I remember how mom made me to study foreign languages. She argued her opinion by the fact that polyglots receive large wages, they are valued as employees. But it was very difficult for me to learn several languages, because I hardly learned English. I didn't want to go to another tutor. You yourself understand - school years, falling in love and childish naivety (that everything will work out for me). And my mother was right, because my profession is connected with moving and communicating with people. Know a few foreign languages it would not hurt. But in other way, it's impossible to know everything... Imagine how many dictionaries you have to buy.
How many languages are there in the world
In order to reassure my mother, I found information that there are more than six thousand different foreign languages. She laughed, but did not cancel her unloved lessons. Then I looked at the official statistics and was surprised: on the ground there are seven thousand living languages... Apart from the dialects that exist in different regions.
With development information technologies, new ways of communication, some foreign languages disappear. Scientists associate this with another factor - the extinction of carriers. Dead languages appear (which people do not speak in live communication). This is Old Russian, Ancient Greek, Latin, Church Slavonic languages.
Difficult language to learn
It's hard for me to learn a foreign language. I am an advocate of the need to constantly hear speech in order to learn it. For example, if you want to know Italian, you need to live in Italy for several months and do not stop lessons with tutor.
Not only is it difficult for me to master a foreign language. There is a ranking of the most difficult languages in the world. Rating:
- Amharic;
- Thai;
- Chinese;
- Japanese;
- Arab;
- French;
- give;
- Burmese.
Linguists have compiled this rating for a reason. The most difficult languages spoken in our world have complex grammar, calligraphy and pronunciation. If you consider yourself a person of high intelligence, try to write at least one hieroglyph. Who knows what hidden talents live inside.
Dear reader, it is quite easy for you to guess what to answer this question.
extremely difficult, because first you need to define what a language is. And there would be no difficulties if the whole world were clearly divided into languages known to all: French , Deutsch , Japanese etc. But the trouble is that there are countries where languages exist only in the form of oral speech and do not have the status of an official language. Someone once remarked: "a language is a dialect that has an army." Indeed, in modern world only the sovereignty of the state can give oral speech official language status... So, language it is: "a form of speech that is very different from others (otherwise we are dealing with dialects), incomprehensible, or only partially understood by other speakers without special study." With this wording, we avoid unnecessary political confusion.
“How many languages are there in the world? " - you ask, the reader. The answer may come as a surprise. According to various sources, the number of languages in the world is from 4000 to 6000 ... Even with a rough count, the number of them very big... However, one should not ignore the fact that languages differ in the number of speakers. If we look at the use of languages like English and Spanish then we will see what they say hundreds of millions people Worldwide... But there are also small languages that are spoken only several thousand or even hundreds of people... And even this is not a “limit”: there are languages that are spoken by only a couple of dozen people, and such languages tend to fade away, disappearing forever along with the last carrier. Keep this data in your head while you read this article. Let's look at other numbers. exists from 1000 to 1900 languages... There are more than 400 of them in Nigeria alone. Both Americas, from the north of Canada to the edge of South America, contain about 900 languages... And among this number - mainly Indian languages. The largest number native American speakers live in Central and South America... In Mexico there are about 240 languages, and in Brazil there are more than 200. If we look at other countries, we will see that, for example, in Papua New Guinea there are at least 850 within state borders, in Indonesia - 670, in India - 380, in Australia 250. There are 13 more countries, each of which speaks 100 languages.
By the way, all 6,000 languages are not a “World Babylonian Pandemonium” where chaos reigns. Most of these languages are related to each other. There are numerous classifications of the languages of the world according to several language families. So, for example, Russian refers to Indo-European language family... The establishment of family ties between languages to some extent resembles the biological classification of species in a genus, family, more broadly - classes, types, and so on.
Can you imagine this number of languages in the world?! It should be noted that literally thousands - mostly small - languages around the world "survive" due to the fact that they exist in remote areas, where there is practically no contact with outside world, excluding the media and the education system. You have never heard of many of these languages.
