Top Three Most Studied Languages in the World?

Libelle Reiher   Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:18 am GMT
Here is an excellent resource which was shown to me by Rabyte. It is hardly considered biased since it has been published by the European Commission:

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf

1. English
2. German
3. French

Note on page 4 that the only countries of the many member states of the EU that include Spanish in their top three are Italy, France, and Portugal (other Latin countries). All the rest have other top 3 languages (you can see them on the file).

Both pages 4 and 7 conclude that English is king in Europe (though it has fewer native speakers than German in Europe, the number one native language of Europe), German is number two, and the European Commision states that it has surpassed French, but French still hangs on at number three.

Still, this is only the EU, not the entire world...
ZhongGuoRen   Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:04 am GMT
------------------------------
In Europe:

1. English
2. German
3. French
4. Italian
5. Spanish

------------------------------
In America:

1. English
2. Spanish
3. Portuguese
4. French
5. Italian

-------------------------------
In Asia:

1. English
2. Chinese
3. Japanese
4. German
5. French

--------------------------------
In Middle East:

1. Arabic
2. Farsi
3. English

---------------------------------
ZhongGuoRen   Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:08 am GMT
------------------------------
I forgot Africa:

1. French
2. English
3. Portuguese
4. Spanish
5. Italian

------------------------------
Guest   Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:02 am GMT
In Middle East:

1. Arabic
2. Farsi
3. English

i think
4. may be turkish or french
5. may be russian or chinese or italian or spanish
j-p.a   Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:14 am GMT
I told you , it's:

English
Chinese
French


Now that's enough about this subject. You have the answer so be quiet.

Much appreciation,

j-p.a
Franco   Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:14 am GMT
Out of curiosity of course, what does j-p.a stand for, or mean?
j-p.a   Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:17 am GMT
Something EXTREMELY important, which I cannot divulge at this moment in time.

^^wonders if divulge is in fact a word^^

Yours faithfully

j-p.a
Libelle to ZhongGuoRen   Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:50 pm GMT
Hallo ZhongGuoRen,

In the U.S. the top three studied languages are Spanish, French, and German, in that order. This thread is about the languages people choose to study, not the ones they speak natively.

Kind regards,
Libelle
ZhongGuoRen to Libelle   Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:57 pm GMT
Hallo Libelle

Vielen Danken für deine Hilfe! Ich auch das Deutsch lernen möchten.

Terribly sorry for my broken German, and I will try to learn German well.
j-p.a   Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:02 pm GMT
NEW TOPIC


TOP THREE ^^LEAST^^ STUDIED LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD


Reluctantly I feel obliged to inform you, that the least studied languages in the world are


3 Ratitian


2 Marsian




WAIT FOR IT>>>>> .....


1 Swiss


It is therefore why I have dedicated my life to learn Swiss and promote this leastly spoken language throughout this world and many others.

With the utmost respect and attention,

Sincerely yours,


j-p.a
Libelle to ZhongGuoRen   Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:09 am GMT
Hallo ZhongGuoRen,

Es freut mich, daß du Deutsch lernen möchtest. Ich bin Amerikanerin aber mein Familiename ist deutsch. Lernt man oft Deutsch in China? Ich habe gelesen, daß viele Japanischer Deutsch lernern: 68%! Das ist hoch, ja? Und wie ist es in deinem Land?

Bis später :)
Libelle
ZhongGuoRen to Libelle   Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:38 am GMT
Liebe Libelle,

In CHINA, German is the 4th taught foreign language, just after English, Japanese and French. Germany is the largest trading partner of CHINA in Europe, and there're plenty of German international companies in CHINA.
I've always wanted to learn German, but I still haven't started on it as yet.
I really love German, Italian and Portuguese very much, especially Standard German of Germany, instead of Swiss or Austrian German. Maybe in this Winter I will manage to learn German intently as my 3rd foreign language. I'm happy that I can understand most of what you wrote. Danke schön！
ZhongGuoRen to Libelle   Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:07 am GMT
By the way, in China, instead of being increasingly declining, German seems to be rising gradually as it appears. Although the position of both English and Japanese is unshakably and powerfully, it would be quite possible that one day German could replace French and go up to the 3rd position in CHINA.
Guest   Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:41 am GMT
LooooL... He forgot to mention Africa... Anyway...

Anyway Europe is NOT only the EU.

Spanish facts in the EU:
-5th most-spoken language (although it has more secondary speakers than Italian)... In other, Italian is only more spoken in the EU because it has more native speakers, not because a lot of people learn it.
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf
(pg. 7)
-Considered 4th most useful by an official EU poll.
Libelle to ZhongGuoRen   Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:41 pm GMT
Hi ZhongGuoRen,

For not having studied very much German, your German is very good! Of course I am a little bit biased, since I have a B.A. in German (with minor in French), but I still think even objectively speaking that German is a great choice. From the data I have seen everywhere, German is extremely important for international trade, economics, medicine (pharmacology) and engineering/technology, not to mention of course the rich cultural contributions the German-speaking countries have made to the world. But it sounds like you already know that. :)

So if I may ask, why does China consider English, Japanese, French/German to be the most important languages?