Language Learning
Languages for Travel, Work and Study
How much of a language does a two-week trip need, which level does an employer or a university ask for, and which certificate proves it? The answers differ by language: Spanish is shared across Spain and most of Latin America, Arabic splits into a written standard and spoken dialects, Japanese is written in three scripts.
English
English753,359,540 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 87 countries
Spanish
español485,000,000 native speakers (2023)
Official or main language in 21 countries
French
français77,200,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 40 countries
German
Deutsch76,540,740 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 6 countries
Italian
italiano64,800,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 4 countries
Portuguese
português221,000,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 10 countries
Japanese
日本語128,000,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 1 country
Chinese
汉语1,299,877,520 native speakers
Official or main language in 5 countries
Arabic
اللُّغَة العَرَبِيّة315,421,300 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 25 countries
Korean
한국어77,300,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 2 countries
Russian
русский язык154,000,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 5 countries
Polish
język polski39,700,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 1 country
Turkish
Türkçe82,231,620 native speakers (2021)
Official or main language in 2 countries
Ukrainian
українська мова26,900,000 native speakers (2023)
Official or main language in 1 country
Dutch
Nederlands23,100,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 7 countries
Norwegian
norsk5,200,000 native speakers (2015)
Official or main language in 2 countries
Armenian
հայերեն6,700,000 native speakers
Official or main language in 1 country
Hebrew
עברית9,303,950 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 1 country
Greek
ελληνικά13,100,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 2 countries
Hindi
हिन्दी341,000,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 1 country
Hungarian
magyar nyelv12,600,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 1 country
Finnish
suomi5,413,380 native speakers (2012)
Official or main language in 2 countries
Georgian
ქართული ენა3,700,000 native speakers (2014)
Official or main language in 1 country
Swedish
svenska9,244,250 native speakers (2012)
Official or main language in 3 countries
Czech
čeština10,700,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 1 country
Croatian
hrvatski jezik7,000,000 native speakers
Official or main language in 3 countries
Khmer
ភាសាខ្មែរ16,600,000 native speakers (2019)
Official or main language in 1 country
