The Top Ten Most Spoken Languages

[HankSlocum]

10 French
Number of speakers: 129 million

09 Malay-Indonesian
Number of speakers: 159 million

08 Portuguese
Number of speakers: 191 million

07 Bengali
Number of speakers: 211 million

06 Arabic
Number of speakers: 246 million

05 Russian
Number of speakers: 277 million

04 Spanish
Number of speakers: 392 million

03 Hindustani
Number of speakers: 497 million

02 English
Number of speakers: 508 million

01 Mandarin
Number of speakers: estimated 1 billion

I live in San Francisco California and have three children.

Their school does not offer to teach the Chinese language.

What is the matter with you ignorant Americans?

Don't you see a storm brewing?

Why not teach your children how to deal with the future?

 

[DanielaRo]

You can speak English in more than one country and people will understand you. . Go to Greece and speak mandarin)

 

[CandiCame]

Aren't the most common also the most difficult? That's some bullshit right there!

 

[DanielaRo]

Indeed. But English is pretty easy. .

 

[warrior queen]

I don't think it matters so much how many people speak a particular language.... I think it matters more how many of those people are part of the business community or influential in shaping world affairs.
No good learning Mandarin if the majority of Mandarin speakers are poor farmers.

 

[CandiCame]

Indeed. But English is pretty easy. .

I disagree. It's my native langauge and I butcher it. Plus, the spelling is fucking retarded. When I took Spanish in highschool and realized that you spell "fone" and "foto" I was like, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH US!?"

I mean, I'm in my 20s and I hate it when I read "read" as "read" when it's supposed to be "read". Fuck that shit.

 

[HankSlocum]

I don't think it matters so much how many people speak a particular language.... I think it matters more how many of those people are part of the business community or influential in shaping world affairs.
No good learning Mandarin if the majority of Mandarin speakers are poor farmers.

How many men does the China army have?

Answer:
The Chinese armed forces or PLA (People's Liberation Army) currently have about 3,440,000 individual officers and men. The Chinese standing army is about 2,250,000 men.

The paramilitary PAP (People's Armed Police Force) has another 1.5 million members, half of those assigned to internal security. These and other deployed forces bring the total number of Chinese government soldiers to around 7.5 million.

 

[warrior queen]

How many men does the China army have?

Answer:
The Chinese armed forces or PLA (People's Liberation Army) currently have about 3,440,000 individual officers and men. The Chinese standing army is about 2,250,000 men.

The paramilitary PAP (People's Armed Police Force) has another 1.5 million members, half of those assigned to internal security. These and other deployed forces bring the total number of Chinese government soldiers to around 7.5 million.

Ok, but that's going to affect me how?
If China decides to invade, all I'm going to need is a phrase or two.
Apart from that, chances are I am never going to speak to a member of the Chinese military.

 

[KingOrfeo]

I disagree. It's my native langauge and I butcher it. Plus, the spelling is fucking retarded. When I took Spanish in highschool and realized that you spell "fone" and "foto" I was like, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH US!?"

I mean, I'm in my 20s and I hate it when I read "read" as "read" when it's supposed to be "read". Fuck that shit.

And English has a huge vocabulary and a vast wealth of idiomatic expressions and phrases, etc. Nevertheless, English is generally agreed to be a relatively easy language for foreigners to learn, as languages go, because the syntactic, uninflected grammar is so simple.

 

[KingOrfeo]

If China decides to invade, all I'm going to need is a phrase or two.

OK, but, make sure you learn to say those phrases -- i.e., "Me love you long time!" and "Five dollah, make you hollah!" and "Hey, Chang! You got can corn?!" -- in Mandarin and Cantonese and maybe Hakka for good measure, because the dialects are mutually unintelligible and you never know exactly where in China the soldiers are from.

 

[CandiCame]

And English has a huge vocabulary and a vast wealth of idiomatic expressions and phrases, etc. Nevertheless, English is generally agreed to be a relatively easy language for foreigners to learn, as languages go, because the syntactic, uninflected grammar is so simple.

Is it? I totally thought it was literally listed as the third hardest in the world behind Maderin and Japanese. http://www.xamuel.com/10-reasons-why-english-is-hard-language/

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

10 French
Number of speakers: 129 million

09 Malay-Indonesian
Number of speakers: 159 million

08 Portuguese
Number of speakers: 191 million

07 Bengali
Number of speakers: 211 million

06 Arabic
Number of speakers: 246 million

05 Russian
Number of speakers: 277 million

04 Spanish
Number of speakers: 392 million

03 Hindustani
Number of speakers: 497 million

02 English
Number of speakers: 508 million

01 Mandarin
Number of speakers: estimated 1 billion

I live in San Francisco California and have three children.

