Languages of the World: Top 10 List of the Most Spoken Mother Tongues and Foreign Languages

The most spoken mother tongues:

1. Mandarin Chinese: More than a billion people speak this language as a first language. It is spoken mainly in China and Taiwan and Singapore.
2. Hindi: the mother tongue of nearly 600 million people. It is the primary language in several states of India.
3. Spanish: spoken as a mother tongue by more than 560 million people. It is widely spoken in Latin America, Spain and in Latino communities in the United States.
4. English: spoken as a mother tongue by about 370 million people. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is used as an official language in many countries.
5. Arabic: the mother tongue of nearly 310 million people. It is spoken in more than 20 countries, mainly in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
6.Bengali: the mother tongue of more than 230 million people. Mainly spoken in Bangladesh and the Bengal state of India.
7. Portuguese: spoken as a mother tongue by more than 221 million people. It is used in Brazil and Portugal, as well as in other former Portuguese colonies.
8. Russian: spoken as a mother tongue by more than 154 million people. It is widespread in Russia and some former Soviet republics.
9. Japanese: native language of nearly 128 million people. The primary language in Japan.
10. Punjabi: Spoken by over 125 million people. It is spoken in northwest India and Pakistan.

The most widely spoken languages (mother tongues and foreign languages together):

1. English: more than 1.5 billion speakers. One of the most widely spoken foreign languages taught and used worldwide.
2. Mandarin Chinese: over 1.1 billion speakers. It is spoken in China and other Southeast Asian countries.
3. Hindi: nearly 600 million speakers. Spread in India and neighbouring countries.
4. Spanish: over 560 million speakers. One of the most important languages in Latin America and Spain.
5. French: over 310 million speakers. It is spoken in France, Canada and several African and Caribbean countries.
6. Arabic: over 270 million speakers. One of the most important languages in the Arab world.
7. Russian: over 250 million speakers. Used in Russia and the post-Soviet space.
8. Portuguese: over 240 million speakers. It is widespread in Brazil and Portugal, as well as in Africa and Asia.
9. Bengali: over 230 million speakers. It is spoken in Bangladesh and parts of India.
10. Urdu: over 170 million speakers. Spoken in Pakistan and parts of India.

Understanding languages and language learning is an important part of cultural interaction and building global relationships. Multilingualism is increasingly emphasised in schools and in everyday life as the world becomes more globalised and interconnected. And language skills not only help people to connect with each other, but also to learn about different cultures and traditions.