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Emeritus Prof Christopher May
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

To give a little context to the widespread among the English that there is no need to learn a foreign language because everyone (really) speaks English (usually as a second language), here's some data on the world's most spoken languages.... which perhaps is what lies behind the arrogance of the mono-lingual English speakers?

#languages #education #politics

Graphic: Most Spoken Languages; total and % share as first language
1. English: 1.5bn - 25.5% first language
2. Mandarin: 1.2bn - 83.6%
3. Hindi: 609m - 56.7%
4. Spanish: 558m - 86.7%
5. Standard Arabic: 335m - acquired through formal education in addition to dialects 
6. French: 312m -  23.7%
7. Bengali: 284m - 85.2%
8. Portugese: 267m - 93.6%
9. Russian: 253m - 57.3%
10. Indonesian: 252m - 29.8%

for rankings 11-25 see: Visual Capitalist -  https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-most-spoken-languages-in-2025/
Graphic: Most Spoken Languages; total and % share as first language 1. English: 1.5bn - 25.5% first language 2. Mandarin: 1.2bn - 83.6% 3. Hindi: 609m - 56.7% 4. Spanish: 558m - 86.7% 5. Standard Arabic: 335m - acquired through formal education in addition to dialects 6. French: 312m - 23.7% 7. Bengali: 284m - 85.2% 8. Portugese: 267m - 93.6% 9. Russian: 253m - 57.3% 10. Indonesian: 252m - 29.8% for rankings 11-25 see: Visual Capitalist - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-most-spoken-languages-in-2025/
Graphic: Most Spoken Languages; total and % share as first language 1. English: 1.5bn - 25.5% first language 2. Mandarin: 1.2bn - 83.6% 3. Hindi: 609m - 56.7% 4. Spanish: 558m - 86.7% 5. Standard Arabic: 335m - acquired through formal education in addition to dialects 6. French: 312m - 23.7% 7. Bengali: 284m - 85.2% 8. Portugese: 267m - 93.6% 9. Russian: 253m - 57.3% 10. Indonesian: 252m - 29.8% for rankings 11-25 see: Visual Capitalist - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-most-spoken-languages-in-2025/
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