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

Portuguese

Bengali

German

Japanese

Korean

MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES — RANKING:

Language Native Speakers Total Speakers International Use

1. English 375 Mil. 1500 Mil.

2. Chinese 982 Mil. 1100 Mil.

3. Hindi 460 Mil. 650 Mil.

4. Spanish 330 Mil. 420 Mil.

5. French 79 Mil. 370 Mil.

6. Arabic 206 Mil. 300 Mil.

7. Russian 165 Mil. 275 Mil.

8. Portuguese 216 Mil. 235 Mil.

9. Bengali 215 Mil. 233 Mil.

10. German 105 Mil. 185 Mil.

11. Japanese 127 Mil. 128 Mil.

12. Korean 78 Mil. 78 Mil.

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, Japanese and Korean are only rarely used internationally, they are generally not seen as world languages, despite their large number of speakers.