State borders and language boundaries often do not match at all. Turning to the startling numbers one last time, which countries are the most widely spoken languages used as official languages? English language is the official language (but this does not mean the only one in the country) in at least 45 countries, French - in 30, Spanish - in 20, Arabic - in 20. Since there are 170 officially sovereign states in the world, it turns out that more than two thirds of them speak these languages.
An amazing variety of languages in the world resembles the biological diversity of flora and fauna. But languages are disappearing at a much more alarming rate than species. Wherever minor languages remain without the support of the state and its media, education systems, they are "swallowed" by the more widespread languages, most often for the simple reason that only the dominant language finds practical use v Everyday life... This was the case with Gaelic in Ireland, which is heavily influenced by English, and Breton in France, which was "swallowed up" by French. In other words: these languages evolved due to their isolation.
Predictions show that by the end of this century, 50% to 90% of living languages may disappear from the face of the earth. To do this, just look at the atlas of endangered languages of the world, prepared by UNESCO. We need to seriously consider the threat of declining linguistic diversity.
http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/
(sch1106.mosuzedu.ru)
Which foreign language to learn, and which one is more useful?
There were more than 6,000 languages in the world at the end of the last century. According to the often expressed forecast, in the coming decades, no more than a tenth of them will remain - about 600 languages. A linguistic shift towards a few languages is under way everywhere; most of the world's languages have been preserved for several generations only in small groups of speakers, predominantly of the older generation: out of 187 Indian languages North America 149 are no longer learned by children.
World languages on Igor Garshin's website - languages.garshin.ru
teaching materials in foreign languages, addresses language schools, collections with reviews of languages and foreign literature and much more. Self-study guides, dictionaries, courses and reviews on modern, ancient and planned languages
Languages of the world (a short guide from the book: A.Yu. MUSORIN. BASES OF THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE) (www.binetti.ru)
Tutorial. (Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Book Publishing House, 2004. - 196 p.) All languages, including rare ones, are briefly described.
Languages of the World (textbook) - A.A. Tyunyaev, President of the Academy basic sciences(www.organizmica.org)
07.06.2007
The most common languages in the world - (valhalla.ulver.com)
The most popular in the world is the Indo-European family. Its languages are spoken by approximately 2 billion people. It is followed by the Sino-Tibetan (Sino-Tibetan) family - 1.2 billion people. The forty most widespread world languages are spoken by about 66% of the world's population. And this is taking into account that there are 6,703 "living" languages in total in the world today:
Generally speaking, linguists usually say that there are 5,000 to 7,000 languages in the world. No one can give a more precise figure for the simple reason that no one has the criteria to say: this is language A, and this is language B, and this is not C, as you thought, but dialect b of A In short, nobody knows how to count them, these languages. Problems exist even in Europe, well studied by linguists: Romanian vs. Moldavian, Limburgish vs. Dutch, Frisian vs. Frisian languages, etc.
Language is perhaps the most important function human body- it allows us to get food as a child, it allows us to get almost anything from what we want as adults, and it also gives us many hours of entertainment through literature, radio, music, and films. This list (in order from least common) summarizes the most important languages in use today.
10. French
Number of speakers: 129 million
Often referred to as the most romantic language in the world, French is spoken in many countries including Belgium, Canada, Rwanda, Cameroon, and Haiti. Oh yes, and in France too. We are actually very lucky that French is so popular because without it, we would be stumped with Dutch Toast, Dutch French Fries and Dutch Kissing (wow!).
To say “hello” in French, say “Bonjour” (Bon-JUR).
9. Malay-Indonesian language
Number of speakers: 159 million
Malay-Indonesian is spoken - surprise - in Malaysia and Indonesia. In fact, we will deviate from the quantity because there are many Malay dialects, the most popular of which is Indonesian. But they are all pretty much based on the same root language, making it the ninth most spoken language in the world.
Indonesia is a charming place; the nation consists of more than 13,000 islands, it is the sixth most populous country in the world. Malaysia is bordered by two major regions of Indonesia (including the island of Borneo) and is mainly known for its capital, Kuala Lumpur.
To say “hello” in Indonesian, say “Selamat pagi” (se-la-maht pa-gi).
