In the 90s, Language Today magazine published an article by George Weber analyzing the most influential languages ​​in the world and english to tagalog best translator correct grammar. The study was quite interesting, since the “influence” of languages ​​was considered from several points of view. For example, in terms of the number of speakers in the world, Chinese ranks first, but it is sixth on the list of influence.

Weber’s formula also takes into account the number of secondary speakers of the analyzed language (which are few in Chinese due to its complexity), as well as other factors, such as the economic strength of the country where this language is spoken.

Here is the layout:

English
French
Spanish
Russian
Arab
Chinese
German
Japanese
Brazilian Portuguese
Hindi / Urdu
The article also touches on the social differences that influenced the country’s position on the list. Weber believes that the French language is one of the most popularized in the world, knowledge of this language is often associated with prestige (although recently the situation is starting to change – in the international arena, English is gaining more and more weight).

On the other hand, Chinese and Japanese are not very common as second languages. This is explained both by the complexity of these languages, and by the attitude of the Chinese and Japanese towards them. The article states: “Native speakers of the Chinese language are clearly not interested in spreading it to other nationalities. Just like the Japanese, the Chinese prefer to communicate with foreigners in English. ”

As a native English speaker, it is difficult for me to perceive this list without prejudice, but the leading position of English seems to me quite legitimate. We work with translators from all over the world and, in my opinion, most often we use English. If a customer asks for a translation from Finnish to Brazilian Portuguese, finding a translator who is equally proficient in these two languages ​​will not be easy, no matter where in the world we are looking for him. Instead, we will most likely translate from Finnish to English and then from English to Brazilian Portuguese. Among other things, in our part of the world, French is far less important than Spanish, whose third place on the list would surprise many people in the United States.

According to the 15th edition of the reference book “Ethnologist. Languages ​​of the World “, the ranking of the 10 most widespread languages ​​of the world (by the number of primary speakers) looks like this:

Chinese
Spanish
English
Arab
Hindi
Portuguese
Bengal
Russian
Japanese
German
Interestingly, French is not on this list at all (it is in 17th place), but Weber, due to the huge number of secondary speakers of this language, was in second place in terms of influence. But Bengali is not even included in the ten most influential languages ​​in the world.

Still, the term “influential” is rather subjective, not to mention the difficulty of calculating the exact number of secondary speakers and determining the prestige of knowing a particular language. Maybe some of you also disagree with Weber’s assessments?