Their school does not offer to teach the Chinese language.

What is the matter with you ignorant Americans?

Don't you see a storm brewing?

Why not teach your children how to deal with the future?

The Chinese have been around for a while, so if the world was gonna learn Mandarin it woulda already happened. Mandarin is a pain the ass to learn. You got, what?, 8000 characters to memorize, and the different tones. Please!

With English its 50 most common words are good to go 50% of the time, with 3000 words youre set 98% of the time.

 

[zipman]

The Chinese have been around for a while, so if the world was gonna learn Mandarin it woulda already happened. Mandarin is a pain the ass to learn. You got, what?, 8000 characters to memorize, and the different tones. Please!

With English its 50 most common words are good to go 50% of the time, with 3000 words youre set 98% of the time.

My dog knows more words than you and is far more intelligent.

 

[CandiCame]

My dog knows more words than you and is far more intelligent.

Must be nice. My dog puts bones in my laptop bag.

 

[Liar]

Never seen it called "Hindustani" before.

 

[warrior queen]

OK, but, make sure you learn to say those phrases -- i.e., "Me love you long time!" and "Five dollah, make you hollah!" and "Hey, Chang! You got can corn?!" -- in Mandarin and Cantonese and maybe Hakka for good measure, because the dialects are mutually unintelligible and you never know exactly where in China the soldiers are from.

Hahaha... tbh, when I wrote that I hadn't thought of which phrases I would need!

 

[oggbashan]

OK, but, make sure you learn to say those phrases -- i.e., "Me love you long time!" and "Five dollah, make you hollah!" and "Hey, Chang! You got can corn?!" -- in Mandarin and Cantonese and maybe Hakka for good measure, because the dialects are mutually unintelligible and you never know exactly where in China the soldiers are from.

When China took over in Hong Kong, all the official announcements and speeches were in Mandarin. That was a real statement because most Hong Kong people speak Cantonese.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

My dog knows more words than you and is far more intelligent.

I'm not surprised. Dogs generally know 200 words and phrases, and can read people like books.

I've posted many times that my IQ is low, 85 or so, and I make-do using the little I have to best advantage, while avoiding shit I cant do in a million years of trying. I mean, you know how fucked up Wall Street and Washington are with Harvard Brainiacs in charge, imagine me running the show! Holy Moly.

 

[HankSlocum]

The Chinese have been around for a while, so if the world was gonna learn Mandarin it woulda already happened. Mandarin is a pain the ass to learn. You got, what?, 8000 characters to memorize, and the different tones. Please!

With English its 50 most common words are good to go 50% of the time, with 3000 words youre set 98% of the time.

That's a good point.

I spent twenty years in the U.S. Navy and noticed that there are several English phrases that are universal throughout the world.

1) Okay

2) Fuck you

3) sucky sucky five dolla

4) Does anybody here speak English?

5) Where is the nearest McDonalds?

6) AK-47

 

[Scotsman69]

Aye. Only if the person is as illiterate as you.

The Chinese have been around for a while, so if the world was gonna learn Mandarin it woulda already happened. Mandarin is a pain the ass to learn. You got, what?, 8000 characters to memorize, and the different tones. Please!

With English its 50 most common words are good to go 50% of the time, with 3000 words youre set 98% of the time.

 

[Scotsman69]

That shows what the US navy does to the world. It tells us nothing about language.

That's a good point.

I spent twenty years in the U.S. Navy and noticed that there are several English phrases that are universal throughout the world.

1) Okay

2) Fuck you

3) sucky sucky five dolla

4) Does anybody here speak English?

5) Where is the nearest McDonalds?

6) AK-47

 

[MatthewVett]

Indeed. But English is pretty easy. .

Eh, easy in some ways, terrible in others. Its spelling is atrocious, and a living history in and of itself. It doesn't have much in the way of conjugations or declensions, though, which is fantastic, though.

 

[Tryharder62]

No matter what you speak I think more people know the language of Love.

 

[Dream59]

Hahaha... tbh, when I wrote that I hadn't thought of which phrases I would need!

Fuck you and die bitch is about all you would need to know. Unless you are a smoker and then do you have a light might come in handy.