As of the time of writing, there are roughly 6,000 languages spoken all around the world. Naturally, not all languages are created equal, so which are the best languages you might want to learn?
Naturally, this is likely to cause a lot of controversy, as how you define “best” is very subjective and varies greatly from person to person. As such, these are form the general consensus.
Many of these languages are among the most useful languages on the planet, often serving some important role in life. on the other hand, many are quite useless in many ways, but are still quite important.
15. Turkish
When it comes to the best languages you could learn, Turkish is one that you probably wouldn’t think of. For most people, they think that it’s only really spoken in Turkey, that is, if they think about it at all!
As with many other countries, Turkey has seen the decline of countries like the USA, UK and others. As with many of them, Turkey has attempted to position itself to take their place. This has been to moderate success.
Many of Turkey’s largest businesses are found all over the world, and have established themselves as extremely competitive companies. With this, they have brought their employees, and thus, their language.
Today, there are large Turkish communities in many developed countries, including the US and UK (among others). And this is expected to increase in the coming years, which will make Turkish an even more in-demand language!
14. Hindi
Hindi is one of the official languages of India, as well as the main language of most Hindus. On top of being among the best languages to learn, it is also among the most spoken languages in the world too.
As with Turkey, India has seen the decline of the US and has attempted to capitalize on it. India has done this remarkably well, utilizing their vast workforce to become one of the largest economies on the planet.
With this, many Indian companies have become multinational. Many of these companies use Hindi and English as their primary languages, with each company preferring one over the other, usually Hindi.
Plus, assuming you live near a large town/city in a developed country, there are a lot of Indian immigrants. Many of these immigrants do speak Hindi as either a first or second language, so you might not need to leave the country to speak Hindi!
13. French
French is one of the most sophisticated languages (at least in most people’s eyes). On top of that, French is also among the best languages you should learn as well!
Up until recently, French was considered the world’s go-to language for trade (lingua franca). Although it lost this purpose, many people around the world still speak French, especially in places like Africa.
Although not as prominent, many French businesses operate all over the world. Companies like AXA, Peugeot, Renault, Air France and Michelin can be found all over the world, not just in France/Europe.
Chances are, that if you work for a large company, especially one who does a lot of business abroad, you’ll go to France at least once. So a bit of French here and there will be handy, and maybe even a lifesaver!
12. Japanese
Japanese is perhaps one of the best languages you could ever learn. After all, it is probably among the most useful, as it isn’t just spoken in Japan, but also many other nearby countries as well!
Following WWII, the US rebuilt Japan bit by bit. Eventually, this got to the point where Japan was one of the strongest economies on the planet. This means that many major corporations do business with Japanese firms!
Perhaps due to this, many in the West yearn to visit Japan as a tourist. These two facts combine mean that learning Japanese might be a good idea, as you’ll likely use it on several different ocassions!
On top of this, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was an influx of Japanese immigrants to the US and other developed nations. Many of these people settled in large towns and cities, so you probably live near some of their descendants!
11. Russian
It should come as no surprise that Russian is considered among the world’s best languages. After all, Russian is found all over the world, including the the UK and US (and no, not just from spies!…)
Russian is obviously the official language of Russia. However, thanks to the USSR, there are large Russian-speaking minorities in most Eastern European countries. This is to such a point that it is an official language of the UN.
More so than other nations, Russians are also keen users of the internet. There are actually as many Russian language websites available on the internet as there are English language ones, so there’s plenty of resources!
Due to continuous contentious relations with Russia, Russian has become a high demand language for most Western countries. If you can learn it well, it’s likely you could make a living from it, should things take a turn for the worse!
10. Sanskrit
Today, Sanskrit is remembered for being one of the oldest languages currently in use, even if this use is extremely limited. Nevertheless, it is arguably one of the best languages you should learn.
For starters, it is one of the many currently endangered languages. By learning it, you are essentially preserving the language within yourself. This makes you very important for the language’s survival.
Secondly, it’s recommended by NASA. The foundations of rocketry, engineering, philosophy and so many other fields are found in Sanskrit. Much of the coding for NASA’s systems are in Sanskrit!
Chances are that whatever technology the future holds, especially if it’s something like artificial intelligence (AI), will be in Sanskrit. Even if we don’t actually realize it!
9. Arabic
In recent years, Arabic has gotten a bit of a bad rep. Its use by certain individuals has gotten it enshrined in popular culture as a rather dirty language. Regardless, Arabic is among the best languages you should learn!
Arabic is the official language of Islam, with most Muslims learning the language in order to read the Qu’ran (although translated variants do exist, it is expected that a Muslim will read it in Arabic).
Through this, it is the official language of 22 different countries. This is mostly in North Africa and the Middle East, with Arabic being the lingua franca of the region.
Many of these places have become warzones in recent years, but many more have become popular tourist destinations. If you want to go to them, it’s probably best to learn at least a few words and phrases.
8. Spanish
When it comes to the world’s best languages, Spanish is one of those language you would assume would be one the list. And for that, you’d be correct!
Spanish isn’t just the official language of Spain. It’s also the official language of 21 countries, including most of South America. As such, it’s very widely spoken, with there being many Latino communities in the US as well.
