Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Data on Languages
The Economist adapts data from the UNESCO to provide information on something most of us are interested in -- which are the world's most widely spoken languages? And how many people speak these as a first language and how many speak them as a second language?
Source: Economist
I personally think the number of English speakers are underestimated, especially if you consider use of English as a second language. Add the middle/upper middle classes of India, the United States, the Commonwealth countries and I suspect you will end up with a number well in excess of the 500 million in this figure. And this is not including western Europe where at least 2/3rds of the population speak English with some level of fluency.
Source: Economist
I personally think the number of English speakers are underestimated, especially if you consider use of English as a second language. Add the middle/upper middle classes of India, the United States, the Commonwealth countries and I suspect you will end up with a number well in excess of the 500 million in this figure. And this is not including western Europe where at least 2/3rds of the population speak English with some level of fluency.
