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Top 10 Languages - Rankings in 2050 | ||
Tags: Language Importance | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| topaztrex Triglot Newbie Indonesia Joined 5958 days ago 20 posts - 37 votes Speaks: Mandarin, Indonesian*, English | Message 105 of 108 22 June 2011 at 10:26pm | IP Logged | ||
This is a very exhaustive list, I would say. I like the way you group similar languages together. I would change the last two spots though: 29. Finnish with Estonian 30. Bengali / Hungarian Edited by topaztrex on 22 June 2011 at 10:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Quinn Senior Member United States Joined 6112 days ago 134 posts - 186 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian, Spanish | Message 106 of 108 23 June 2011 at 2:36am | IP Logged | ||
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Here are my late picks for the top 5:
1. English - Even given China's rise as an economic leader and it's edge in the number of native speakers, English was already the lingua franca before the Internet took off and now it's completely ubiquitous. Besides, it's hard to imagine millions of Westerners becoming fluent in Mandarin in the near future. 2. Mandarin Chinese - China is the next superpower and Mandarin is the most widely spoken native language on the planet. These two factors alone will ensure it's place as one of the world's most dominant languages. 3. Spanish - The entire continent of South America (aside from Brazil) speaks Spanish and it's the fastest growing language in North America, too. Moreover, birth rates tend to be higher in many of the cultures where Spanish is the dominant language and Spanish speakers have been emigrating for decades, establishing communities all over the world. Finally, Spanish is probably the most widely-studied second language by native English speakers. 4. Arabic - The Muslim world is rapidly democratizing. With its wealth of natural resources, a large, young, and highly educated population, and a rich history as a language of religion and scholarship, Arabic seems positioned to become one of the world's most influential languages. Also due to religious/cultural barriers some pockets of the Arabic-speaking world do not share the same close contact with English as most of the rest of the world, which means these populations won't adopt English at the same rate as others. One factor working against Arabic is the reality that there are so many different dialects which are not mutually intelligible. 5. Russian - With the collapse of the Soviet Union, there's no question that the Russian language has lost influence. However, it is still spoken by a very large population and it is different enough from English and other Western languages, that many native speakers of Russian only know Russian, which means one must learn it to speak with them. I actually expect that in the next few decades we are going to begin seeing strong evidence of language consolidation. With the rise of the Internet and cable television, I expect young people will gravitate more and more to English or to whichever language is most dominant in their sphere of influence (perhaps Mandarin in parts of Asia.) Eventually, I suspect that even some major languages will begin to wane. Much has been written about the decline of French as a lingua franca, but the Francophone world is still quite large and justifiably proud of the influence of its language and culture. However, in many countries such as the Netherlands and Germany, English is already so common that it's become almost a second national language. Given the reach of English/American pop culture, media, and the Internet, I expect this trend to gather increasing momentum with each new generation. Edited by Quinn on 23 June 2011 at 2:47am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| MarcusOdim Groupie Brazil Joined 4636 days ago 91 posts - 142 votes | Message 107 of 108 20 September 2011 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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My selection is based on my life and what would matter for most Brazilians (not only economically)
1. English (hehehe) 2. Spanish (hehe) 3. Mandarin (he) 4. French (widespread and economically/politically/culturaly important) 5. Italian (rather important culturaly) 6. German (economically/politically important and culturaly important in the south of Brazil) 7. Japanese That's all I'd learn Russian too just because it's cool 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| learnvietnamese Diglot Groupie Singapore yourvietnamese.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4738 days ago 98 posts - 132 votes Speaks: Vietnamese*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 108 of 108 21 September 2011 at 8:00am | IP Logged | ||
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My prediction regarding Japanese is that it would be the top 10 most popular languages in 2050, if it can keep its status as one of the top economies in the world.
I've met a number of friends in Southeast Asia, and a lot of them study Japanese, especially for those who already speak English and Chinese. And one of the main reasons is that they love Japanese culture. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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