When the world talks about science, culture, economy or politics, it speaks English. English speakers do not need a second language at all. So, when the first language is enough, what would be the second language? English-speaking people can look for luxury: culture and language richness. In this article, I will assess the usefulness of the world's major languages for English-speaking users based on three different criteria:
- population: Opportunities to actively use the language: the number of local and second-language speakers, and the opportunity to interact with them in this language: as a universal language. This is not just a matter of numbers. Mandarin is by far the most commonly used language, but it is concentrated in one country, China, which reduces the impact. In Hindi, well-educated people are likely to speak English, thus greatly reducing the chances of talking to Hindi speakers.
- Personal impact: This subjective standard focuses on the impact on learners. How does this language learning improve the learner's own complexity of the language, whether English or other languages, third language? How does this language make learners a higher cultural literate?
- Business factors: How will this language open up new business and business opportunities?
Standard I. Demographics: I started with demographics because this is the first standard that comes to mind in such a discussion. However, this factor only accounts for 40% of the rating, and when people see the table below, some of the items here, such as Italian, Swahili and Turkish, will only become understandable.
- Spain: approximately. 350 million native speakers have many second language speakers in the Americas, North Africa and elsewhere. It is the official language of about 20 countries. [6 points]. It is an important lingua franca in the Western Hemisphere and the Mediterranean [3 points]. [Total: 9 points].
- France: Although the basic language of French is relatively small, at 130 million, French has an important position in the international arena, with a large second-language population around the world and an official language status in more than 25 countries. It is the working language of many international organizations [4 points]. It is also the most recognized lingua franca after English. [4 points]. [Total: 8 points].
- Arab: It is difficult to quantify Arabic speakers. Modern standard Arabic is the second dialect of 250 million people around the world, but it is completely different from the spoken Arabic of the official 20 countries. It is the official language of the United Nations and many international organizations. It is also the language of Islam. [4.5 points]. Arabic is a major lingua franca. [2 minutes]. [Total: 6.5 points].
- Russian: For the native language population, it is estimated to be 185 million, which is the second language of all countries of the former Soviet Union [3 points]. Russia spent most of the twentieth century ensuring its status as the lingua franca of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and it continues to serve in this capacity and serve in an extremely reduced manner. [2 minutes]. [Total: 5 points].
- Mandarin: It is the mother tongue of 875 million people, however, they are concentrated in one country, China. It is the second language of the Chinese community in other parts of China, Taiwan and the world. It has almost no currency outside the racial boundaries and is only used as a lingua franca in this context. [Total: 3 points].
- German: It has an appointment. There are 120 million locals and many second language people in Europe. [2 minutes]. After the catastrophic history of the last century, it has achieved moderate success and re-emerged as the lingua franca of Central Europe. However, this role was adopted by Russian and English during this period [1 point]. [Total: 3 points].
- Stan: It includes Urdu on one end and Hindi on the other, about 185 million Indians in India and 50 million in Pakistan. This is the second language of another 180 million people in this country. Outside of this background, it does not become a universal language, as this purpose is provided in English. The South African Dravidian speaker is reluctant to adopt it, which is also disturbing. [Total: 2.5 points].
- Swahili: It is used by 5 million people locally, and another 50 million is the second language of the East African coast. It is the official language of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania [1 point]. Swahili is a recognized lingua franca in the field, achieving a near-neutral "tribal" status on a politically governmental continent, but for transactions with the world, it is usually Arabic, English and French [1.5]. Points] are eclipsed. [Total: 2.5 points].
- Portuguese: About 190 million people are the official languages of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola and other countries. It has not become a widely used lingua franca. [Total: 2 points].
- Turkey: Turkey and Cyprus have a population of 70 million [1 point]. It provided another common language through the Turkic Central Asian region, replacing the more strange Russian [1 point]. [Total: 2 points].
- Japan: It is used by 125 million people in Japan, but there is almost no currency as a second language or lingua franca. [Total: 1 point].
- Italy: It is used by 60 million people in Italy and is the official language of the Vatican. It has little meaning as a second or general language. [1 point].
Standard II: Personal Impact: This is a major consideration for English speakers. It has a rating of 40%. How to learn this language helps to understand English? How does the knowledge of this language open a portal for other related languages? For the first question, the Latin language has a clear advantage, because prestige, the learned English form is composed of Latin words. The second question supports languages that are considered the main language, especially language families, which may be located around the world.
- France: It occupies a special place in the Latin language because it is the main conduit for Latin vocabulary used in English for the past millennium. A total of 30% of English words come from French, [6 points]. In terms of culture, France's central position in European civilization cannot be underestimated, adding 6 points. [Total: 12 points]
- Spain: This Latin has a profound impact on American English. In turn, it is influenced by the Arabic and pre-Colombian American languages, giving them a deeper understanding of these languages. [4 points]. Western culture continues to move toward the forefront of Western civilization, and ironically, it is often sponsored by its largest competitor, North American English [4 points]. [Total: 8 points].
- Italy: It is a direct descendant of Latin. Therefore, the understanding of Italian gives learners a very clear understanding of classical languages. Similarly, it is a central romantic language, and when the first one learns Italian, the study of the second or third romantic language is greatly promoted. [4 points]. The Italians also opened up a cultural knowledge store dating back two thousand years and represented the Roman Empire, the Catholic tradition and the Italian Renaissance, which are the highest achievements of European civilization. [4 points]. [Total: 8 points].
- German: The language of an English user is very significant. German clearly introduces the roots of Germanic language and the syntactic and grammatical logic of basic English. As the main Germanic language, it can also be seen as a gateway to other Germanic languages, such as Dutch and Yiddish. [4 points]. German culture is also greatly appreciated in Western culture, and its philosophers and artists are also key figures. [2 minutes]. [Total: 6 points].
- Arab: Although the direct linguistic influence of Arabic studies may be difficult to identify for English speakers, the benefits of Arabic in other language studies are high. Arabic has greatly influenced other languages in the Middle East and the Muslim world in terms of religion, politics and social life. In addition, the study of Arabic letters has opened the way for many other languages, such as Persian, Urdu, Kurdish, etc. [3 points]. Arab culture has had a major impact on Western civilization, but in the English world it is still unknown. An understanding of language can also lead to a better understanding of Islam. [2 minutes]. [Total: 5 points].
- Stan: In its Hindi form, it is a window that tells the origins of the larger Indo-European language and Sanskrit vocabulary. As Urdu, it is an important introduction to many Persian and Arabic terms. Urdu also uses Arabic scripts in Persian form, opening the way for broader research. It is the starting point for studying other languages in the subcontinent, which is a language-rich region. [3 points]. India's rich culture is becoming more and more familiar in the English-speaking world, thanks in large part to India's ability to display its image in English. However, Hindustani and Hindi culture are also spread through the Bollywood film industry. Pakistan has not yet felt its existence, but the potential is there. [2 minutes]. [Total: 5 points].
- Russian: Given its geographical isolation, it has not had a major impact in the West. However, it is the main language of Slavic language, thus opening the way to many other Eastern European languages. In addition, the Cyrillic alphabet is a huge asset for reading many of these languages. [2 minutes]. Russia is high...
Orignal From: English speakers 12 most useful second languages
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