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Is English the Nr.1 Language in the World?

If America is the new Rome, English is the new Latin. It's the global lingua franca, our shared language of science, politics and commerce, but is English the most popular language in the world? Nope!

According to several sources, but primarily based on the CIA World Fact Book, English is only third in line for that accolade. Here are the ten most popular languages spoken worldwide, along with the approximate number of primary users of that language:

1. Mandarin Chinese - 882 million
2. Spanish - 325 million
3. English - 312-380 million
4. Arabic - 206-422 million
5. Hindi - 181 million
6. Portuguese - 178 million
7. Bengali - 173 million
8. Russian - 146 million
9. Japanese - 128 million
10. German - 96 million

It is not surprising to find out that English is, however, the most popular Internet language, accounting for 83% of Internet language usage; with the Chinese language and the Arabic language having large growth rates for the most popular languages on the Internet. Here is a complete list based on Internet world statistics (millions of users) for the most popular languages on the Internet:

1. English - 380
2. Chinese - 185
3. Spanish - 113
4. Japanese - 88
5. French - 64
6. German - 62
7. Portuguese - 51
8. Arabic - 46
9. Korean - 34
10. Italian - 33

Are these statistics surprising to you? What do you think about it? Perhaps this post will convince the AR Gods to hurry up and go International. EVERYONE speaks English! At least on the Internet they do!

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Posted by Myrtle Beach Real Estate by Mirela Monte on 12/15/2008 10:37 PM

Comments (22)

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Originally posted at: Myrtle Beach Real Estate by Mirela : Is English the Nr.1 Language in the World?

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22 Comments on Is English the Nr.1 Language in the World?

DEC

You would probably enjoy the television series, "The Story of English" as well as the book "The adventure of English." They are both among my all time favorites on this topic.

I am having such a hard time posting this to 5 groups. HELP!!!

That's amazing...Chinese is #1. I would have guessed ENGLISH!

I'm not surprised by Mandarin being number one I mean look at the size of the population. I figued that Arabic would be higher on the list.

Does anyone know the trick to get our blogs posted to the various groups? There seems to be a glitch in the system today and I've had a very hard time posting my blogs to groups. I keep telling the blog to populate the various groups and I can't get it to work! Maybe 12th time is a charm...

Some very interesting facts...I would have guessed English too.

I give up!

...for now...

I've attempted to introduce this to my groups and twenty+ attempts later... still no cigar!

Mirela, interesting data. I always like these lists and trivia. Incidentally I knew the Mandarin. Interesting also is that French is used as the second language for the Olympics, even though it is not even in the top 10.

It takes a lot for me to give up, but it looks like this wonderful blog will not find its way to the rightful groups tonight. If I reveal how many attempts I've made to post it to my groups you'll start calling me "dog with a bone" just like my agents do (30+ attempts so far).

Bo: Yes, and don't forget, it's also used in the fanciest restaurants, the fashion world and in all the chic entourages... It is amazing how much influence Louis the XIV, the Sun King, has had on our culture...

But then again, ruling one of the most powerful countries in the world (at that time) for 72 years tends to confer certain privileges not usually accorded other leaders...

Jim: You're partially right - it is the number one language on the Internet!

On that first list I find it interesting that French is so low on the totem pole.

DEC

Hallelujah!

43-rd time is a charm; I finally succeeded in loading this up to my groups!

I don't know why I can't ever give up!

I planned on writing the sister blog to this one, but all the effort to upload this to my groups has eaten up the time allotment.

The next language post is quite delicious indeed and you will love the useful information I will give you! Stay tuned!

Morning Mirela,

Interesting statstics. Like others, I thought english would have been higher on the list.

As for posting to groups, I have read that there is a glitch within Rain again. If you check the outside blog box your post will not be posted within the groups. Just don't check outside blog, that may solve the problem. If not, well, I tried. Have a great day.

very interesting!

I like your graphics.

JoAnna: Come back soon, for I have more fascinating information I will be posting!

Hal: Thank you so much for trying to help me. I was eventually able to. I tried every combination there was: without the re-blog, without the outside blog, without all the others. Nothing worked for 42 attempts...

Chuck: Thank you so much for the tips. I'll go to www.TVShack.net

and check out that documentary. I just started reading a new book that is fascinating, called "What If?". It's quite thick - maybe close to a thousand pages, so it will be a while before I add to my reading list (at least a few weeks, because I'm still not finished with three other books that are rather boring (must reading for my health - on bio-identical hormones and the aging bodies of men and women).

Thanks a lot for the tips! I look forward to seeing the movie and reading the book!

I'm not surprised by Mandarin being number 1, but I did live in China for awhile (but Cantonese was spoken where we lived). I have heard someone else say posts weren't going to groups, so it is not just you.

AR is having trouble posting some blogs to groups. I couldn't at all for two days, but now it's working again.

I love learning more and more about history. Thanks for sharing.

Wow, those are really very interesting numbers. Good tyhing that English is so popular because I am sooooo bad with listening to other languages. I might be able to get by with reading or speaking, but I just can't get the listening thing down. I consider it a gift if people can communicate in multiple languages.

Lisa: Just because you've tried one or two languages, doesn't mean that you are bad with listening to other languages. It only means that you didn't take to the ones you've tried so far. Who knows, you might really take to another language you've not been exposed to yet...

Please read my blog for a huge opportunity to delve into 14 other languages for free:

Say That in Arabic! ...Or French, or Italian...

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