...to be able to communicate with 95% of the adult population of the world (excluding for now those who have no language at all)
2006-10-29 18:26:55 · 19 answers · asked by Leo 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
mastering English is enough because it is understood almost all countries in the world.
2006-10-29 18:30:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 18⤊ 2⤋
Probably three. You could start with English. Then Spanish and French. Chinese (Mandarin) isn't necessary at the moment, and the Chinese are very quick to learn English, also with all the dialects it's confusing. India has over two hundred languages (not dialects), but the two official languages are Hindi and English.
2006-10-29 19:53:42 · answer #2 · answered by cymry3jones 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you knew the top 10 you could communicate with roughly 60% of the world (number in parentheses indicates primary speaker populations plus secondary speaker populations):
Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion)
English (480 million)
Spanish (320 million)
Russian (285 million)
French (265 million)
Hindi/Urdu (250 million)
Arabic (221 million)
Portuguese (188 million)
Bengali (185 million)
Japanese (133 million)
German (109 million)
If you need to communicate with the rest I would suggest a translator.
2006-10-29 18:35:54 · answer #3 · answered by monkey 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
A total of 381 languages . . . the top 8 languages cover the nearly 40% of the world, after that, it gets a little harder. . . . . 381 is no where near the 6,912 languages you would need to learn to understand the remaining 5%.
2006-10-29 18:38:01 · answer #4 · answered by Big Blair 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Up 2 u. if u wanna learn 1000 languages it's ok! ;)
2006-10-30 00:54:50 · answer #5 · answered by poe2t_indahouse 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
3 will suffice: english, chinese and spanish. if your native tongue is one of those 3 you could opt to learn a new one that's also used in some parts of the world like portugese or french.
2006-10-29 18:39:17 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
English - Used world wide
German - Used in many countries in Europe
French - Used in Europe as well as in Scandinavian countries and Canada
Italian - Used in many tourist destinations world wide
Arabic - In UAE and other Muslim counties
2006-10-29 18:38:52 · answer #7 · answered by Shaks 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There's no standarization of how many languages you need to learn...
But if i may suggest you It will be better if you can master 5 languages...
But will be best if you can master more....
2006-10-29 22:40:59 · answer #8 · answered by Quensi3 Granizewska 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chinese English Spanish and Hindu.
That covers 90%
2006-10-29 18:34:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi
2006-10-29 18:33:51 · answer #10 · answered by longliveabcdefg 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Latin would help alot since the majority of the roots of words come from latin words. Just study entymology and you will be good.
2006-10-29 18:36:12 · answer #11 · answered by Joanna C 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