LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD

The 10 Most Spoken Languages in the World

1. Mandarin. 官 話. Spoken by more than one billion people in the world, Mandarin is a diverse group of related dialects. It is mainly spoken in China, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia as well as other Chinese communties around the world. Famous Mandarin people: Tru'ong' Công Dinh, Zhu Xi. Hello in Mandarin is "Ni hao".

2. English. Spoken by over five hundred million people in the world, English is the most used language around the globe. It is mainly spoken in Canada, United States, United Kingdon, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and among other countries. Famous English people:John Stuart Mill, Sir Isaac Newton, John Locke, Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare. Hello in English is simply "Hello" :-)

3. Hindustani. Spoken by almost five hundred million people in the world, Hindustani is India's official language. The language uses the Devanagari script, which means the "writing of the gods". Famous Hindi people: Goswami Tulsidas, Munshi Premchand. Hello in Hindi is "Nahmahstay".

4. Spanish. Español. Spoken by over four hundred million people in the world, Spanish is the most spoken Romance language. It is mainly used in Central and Latin America and Spain as well as other parts of the world. Some famous Spanish people: Antonio Gaudí, Pablo Picasso, Miguel de Cervantes and Francisco Franco. Hello in Spanish is "Hola".

5. Russian. Pусский язык. Spoken by almost three hundred million people in the world, Russian is a Slavic language. It is mainly spoken in Russia, Belarus and Kazakstan as well as other Central Asian countries. Famous Russians: Alexander Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoevksy, Leo Tolstoy, Boris Tchaikovsky, Mikhail Gorbachev. Hello in Russian is "Zdravstvuite".

6. Arabic. .العربي Spoken by around two hundred and fifty million people, Arabic is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. It is widely spoken throughout the Arab world. The Arabic script is written from right to left. Famous Arabs: Jabir Ibn Haiyan, Gamal Abdul Nasser. Hello in Arabic is "Al salaam a'alaykum".

7. Bengali. Spoken by over two hundred million people, Bengali is the main language spoken in Bangladesh. It is also spoken in India and Singapore. Hello in Bengali is "Ei je".

8. Portuguese. Português. Spoken by almost two hundred million people, Portuguese is the second largest of the Romance languages. It is often named A Língua de Camões after Louís de Camões, the author of the Lusiads. Famous Portuguese: Vasco da Gama, Amália Rodrigues and Miguel Torga. Hello in Portugues is "Bom dia".

9. Malay-Indonesian. بهاس ملاي .Spoken by around one million sevety five million people, Malay is often written using the Latin script even though a modified Arabic script, known as Jawi, exists. Locally the language is known as Bahasa Melayu. It is spoken in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, southern Thainland and parts of Indonesia. Famous Malaysians: Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Teh Hong Piow, Mokhtar Dahari. Hello in Malay is "Selamat pagi".

10. French. Français. Spoken by one thirty million people, French is the thrid-largest of the Romance languages. Used in France, Canada, Belgium among other coutries, French could be argued as being the most romantic language. Famous French people: Honoré de Balzac, Marquis de Sade, Voltaire, Turgot, Albert Camus. Hello in French is "Bonjour".