.

Spanish – Spanish is still taught in many high schools across the globe but that’s not all. The language is also spoken in South America, Spain, Cuba and parts of the US. Many English speaking people find Spanish an easy language to learn because English has loads of words which have been borrowed from Spanish – tornado, taco, enchilada for example.

Hindi – Hindi is one of the main dialects of Hindustani, which is the primary language of India. It is predicted that the population of India will soon over take India, however English is a popular language in India, so it is not thought that Hindi will take over in the spoken language popularity stakes.

Arabic – Spoken in many Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Iraq etc.) Arabic is one of the oldest languages in the world – which is why it is not surprising that it makes the top 5 of the most spoken languages in the world.