Question

What language is spoken most over the world?

Is it French ? :/

Answer 1

Manderin is #1 and English is #2, French is way down the list.

Answer 2

Certainly not French, but this question is difficult to answer.
It depends if you count the numbers of native speakers, the number of people who can use the language fluently, the number of countries where this language has an official status, the number of publications in the language.

Have a look at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_widely_spoken_languages_%28by_number_of_countries%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

Answer 3

I'd assume it was englishh.. then spanish.. but im no whiz...

Answer 4

is it? :o maybe not, because even I don't know how to speak french.. :)
take a look at this:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html

Answer 5

So chinese is on top

Answer 6

haha.. sorry. :)
yeah, chinese is on top and i also don't know how to speak chinese XD

Answer 7

But on wikipedia it is english then spanish :/

Answer 8

My teacher given this topic to find out! :I

I don't know now what to do :/

Which one is first? :I

Answer 9

the truth is i don't trust wikipedia..
well, as what out teachers say it can be edited by anyone..
wait wikipedia also says that the first is chinese look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers

Answer 10

http://www.toptenstip.com/top-10-most-spoken-languages-in-the-world/ another source.. :)

Answer 11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_widely_spoken_languages_%28by_number_of_countries%29
Here it is english :/

Answer 12

well, i think it's one against many XD it's up to you to decide..
look! other sources: :)
http://ititranslates.com/blog/what-are-10-most-spoken-languages-world
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm

Answer 13

I'm going to CHINA :P lol


Thanks @2angel6

Answer 14

haha! wait? you sure? do you know how to speak in chinese? if not you'll be dead! XD
welcome! :) hey! thanks for the medal man! :)

Answer 15

Yes, I know some chinese!
We have ''World languages'' subject in school!


Any ways! No problem! you deserved that medal!

Answer 16

WOW. that's awesome! good for you at least you know some unlike me XD
thanks again! :)

Answer 17

Hey look, Wikipedia may be edited by people but it's still hell accurate, everything edited has to have a complementary citation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_widely_spoken_languages_%28by_number_of_countries%29
I'd trust Wikipedia.

Answer 18

Look at your question: What language is spoken most in the world, Not what language is spoken in the most countries, simply spoken....I think that there is general agreement that it is Mandarin or Chinese , don't forget that there is also Cantonese in China. The question does not ask for 2nd place so, if it is English or Spanish is simply a side issue. Since your question is in English I assume you speak English therefore if you are thinking about a second language go with Mandarin, that language will in all probability be most useful in 20 years. Although from all accounts Spanish is easier to learn.

Answer 19

http://blog.internationalstudent.com/2012/05/top-5-languages-spoken-around-the-world/

Answer 20

I'd say Mandarin

Answer 21

Well, if you mean most by geographic area: English. If by number of people: Mandarin... sort of. They are still having fun standardizing Mandarin. However, their writen form has been standard for a long time.

Answer 22

I would say english or spanish.

Answer 23

what part of Madarin don't you guys understand?

Answer 24

Obviously the one you can't spell.

Answer 25

Vincent-Lyon.Fr has a better answer than just Mandarin. It depends on which most they mean. People, countries, etc. Also, what qualifies as Mandarin changes it. I have heard Chinese speakers disagree on what is accented Mandarin and what is a different dialect, so the meaning of Mandarin becomes unclear. Also, the volume of people that speak enough English for trade has risen massively in recent years. So if you take the strictest definition of what is Mandarin and the loosest definition of speaking English, then the numbers on both those languages change very radically. If you limit to the strictest definition of native speakers, again the numbers change radically but English looses a huge percentage in contrast to Mandarin.

It is not a clear question because speak how is not clearly defined. Do we count every person that can parrot one line from a movie as a speaker of a language? Many Chinese know a few songs in English thanks to the piracy of songs off of reject CDs (The inner tracks survive the star cut they do). So do we count that as speaking English or not?

Answer 26

One of the things holding back the spread of Chinese is that they are sellers, not buyers. When you sell things, you learn the language of the customers to make the sales. This happened with Greek, Latin, French, English and who know how many other languages when those countries were the centers of commerce. Right now, China wants to sell to everyone else and very few can sell to China. This has made Chinese people learn huge volumes of languages while the number of people learning Chinese has not increased proportionally in relation. On the other hand, China has the largest population. Thus, there are more people speaking all the assorted forms of Chinese than any other root language.