8. Portuguese
Number of speakers: 191 million
Think of Portuguese as a small language. In the 12th century, Portugal gained independence from Spain and expanded around the world with the help of its famous explorers such as Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator. (It's good that Henry became a navigator ... could you imagine if a guy named "Prince Henry the Navigator" became a florist?) is the national language), Macau, Angola, Venezuela, and Mozambique.
To say “hello” in Portuguese, say “Bom dia” (Bom DI-a).
7. Bengali language
Number of speakers: 211 million
In Bangladesh, a country of over 120 million people, nearly everyone speaks Bengali. And because Bangladesh is actually surrounded by India (where the population is growing so fast that it feels like breathing in the air you could get pregnant), the number of Bengali speakers in the world is much higher than most people would expect.
To say “hello” in Bengali, say “Ei Je”.
6. Arabic
Number of speakers: 246 million
Arabic, one of the world's oldest languages, is spoken in the Middle East, with speakers found in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. In addition, due to the fact that Arabic is the language of the Qur'an, millions of Muslims in other countries also speak Arabic... So many people have a working knowledge of Arabic, in fact, which made it the sixth official language of the United Nations in 1974.
To say “hello” in Arabic, say “Al salaam a’alaykum” (Al sa-LAM a a-LEY-kum).
5. Russian language
Number of speakers: 277 million
Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Yakov Smirnov are among the millions of Russian speakers. Of course, we are used to thinking of them as our communist enemies. We now think of them as our communist friends. One of six languages at the UN, Russian is spoken not only in his homeland, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan and the United States (we name several places).
To say “hello” in Russian, say “Hello” (Hello).
4. Spanish
Number of speakers: 392 million
Except for all those children who study it in high school, on the Spanish is spoken in about every South American and Central American country, not to mention Spain, Cuba and the United States. There is a particular interest in the Spanish language in the United States as there are many English words borrowed from their language, including: tornado, bonanza, patio, quesadilla, enchilada, and taco grande supreme.
To say “hello” in Spanish, say “Hola” (O-LA).
3. Hindustani
Number of speakers: 497 million
Hindustani is the main language of India's crowded population, and it includes a huge number of dialects (of which Hindi is the most common). While many predict that India's population will soon outnumber China, the recognition of English in India is preventing Hindustani from being recognized as the most spoken language in the world. If you are interested in getting a little bit of Hindi, there is a very easy way: rent an Indian movie. The film industry in India is the most prosperous in the world, producing thousands of action / melodrama / musicals every year.
To say “hello” in Hindustani, say “Namaste” (Na-MA-ste).
2. English
Number of speakers: 508 million
While English does not have the majority of speakers, it is the official language of more countries than any other language. It is spoken all over the world, including New Zealand, USA, Australia, England, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa and Canada. We would tell you more about English, but you probably already feel quite comfortable in this language. Let us just tell you more about the most popular languages in the world.
Today there are a huge number of language schools offering English courses in Moscow. The courses are taught according to the latest educational methods. You study in English, without using Russian. All new words and concepts are explained by already familiar words, gestures, pictures - this makes the learning process much more interesting and interactive, and if learning is interesting, then the results will be better! All new constructions and words after learning are immediately fixed in practice, when working in pairs and mini-groups. Thus, learning English in courses is not limited to acquaintance with grammar and memorizing new words: you are learning how to communicate.
1. Mandarin Chinese
Number of speakers: over 1 billion
Surprise, surprise, the most widely spoken language on the planet is found in the most populous country on the planet. Runner-up English language is 2 to 1 in terms of the number of speakers, but that shouldn't give you any reason to think that Chinese is easy to learn. Conversational Mandarin can be very tough because each word can be pronounced in four directions (or “tones”), and beginners inevitably have trouble distinguishing one tone from another. But if over a billion people could do it, you could too. Try to say hi!
To say “hello” in Chinese, say “Ni hao”. ("Hao" is pronounced as one syllable, but the tone requires your voice to drop halfway and then rise again at the end.)
When asked what language most people in the world speak, what is your answer? Say - in English? And you will be wrong. English, of course, has been and remains the most popular language for teaching: it is studied in most language schools, and is used by residents of many countries. We have already written about how to choose the best English teacher - in short, this is really an extremely relevant and necessary language. But it is far from the only and not even the first in the ranking of the most popular languages in the world.
