World's Top 10 Popular Languages

Top 10 Most Popular Languages
全球使用人数最多的十大语言

There are 6,909 languages actively being spoken in the world today, although only about six percent of them have more than a million speakers each. As globalization becomes more common so does the learning of languages. People in many different countries see the value of learning a foreign language to improve their international business relations.
目前全球记录在案，在各地活跃使用的语言有6909种，但只有其中6%的语言使用人数超过了一百万，随着全球化的进一步深入，语言学习也越来越活跃。不同国家的人们越来越深刻的认识到，学习一门外语对提升自己的国际贸易有着重要价值。

Because of this, the number of people who speak certain languages will continue to rise. There are 10 languages that currently dominate the globe. Here's a list of the 10 most popular languages spoken worldwide, along with the number of countries where the language is established, and the approximate number of primary or first language speakers for that language:
因此，会一门外语的人数会持续增长。目前全球有10种占主导地位的语言，以下是这10种语言的清单、这些语言的使用国家和将这些语言作为母语或第一语言的预计使用人数。

Chinese/Mandarin—37 countries, 13 dialects, 1,284 million speakers
中文/普通话—37国，13种主要方言，12.84亿人使用

Spanish—31 countries, 437 million
西班牙语—31国，4.37亿人使用

English—106 countries, 372 million
英语—106国，3.72亿人使用

Arabic—57 countries, 19 dialects, 295 million
阿拉伯语—57国，19种主要方言，2.95亿人使用

Hindi—5 countries, 260 million
印地语—5国，2.6亿人使用

Bengali—4 countries, 242 million
孟加拉语—4国，2.42亿人使用

Portuguese—13 countries, 219 million
葡萄牙语—13国，2.19亿人使用

Russian—19 countries, 154 million
俄罗斯语—19国，1.54人使用

Japanese—2 countries, 128 million
日语—2国，128人使用

Lahnda—6 countries, 119 million
印度雅利安语 —6国，1.19亿人使用

The Languages of China
中国的语言

With more than 1.3 billion people living in China today, it is no surprise that Chinese is the most commonly spoken language. Due to the size of China's area and population, the country is able to sustain many unique and interesting languages. When speaking of languages, the term "Chinese" encompasses at least 15 dialects spoken in the country and elsewhere.
今天的中国有超过13亿人口，中文成为使用人数最多的语言这也不奇怪。因为中国地大物博，所以有着很多独特而又有意思的语言。说到语言，“中文”包括至少15种主要方言，在中国和世界各地使用。

Because Mandarin is the most commonly spoken dialect, many people use the word Chinese to refer to it. While roughly 70 percent of the country speaks Mandarin, many other dialects are spoken as well. The languages are mutually intelligible to a varying degree, depending on how close the languages are to one another. The four most popular Chinese dialects are Mandarin (898 million speakers), Wu (also known as Shanghainese dialect, 80 million speakers), Yue (Cantonese, 73 million), and Min Nan (Hokkien, 48 million).
因为普通话是使用人数最多的语言，很多人认为中文就是普通话，虽然中国有70%的人使用普通话交流，其他方言也活跃在日常生活中。根据不同方言的相似度，在一定程度上，这些方言的使用者可以互相理解对方的意思。中国最流行的四大语言是：普通话（8.98亿使用者）、吴语（上海话，8000万使用者）、粤语（广东话，7300万使用者）、闽南语（福建话，4800万使用者）。

Why Are There So Many Spanish Speakers?
为什么会有这么多人说西班牙语？

While Spanish is not a commonly heard language in most parts of Africa, Asia, and the majority of Europe, that hasn't stopped it from becoming the second most commonly spoken language. The spread of the Spanish language is rooted in colonization. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, Spain colonized much of South, Central, and large parts of North America as well. Before being incorporated into the United States, places like Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona were all part of Mexico, a former Spanish colony. While Spanish is not a common language to hear in most of Asia, it is very common in the Philippines because it too was once a colony of Spain.
虽然西班牙语在大部分非洲地区、亚洲和欧洲主要地区并不普遍，这并不影响其成为全球第二大语言。西班牙语在全球的传播起源于殖民时代。在15世纪至18世纪，西班牙殖民了美洲南部、中部和北部的大部分地区。德克萨斯、加利福利亚、新墨西哥和亚利桑那在并入美国之前都是西班牙殖民地。虽然西班牙语在亚洲不怎么流行，但在菲律宾地区西班牙语还是很常见的，因为菲律宾也是前西班牙殖民地。

Like Chinese, there are many dialects of Spanish. The vocabulary between these dialects varies greatly depending on what country one is in. Accents and pronunciation also change between regions. While these dialectical differences can sometimes cause confusion, they do not block cross-communication between speakers.
和中文一样，西班牙语也有很多方言。说着西语的不同国家的方言在词汇方面也有区别，不同地区的口音和发音也不一样。因为方言的差异有时候会造成误会，但总体上不会阻碍西语使用者之间的交流。

English, a Global Language
英语，全球化语言

English too, was a colonial language: British colonial efforts began in the 15th century and lasted until the early 20th century, including places as far flung as North America, India and Pakistan, Africa, and Australia. As with Spain's colonial efforts, each country colonized by Great Britain retains some English speakers.
英语也一样，是一种因殖民而兴盛的语言：
大不列颠的殖民活动从15世纪持续到20世纪初，其殖民范围远至北美、印度和巴基斯坦、非洲和澳大利亚。和西班牙的殖民活动影响一样，每一个被大不列颠殖民过的地区，产生了很多英语使用者。

After World War II, the United States led the world in both technological and medical innovation. Because of this, it was considered beneficial for students pursuing work in these fields to learn English. As globalization occurred, English became a shared common language. This caused many parents to push their children to study English as a second language in the hopes of better preparing them for the business world. English is also a useful language for travelers to learn because it is spoken in so many parts of the globe.
二战结束后，美国在科技和医药发展方面领先全球，因此学生们想要在这些方面有所建树，就必须学习好英语。随着全球化的出现，英语变成了大家的共同语言，这就导致很多家长们为了让孩子更好的适应现在的商务社会，促使他们学习英语。英语对旅行者而言也是非常有用的，因为全球很多地方都在使用英语。

A Global Language Network
全球语言网

Since the popularity of social media, the development of a Global Language Network can be mapped using book translations, Twitter, and Wikipedia. These social networks are only available to elites, people with access to both traditional and new media. Statistics of use from these social networks indicate that while English is definitely the central hub in the Global Language Network, other intermediate hubs used by elites to communicate business and science information include German, French, and Spanish.
随着社交网络的流行，全球化语言的发展映射到书籍翻译、推特和维基解密。这些社交网络的参与人员都是社会精英，他们在传统媒体和新媒体大放光彩。通过这些社交网络产生的数据可以发现，英语毫无争议是全球语言网络里的主要中介语言。在商务和科技交流方面，其他被社交精英们使用较多的中介语言是德语、法语和西班牙语。

Currently, languages such as Chinese, Arabic, and Hindi are vastly more popular than German or French, and it is likely that those languages will grow in use of traditional and new media.
目前，类似中文、阿拉伯语和印度语等语言要比德语或法语，在使用人数上多得多，可以预见的是，这些语言在日益发展的传统媒体和新媒体方面，越来越流行。