Many people speak English as a second language. What is the world's most commonly spoken first language?
Data Scavenger Hunt
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above:
There are at least 7,102 known languages alive in the world today. Twenty-three of these languages are a mother tongue (first language) for more than 50 million people. The 23 languages make up the native tongue of 4.1 billion people. What is the most commonly spoken (first) language in the world?
How many people speak English as their mother tongue (first language)?
Over one and a half Billion people speak English as a non-native language (second language). Why do you think English is so widely spoken?
71.8 million people speak Marathi as a first language. In how many countries is Marathi a first language?
How many Americans speak Spanish as their first language?
Big Brain Questions
Answer these questions by yourself using your brain and the links below:
List one thing the visual makes you wonder:
Based on the visual above, would you say there is such thing as a global language?
Just 500 years ago, less than 5 million people spoke English. Now more people speak English in the United States of America than in England. Why do you think English has grown so much?
One entire language is lost every 14 days. What do you think globalization and the spread of English and other languages has to do with this?
If you could learn another language, explain which you would choose. (Pro tip: you can!)
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Learn one of the languages the world is predicted to lose in the next century. If that’s not possible, learn another language that isn’t disappearing.
Get Creative
Some people predict that with the spread of the internet that by 2100 there will be only one language left. Think about how life would be different then. Make a creative response to this scenario.
Learn More
By the end of the century, nearly half the world's languages are predicted to become extinct. Explore this fantastic National Geographic interactive website on disappearing languages.
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