We live on a global ecosystem, and I have been thinking that I should spend time learning new spoken languages. According to a great summary by the Saint Ignatius HS titled The World’s Most Widely Spoken Languages, the top languages are in order:
After weighing six factors (number of primary speakers, number of secondary speakers, number and population of countries where used, number of major fields using the language internationally, economic power of countries using the languages, and socio-literary prestige), Weber compiled the following list of the world’s ten most influential languages:
- English
- French
- Spanish
- Russian
- Arabic
- Chinese
- German
- Japanese
- Portuguese
- Hindi/Urdu
That said, if I were to focus on three languages at first, below is what I’ve been thinking on tackling, possibly in that order:
- French
- German
- Chinese (Standard Mandarin?) or Japanese
Any suggestions with this list, and the order?
…and I always wanted to learn Latin, if I had the time. I already am fluent in Spanish, and English (US).
ceo