Here is the list of the most spoken ones in use today:
1. Mandarin
Number of native speakers: 845 million
Mandarin is a Chinese language. It’s also one of the most difficult languages to learn. Just because China is the most populated country in the world, Mandarin doesn’t necessarily make most of the people to learn it. Anyway, near a billion people do speak this language so the theory behind it is worthless!
Try saying hello in Mandarin!
“Hello” in Mandarin is “Ni hao” (Nee HaOW).
2. Spanish
Number of native speakers: 400 million
Spanish is spoken in almost every South American and Central American country, Spain, Cuba and the U.S. Most of the English speaking words are borrowed from Spanish including: tornado, bonanza, patio, quesadilla, enchilada, taco, amigo and many more!
To say “hello” in Spanish, say “Hola” (OH-la).
3. English
Number of native speakers: 375 million
English is the official language of many countries, like New Zealand, the U.S., Australia, England, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa and Canada which makes it the third most spoken language in the world! Although it is the most popular language in the world for sure!
4. Hindi
Number of native speakers: 240 million
It is the official language of India and India’s huge population makes Hindi one of the most spoken languages in the world. It’s been derived from a very ancient Indian language-Sanskrit.
To say “hello” in Hindi, say “Namaste” (Na-MAH-stay).
5. Arabic
Number of native speakers: 206 million
Arabic, one of the world’s oldest language, is spoken in the Middle East, with speakers in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. It is also the language of the Koran and so millions of Muslims in other countries speak Arabic as well.
To say “hello” in Arabic, say “Al salaam a’alaykum” (Ahlsah-LAHM ah ah-LAY-koom)
