12 World Languages — Most Spoken Languages in the World

Here you will find in-depth information about the most spoken languages in the world. These are called world languages, global languages or international languages.

You will learn some interesting facts about the 12 world languages, how to say "hello" and "thank you" in these languages and the best ways to learn these and other languages.

THE 12 WORLD LANGUAGES:

English

Chinese

Hindi

Spanish

French

Arabic

Russian

German

Portuguese

Bengali

Urdu

Indonesian

MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES — RANKING:

Language Native Speakers Total Speakers International Use

1. English 373 Mil. 1500 Mil.

2. Chinese 929 Mil. 1100 Mil.

3. Hindi 345 Mil. 610 Mil.

4. Spanish 475 Mil. 548 Mil.

5. French 80 Mil. 310 Mil.

6. Arabic 245 Mil. 274 Mil.

7. Bengali 234 Mil. 273 Mil.

8. Portuguese 233 Mil. 264 Mil.

9. Russian 154 Mil. 258 Mil.

10. Urdu 70 Mil. 232 Mil.

11. Indonesian 44 Mil. 199 Mil.

12. German 105 Mil. 185 Mil.

Sources: Ethnologue, Berlitz, Statista, Wikipedia

WHAT IS A WORLD LANGUAGE?

The most important attribute of a world language is a large number speakers, both as a native language and as a foreign language. World languages are thus the most spoken languages in the world.

Some also see the geographic distribution of a language as critical when determining if it is indeed a world language. According to this theory, there are only 5 world languages: English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Portuguese. That is because only these languages are used as official languages in countries on different continents.

The international importance of a language is determined by how much this language is used as a lingua franca in international contacts, business, science and culture.

Since Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Indonesian are only rarely used internationally, they are generally not seen as world languages, despite their large number of speakers.