Did you know that the combined Chinese dialects already have more native speakers than any other language in the world, followed by Hindi and Urdu, which have the same number of languages and linguistic origins in northern India? English comes next with 527 million native speakers. Arabic is spoken by nearly 100 million more native speakers than any other language. Spanish, which has 389 million speakers.

That is why it is not uncommon to ask: “Which languages will dominate the future?”. The truth is that predictions vary, especially depending on their location and purpose. However, we believe we have found some ways to address this question.

German linguistic expert Ulrich Ammon, who conducted a study over 15 years, analyzed in his book the languages with the most significant number of native speakers and the highest number of language students from all over the world. Especially for the last one as there is little original data available, Ammon does not provide exact numbers.

According to him, these are the three main languages that must be learned if you want to use the language as often as possible, anywhere in the world. However, if time is an impediment, don’t worry too much… English will continue to lead all classifications in the near future, according to Ammon.

1. Chinese:

Despite the fact that Chinese has three times as many native speakers as English, it still has not been evenly distributed throughout the world. In addition, Chinese is rarely used in the sciences and is difficult to read and write.

2. Spanish:

Spanish compensates for the lack of native speakers, in comparison to China, by being particularly popular as a second language, taught in schools around the world.

3. French:

French has lost ground in some regions and especially in Europe in recent years. decades. The French, however, could regain influence if West Africa, where it is often spoken, would become more politically and economically stable, and attractive.

In a recent U.S.-focused report, the British Council, a group of experts, identified more than 20 growth markets and their main languages. The report presents the languages spoken in the so-called BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India,
China – which are generally perceived as the largest emerging economies in the world – is the largest in the world..

Spanish and Arabic scored particularly high on this indicator. However, when taking into account the demographic trends up to 2050, as established by the United Nations, the result is very different.

Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and Indonesian will dominate much of the business world by 2050, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Russian.

If you want to get more out of your language course, study one of our language programs, probably a safe bet for your future.

Of course, demographic developments are difficult to predict. In addition, the British Council included only the current growth markets, which says little about the potential for growth of other nations that are still quite small at the present time.

In addition, Arabic and Chinese, for example, have many dialects and local versions, which could make it difficult for foreigners to communicate.

Whatever the future holds, make sure you are well-prepared and learn one of these languages with us here at Lingua. Don’t wait any longer and be part of the future of languages!