Category: Languages

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Importance of Language Guide 2025

Importance of Language Introduction

What is Language?

Language is the ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication

Language is thought to have originated when early humans started gradually changing their early communication systems. The structures of language as having evolved to serve specific communicative and social functions.

Language is not the creation of one person or of one period but it is an institution, on which hundreds of generations and countless individuals have worked on

Language is thought to have originated 10,000 BC

Language Development

Importance of languages development

Languages were typically spoken not written. Now, languages evolve and diversify over time. The production of language is a continuous process.

Humans acquire language through social interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently when they are approximately three years old.

Languages develop to be used for 3 Objectives:

  1. Informative Language Objective – [communicate any information]
  2. Expressive Language Objective – [Express emotions and feelings]
  3. Directive Language Objective – [Performace Actions]

Language is one of the most fundamentally characteristic of the faculties of Humankind

Therefore, the importance of language for society cannot be minimised. The importance of language is essential to every aspect and interaction in our everyday lives and for wider society.

Why are Languages Important?

In an increasingly globalized world, just getting by with your home language is no longer enough. Those who can speak one or more foreign languages, as well as their native language, have many advantages.

In this Importance of Language Guide, we explore the Importance of Language in terms of [Business, Cultural and Individual Perspective]

  • From a Business perspective, it can be quite beneficial to know foreign languages in order to connect and network with people from all over the globe.
  • From a Cultural perspective, learning a foreign language gives you a chance to experience an entirely different culture in a very intimate way. A cultural is deeply integrated with its language, so to truly experience it you have to speak the foreign language.
  • From an Individual Perspective, Speaking a foreign language can be a highly enriching experience. Learning a foreign language can also be a lot of fun, and give the student a great feeling of accomplishment.

Importance of Languages for the Individual

1. Importance of Languages for Personal Communication

Language Personal Communication

Language is not only a mode of communication between individuals but is also a way for the expression of their personality.

We use language to:

  • inform the people around us of what we feel
  • what we desire
  • question/understand the world around us

We communicate effectively with our words, gestures, and tone of voice in a multitude of situation.

Would you talk to a small child with the same words you would in a business meeting? Being able to communicate with each other, form bonds, teamwork, and it’s what separates humans from other animal species. Communication drives our lives and better ourselves. 

Even with the ability to communicate with each other. Misunderstandings happen. Remember, communication is a two-way street that should be embraced and not ignored.

2. Importance of Languages for Personal Development

Believe it or not, some people can be arrogant to believe they can’t go to foreign countries without knowing anything about the language or culture of the people in the places they visit.

The importance of language is beneficial regardless if you do it for fun or for your career or even just for personal travel. They expect the indigenous people to accommodate them and know their language.

The importance of language isn’t much different no matter what your nationality is. Honestly, if you were to study other languages you will find that most of them are actually pretty similar. Mainly the differences are in alphabet, pronunciation, and grammar with the syntax generally staying the same.

We should use it to show our understanding of the cultures and lives of our fellow men in other lands. We should go behind the outer shell and see the speaker beneath.

3. Importance of Languages for Career Development

improve your career with new languages

The importance of languages really shines in your career and business with companies trying to reach global audiences and markets. More and more business leaders recognize to compete you have to have knowledge of many foreign languages.

Your colleagues/clients will be more likely to trust what you are saying and there will be a more intimate relationship than if you were to conduct all communication through a translator. This could be an important step in building strong and lasting business relationships that help ensure the success of your own business.

More and more school are recognizing the importance of language. Some schools begin offering to teach a second language as early as middle school.

Many schools and employers are requiring specific language requirements as part of their application process.

4. Importance of Languages for Understanding Culture

spread culture carrier language

Knowledge of other languages, as well as their culture, shows that you respect the ideas that they bring to the table and you understand their needs and wants better than somebody who does not have this background. Through language, we can connect with other people and make sense of our experiences.

Our language is the most important part of our being. It’s important to learn other languages besides our own because it helps us to learn about other peoples and cultures but the most important one that we can learn is our own mother tongue as this is one of the most basic parts of our identity.

If we lose our own tongue, for example, when we grow up in a country which is not our own, in my opinion, we are losing a part of ourselves. It is an important attribute of his personality.

5. Importance of Languages for Developing Children

Children with languages

Imagine what it must be like for your child to develop these skills that we take for granted.

As a parent, teacher, or another type of caregiver, you shape a child’s language development to reflect the identity, values, and experiences of your family and community. Therefore, it is up to you to create a warm and comfortable environment in which your child can grow to learn the complexities of language.

The communication skills that your child learns early in life will be the foundation for his or her communication abilities in the future.

Strong language skills are an asset that will promote a lifetime of effective communication.

Important of Language to Society

Important of Language to Society

Importance of language to society is clear. It has led man from mere clumsy animal to a human being in the real sense of the word. It has simplified the conveyance of ideas, smoothed social contacts, conserved our culture and transmitted it to future generations.

1. Importance of Languages for Improved Social Contact

improve social skills language

Society, as we have seen, is a web of social relationships which imply the development of social contacts among individuals with language contacts become easy to be established because men can easily exchange their ideas.

According to E. H. Sturtevant, “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by which members of a social group cooperate and interact”

2. Importance of Languages for Culture-Carrier

Spreading Culture via Languages

Ideas require language. Sometimes an idea or concept is hard to translate because the language has no words with which to express it.

