Learning a language is one of the most important skills any global business person can learn. Being able to converse in the naive tongue with customers and suppliers is a great advantage. But we are all time strapped so which are the most useful languages to learn?  We have some ideas.

1. Spanish

The far and wide spread of the Spanish language across Europe and the Americas has made it our No. 1 language to learn in the year 2018. With over 470 million native speakers and a growing number of non-native speakers, it is the most commonly spoken language in the world, second only to Mandarin Chinese.

Native: 470 Million (2017)

Non-native: 100 Million (2017)

Official Language in: Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Uruguay and Equatorial Guinea.

Un-officially Spoken in: Andorra, Belize, Gibraltar and United States.

2. Chinese

Mandarin Chinese is the most commonly spoken language in the world with over 1 billion native speakers. It is the official language of China and is spoken by almost 70% of the Chinese population. With celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg embracing the dialect, Mandarin Chinese has the potential of challenging the supremacy of English, especially in business circles as China pips the United States out of the top spot as the nation with the world’s highest GDP.

Native: 1 Billion (2017)

Non-native: 200 Million (2017)

Official Language in: China, Taiwan and Singapore.

Un-officially Spoken in: Indonesia, southern Vietnam, and Malaysia.

3. French

French is a Romance language spoken by approximately 80 million native speakers and over 153 million non-native speakers worldwide. It is the second-most widely spoken first language in Europe and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Due to its colonial past, similar to that of English, French also has more non-native speakers than native speakers who are spread across the world.

Native: 80 Million (2017)

Non-native: 153 Million (2017)

Official Language in: France, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Chad, Guinea, Rwanda, Belgium, Burundi, Benin, Haiti, Switzerland, Togo, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Comoros, Luxembourg, Vanuatu, Seychelles and Monaco.

Un-officially Spoken in: Algeria, Albania, Andorra, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Dominica, Egypt, Greece, Laos, Lebanon, Morocco, Macedonia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Romania, Saint-Lucia, Tunisia and Vietnam.

4. Arabic

Arabic is commonly spoken in the Middle East and is the dominant language in some of the fastest growing markets in this region with over 420 million speakers worldwide. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, and Hindi.

Native: 290 Million (2017)

Non-native: 132 Million (2017)

Official Language in: Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Mauritania, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Un-officially Spoken in: Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan.

5. German

As one of the 3 official languages of the European Union, the German language has an estimated 110 million native speakers and is the most widely spoken native language in Europe. In addition to being the lingua franca of Central and Eastern Europe, German is a language that is fast gaining popularity on the internet with (Germany) being the top country level domain out there.

Native: 110 Million (Est.)

Non-native: 52 Million

Official Language in: Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein.

Un-officially Spoken in: Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine.

6. English

With over 370 million native speakers worldwide, English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is also the current language of business across the globe. While basic knowledge of the English language may be enough to communicate at a beginner level, it might hinder creating a rapport with a native English speaker, especially for business purposes. Proficiency in the English language is essential for professional as well as personal success.

Native: 370 Million

Non-native: 600 Million

Official Language in: USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and over 50 other countries.

Un-officially Spoken in: UAE, Sri Lanka and over 40 other countries.