You probably didn’t know this, but there are roughly the same amount of English-language websites as there are Spanish ones. Even when English has roughly double the amount of speakers that Spanish does.
Spanish is very common in other forms of media too. Singers like JBlavin, Enrique Iglesias and Shakira are actually Hispanic! Plus, Netflix has a great selection of Spanish language films and TV shows available in most places around the world!
7. Mandarin
Mandarin is currently the world’s most spoken language, having roughly 1.3 billion speakers. As such, it often appears as one of the best languages to learn, regardless of your purpose.
For the last 35 years, China has slowly been growing its economy into one of the largest in the world. This has primarily been through growing its manufacturing industry, where it can outcompete most western countries in terms of volume.
As such, many manufacturing companies have begun to do lots of business with China. In recent years, China has diversified into things like financial services as well. Chances are, that your company does business with China!
So you may find yourself traveling to China in the coming years. And at least some Chinese will be handy.
Over the past century or so, many Chinese people have emigrated from China to other countries, many into places like the US, UK, Canada etc. So chances are you won’t even have to leave the country to speak Chinese!
6. Korean
Korean is generally seen as one of the coolest languages that you could learn for several different reasons. Chief among them is that Korean is one of the best languages to learn, even if the Korean peninsular is divided.
Following the Korean War, the US helped to rebuild South Korea. This eventually led South Korea to become one of the largest economies in the world.
With this Korean companies have started subsidiaries all over the world, including in Anglophonic countries such as the UK, US and Canada. Today, many people do work for Korean companies like Samsung and Hyundai.
Plus, written Korean is extremely easy and difficult at the same time. The alphabet is among the easiest to learn, even when compared to other non-Asian scripts, however, writing words is where it gets cool and difficult!
5. Portuguese
When it comes to the best languages that you should learn, Portuguese usually features. And this is for good reason, it is among the most useful and most eloquent languages one could find!
Originally, Portuguese spread around the world thanks to Portuguese conquests of the New World, similarly to Spanish. However, the way the two countries did empires was completely different.
As such, two completely different variants of the language popped up- European and Brazilian Portuguese. Both are equally as useful, however, Brazilian Portuguese is slightly more useful.
Plus, Portuguese is a romance language, and as such, is similar to French and Spanish in many ways. Due to this, Portuguese is among the easiest languages in the world to learn.
4. Afrikaans
South Africa is home to some of the weirdest languages known to man. On the contrary, Afrikaans is one of the more “normal” ones. After all, Afrikaans is very much a dialect of Dutch, with many native words thrown in!
Afrikaans is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa. South Africa itself is establishing itself as a major world trade center, with Afrikaans being used as the primary language of this (alongside English).
Many economists believe that in a few decades, South Africa will be as large an economy as India, or Russia or the UK. If you do a lot of international business, chances are that you’ll start going to South Africa more and more.
Due to a complicated (and contentious) history, many native South Africans do not like hearing Europeans or Americans using English. Whilst still not great, Afrikaans is seen as somewhat better by many of them.
3. Italian
Italy didn’t have a big European empire like most other “useful” European languages did. The only real “empire” they had was in Libya and Ethiopia, and they didn’t hold that for a long time.
At least in the non-Anglophonic places in Europe, Italian-made movies are very common, and often are quite famous, especially their soap operas. Many are available in the Anglophonic areas of the West, but you’ll have to do a bit of digging.
Plus, there are large Italian-descended communities all over the US, mostly situated on the East Coast. Whilst their language has somewhat faded, many do still speak their ancestor’s tongues, even if this is as a second language!
Italian is a fairly well spoken language in Europe, with it being spoken on many of the islands in the Mediterranean, not just in modern-day Italy itself. Many popular websites were originally published in Italian too!
2. Amharic
Chances are, that you’ve never heard of Amharic before. It isn’t particularly well spoken outside of a cluster of countries, nor is it used for any technological or scientific purposes. Regardless, it is still one of the better languages you could learn!
Amharic is one of the official languages of Ethiopia. It first appeared in the 12th century as the language of the military, courts, religion etc. However, has since become quite widely used.
Alongside English, Amharic is used as the lingua franca of the horn of Africa, depending on who you are speaking with. Many Ethiopians travel a lot, often to the West, meaning that you’ll probably hear some if you go to a tourist-centered town.
Many large African online newspapers publish in several languages, mostly the languages left behind by European conquerors. Alongside Swahili, Amharic is the only native African language they regularly publish in!
1. Latin
When it comes to the best languages that you could learn, Latin generally doesn’t appear on these lists. And for good reason too. After all, Latin is a dead language… Or is it?
Latin as we know it today, was the language of the nobilitas (wealthy land owning citizens who lived in Rome). Once the Roman Empire died out in the fifth century, the only real day-to-day use of the language was by the Church.
Several variants of the language (otherwise known as Vulgar Latin) became the romance languages we know and love today. This includes Spanish, Portuguese, French, Romanian and Italian (among others).
Plus, many things to do with science, including the periodic table and medicine still have Latin names. A lot to do with the law also has Latin influences (think: habeas corpus, corpus juris etc.)
From that point of view, Latin is incredibly useful, even if you can’t speak it in the street!
Which are the best languages in your opinion? Tell me in the comments!