What are most prevalent languages of the internet and publishing? 

What are internet’s top languages by number of users? (Internetworldstats.com)

1. English (27.3%)
2. Chinese (22.6%)
3. Spanish (7.8%)
4. Japanese (5.3 %)
5. Portuguese (4.3%)
6. 4.0% and less are German, Arabic, French, Russian, Korean.

Let’s look at a more informal way of measuring the languages of the internet by looking at the number of articles in each language in Wikipedia.

1. English (4,264,000)
2. Dutch (1,652,000)
3. German (1,599,000
4. French (1,399,000)
5. Swedish (1,090,000)
6. Next, in order of prevalence is Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Japanese.

What are the number of books published by country (and language) per year?  The British Council correlates data and presents these data:

1. English (28%)
2. Chinese (13.3%)
3. German (11.8%)
4. French (7.7%)
5. Spanish (6.7%)
6. In order of prevalence for the next 5 slots: Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Italian

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

 

• Start at a point in time.
• The most memorable stories in any culture start with some variation of “once upon a time,” the same way a fairy tale begins.
• Describe that point in time.
• Then let it roll.

• Don’t explain the story (wrong way). Re-create it the way it happened (right way).
• Use dialogue.
• Make your audience see what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel what you felt.
• Make your point, and tie it back to your overall message.

What are Facts About the World’s Most Spoken Language?  

Another snapshot of our wonderful talking world.

What is the world’s most spoken language? Here, let’s focus on the most widely spoken languages by number of native speakers.

1. Mandarin Chinese (1197 million)
2. Spanish (406 million)
3. English (335 million)
4. Hindi-Urdu (260 million)
5. Arabic (223 million)
6. Portuguese (202 million)
7. Bengali (193 million)
8. Russian (162 million)
9. Japanese (122 million)
10. Javanese  (84.3 million)

What is the world’s most spoken language by total speakers? This combines native speakers with non-native speakers.

1.  English (1,000 million)
2. Mandarin Chinese (1,000 million)
3. Hindi/Urdu (900 million)
4. Spanish (450 million)
5. Russian/Belarusian (320 million)
6. Arabic (250 million)

What is most widely spoken by number of countries/dependencies where the language has official or defacto status? Note that Arabic provides the greatest challenge because the spoken languages that fall under the umbrella of “Arabic” are not all mutually intelligible.  However, Standard Arabic is used as the written language in countries where dialects of Arabic are spoken

1. English (101)
2. Arabic (59)
3. French (51)
4. Spanish (31)
5. Russian/Portuguese (11)

This list shows the influence of European Colonial histories on the world’s linguistic map.  Languages with a large number of native speakers like Japanese and Mandarin have not traveled far beyond Asia, unlike the West European languages that colonists spread to all corners of the earth. 

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

• An event you lived through or studied about that moved you. The more impact it had on you, the more impact it will have on your audience.
• If your story involves kids, someone else’s or yours, you can’t miss. Why? Kids are part of everyone’s experience. Kids are cute.
• The story can’t be merely a remembered event or a monologue about travel. It must have drama, tension and a “moment of truth” where someone’s decision causes success from failure. For example, did a stranger’s favor help you get to a crucial appointment on time?