Which is the most widely spoken language of world ?

Question

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html

Answer 1

1. Chinese Mandarin: Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, S. Africa, Taiwan, Thailand.

2. English: Australia, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Guyana, India, Ireland, Israel, Lesotho, Liberia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, S. Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Tonga, U.K., U.S., Vanuatu, Zimbabwe, many Caribbean states.

3. Spanish: Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Rep., Ecuador, El Salvador, Eq. Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Togo, Tunisia, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Answer 2

This question is a very interesting one that has a rather complicated answer. Estimates of how many people speak a language are quite general and can vary considerably. For example, English estimates vary from 275 to 450 million, Spanish from 150 to over 300 million, Hindi from 150 to 350 million, and Russian from 150 to 180 million.

To further complicate matters, the definition of “speaker” can be vague. Some surveys of languages give information on native speakers only. Others count both native speakers and secondary speakers (those who use the language regularly or primarily even though it is not their native language).

Lastly, it is important to consider not only the population (number) of language speakers, but also the geographic distribution of these languages. Some languages have relatively large populations of native speakers but are used almost exclusively in a few countries. On the other hand, other languages have relatively small populations of native speakers but are used in many different countries as an official or national language.

The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population:
(number of native speakers in parentheses)

1. Chinese* (937,132,000)
2. Spanish (332,000,000)
3. English (322,000,000)
4. Bengali (189,000,000)
5. Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)
6. Arabic* (174,950,000)
7. Portuguese (170,000,000)
8. Russian (170,000,000)
9. Japanese (125,000,000)
10. German (98,000,000)
11. French* (79,572,000)

Answer 3

Numbers speaking -- Mandarin Chinese. It's the "national" language of China, and millions of overseas Chinese speak it around the world. So all the English speakers everywhere can't beat the 1 billion plus people of China.

BUT, English is the most widely used for commerce. It's the most important so-called "international language." It's spoken by the most different people in different countries, making it more useful to learn than Mandarin Chinese.

Not like you have that problem, since it seems you already seem to be a native English speaker. :)

Answer 4

Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World
Language Approx. number of speakers
1. Chinese (Mandarin) 1,075,000,000
2. English 514,000,000
3. Hindustani (1) 496,000,000
4. Spanish 425,000,000
5. Russian 275,000,000
6. Arabic 256,000,000
7. Bengali 215,000,000
8. Portuguese 194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian 176,000,000
10. French 129,000,000

Answer 5

I think that it is the Chinese, co'z they have the largest population, and according to what i have had researched it is said that Chinese is also spoken by a large number of emigrants throughout Southeast Asia, North and South America, and the Hawaiian Islands, making it the most widely spoken language in the world.

Answer 6

English is the most widely used language, but it's not the most common first language. That would be Chinese. More people know and use English than any other language. More people know Chinese as their first language than any other.

Answer 7

Most definitely Mandarin Chinese. Over 1/4 of the world's population speak it as their first language.

Answer 8

I think that's probably English. And Chinese (Mandarin) is the language spoken by the most people, but that's because there are soo much Chinese people. Spanish is also a language spoken by a lot of people.

Answer 9

English

Answer 10

I honestly thought it would be Spanish. But I was told by a Foreign Language instructor that the most widely spoken language is French.