Are you surprised? Are you sure that it is English that is a universal means of communication - for example,? In that case, yes. And also for business, study, many areas professional activity(for example, for lawyers, about English for whom). But there are other reasons as well.
Most popular foreign languages
Let's make a reservation right away: these languages are “foreign” for us, we choose them for training as needed. But for tens and hundreds of millions of people, they are their native languages. It is this feature - how many people consider this or that language to be their native language - that is one of the main ones for determining the popularity of a language in the world. Let's put together the TOP 10 most common native languages on the planet in 2017:
Chinese 1,320 million
Hindi and Urdu 490 million people
Spanish 437 million
English 372 million
Arabic 295 million
Bengali 242 million
Portuguese 219 million
Russian 154 million
Japanese 128 million
German and Korean languages shared the honorable 10th place - they are considered native by 77 million people.
As you can see, although English entered the top five, it is far from the most widely spoken in the world according to the principle “ native language”. Like other European languages, Asians have left them far behind. It can even be said that the above rating contains the most common spoken languages in the world. Their speakers can know and use several foreign languages, but everyone knows their native language.
Native is the language a person has spoken since childhood. First and learned naturally, without special study. The language in which a person thinks. (Enguide Help)
The most popular languages of different countries
The history of mankind regularly makes its own adjustments to life ordinary people, read - native speakers of a particular language. In addition, history has little regard for geography, due to which one and the same language can be the official state, colloquial and simply the most common in completely different territories located far from each other.
The conquest of new territories and the colonial policy of Great Britain provided the English language first place in the ranking of official languages different countries... We talked about them in detail. And today we will list the most popular languages of the world, which are state ones. The rating looks like this:
Language |
In which countries is it considered official |
The total number of such countries |
English |
Great Britain, USA, India, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries (the so-called English-speaking world, or "Anglosphere") |
|
French |
France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, West and Central African countries and others (the so-called francophone countries) |
|
Arab |
country North Africa and the Middle East ( common name- the Arab world) |
|
Spanish |
Spain, Equatorial Guinea and Ibero-America (except Brazil, about it below) |
|
Portuguese |
Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and other Commonwealth countries |
|
Deutsch |
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Luxembourg |
|
Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan |
||
Italian |
Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican |
|
Malay |
Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore |
With this approach, the most popular languages have changed places, the hierarchy has changed. Please note that the list has appeared Italian language, which was not among the most common on the basis of the native language. And we are happy about that - he is very beautiful and melodic!
Most Popular Languages to Learn
Learning foreign languages in courses in a group, alone with a teacher or on your own is a responsible and difficult task. It will take more than one year for a high-quality and in-depth study of an unfamiliar language from scratch before you can freely use it in colloquial speech and correspondence. Therefore, it is not surprising that most often students of language schools choose English to study - in most situations it is he who is needed.
However, learning English as a foreign language is not at all necessary for many people on our planet. Everyone has their own reasons. For example, a business line, planned emigration, or just a passion for a particular culture. For example, we can give several good reasons for learning English and / or other common foreign languages:
English (English-speaking companies and processes) provides the largest share (approximately 29.3%) of total global GDP. In second place on this basis is the Chinese language (more than 12.5%), and its share is constantly growing.
More than half of all websites in existence use English. You may be surprised, but in second place in terms of the number of sites is Runet (about 6.7% of all sites use Russian).
Chinese is used by almost one and a half billion people. And while he is considered the most complicated language in the world. Isn't there a reason to test your strength and learn Chinese? ;)
According to some linguists and sociologists, after a relatively short time, Hindi will overtake Chinese and take the place of the language with the largest number of speakers in the world. Today the number of its speakers reaches almost half a million people.
French with its relatively modest number of speakers (“only” 150 million), it is the official language of international organizations such as the European Union, the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations.
In a word, each language is interesting in its own way and reflects the culture of the people who created it. Although only a few languages have the status of a language of world significance. In total, linguists have about 7,000 languages on Earth. So there is something to learn, good luck and inspiration!