Language conserves our culture which it passes to posterity. Language may be called culture-carrier. The culture that exists at a given time and place has come from the past and is the result of the accumulation of things, attitudes, ideas, knowledge, error and prejudice.

We get co-operation of other people by using the language which expresses our feelings, thoughts and passions. Through conversation, we get mental and emotional satisfaction

The animals as we have seen are incapable of speech except for a few sounds and so incapable of having any culture and civilization. It is a man alone who through language has acquired a high degree of culture and civilization.

As pointed out above it raised a man from a savage state to a noble state.

Sociologically, language moulds the individual from infancy.

3. Importance of Languages for Spreading Ideas

Spreading ideas languages

A language gives a capacity for spreading ideas about a great variety of things. People get benefits from the knowledge and experience of one another in the same language. Media of the same language will enhance the knowledge of the people of the society.

In times when there was no language, the ideas were transmitted by signs or cries which were not easy to interpret. Humans felt great difficulty in the clear expression of states of emotion or signs.

But with the invention of language now a number of ideas and states of emotion can be conveyed in an easy and simple way.

A language that could transmit an idea such as “the flood came and destroyed the houses” through delicate variations in sound was an achievement far superior Lo the transmission of ideas by a variety of cries.

Explore more Importance of Language


Importance of French
Importance of German

Importance of Spanish
Importance of Italian

Importance of Chinese
Importance of Hindi

Importance of Arabic
Importance of Russian

Importance of Korean
Importance of Japanese

Explore Learning Languages


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History Of Languages Guide [2025]

History Of Languages Tree
History Of Languages Tree

Language is thought to have originated when early humans started gradually changing their primate communication systems, acquiring the ability to form a theory of other minds and a shared intentionality.

This development is sometimes thought to have coincided with an increase in brain volume, and many linguists see the structures of language as having evolved to serve specific communicative and social functions.

Humans acquire language through social interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently when they are approximately three years old.

The history of language has been shaped by major thinkers like:

  • Plato
  • Rousseau
  • Kant
  • Ferdinand de Saussure
  • Noam Chomsky

Debates about the nature and origin of language go back to the ancient world. Greek philosophers such as Gorgias and Plato debated the relationship between words, concepts and reality.

Gorgias argued that language could represent neither objective experience nor human experience and that communication and truth were therefore impossible.

Plato maintained that communication is possible because language represents ideas and concepts that exist independently of, and prior to, language.

During the Enlightenment and its debates about human origins, it became fashionable to speculate about the origin of language. Thinkers such as Rousseau and Herder argued that language had originated in the instinctive expression of emotions and that it was originally closer to music and poetry than to the logical expression of rational thought.

Rationalist philosophers such as Kant and Descartes held the opposite view. Around the turn of the 20th century, thinkers began to wonder about the role of language in shaping our experiences of the world – asking whether language simply reflects the objective structure of the world, or whether it creates concepts that it, in turn, imposes on our experience of the objective world. This led to the question of whether philosophical problems are really firstly linguistic problems.

The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, who defined the modern discipline of linguistics, first explicitly formulated the distinction using the French word language for language as a concept, langue as a specific instance of a language system, and parole for the concrete usage of speech in a particular language.

The resurgence of the view that language plays a significant role in the creation and circulation of concepts, and that the study of philosophy is essentially the study of language, is associated with what has been called the linguistic turn and philosophers such as Wittgenstein in 20th-century philosophy. These debates about language in relation to meaning and reference, cognition and consciousness remain active today.

Why Language Developed?

Importance of languages development

Language is not the creation of one person or of one period but it is an institution, on which hundreds of generations and countless individual workers have worked. Language is thought to have originated 10,000 BC.

Languages evolve and diversify over time, and the history of their evolution can be reconstructed by comparing modern languages to determine which traits their ancestral languages must have had in order for the later developmental stages to occur.

The production of language is a continuous process; it varies in rate and kind with the circumstances and habits of the speaking community, but it never ceases; there was never a time when it was more truly going than at present.

Language is one of the most marked, conspicuous, as well as fundamentally characteristic of the faculties of Humankind

It raised humans from a savage state to the plane which he was capable of reaching. Humans could not become Humans except by language. An essential point in which man differs from animals is that man alone is the sole possessor of language.

Language is a constituent element of civilization.

Therefore, the importance of language for society cannot be minimised. The importance of language is essential to every aspect and interaction in our everyday lives and for wider society.

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Languages

How To Nearly Guarantee Language Learning Success?

Almost every language course being sold talk about their “guaranteed successful” methods. While we understand the need to hype a product in the prospect’s eyes, you should take such claims with a grain of salt. There are no guarantees when studying anything — we’ve seen people speak impressively in six months and others struggle after years of study, all while using the same language program.

So, You Want To Succeed

If you want to guarantee success, the material you use is only one part of the equation. Your environment will also affect you, as well as the experiences you end up having. The bigger chunk, however, rests upon you: the extent of your natural ability to pick up new languages, the attention you’re able to give to the endeavor and the effort you eventually end up putting in.

Real talk: it’s going to be difficult to guarantee success even if your heart is 100% into it. There are just way too many variables that play into your results. However, there are ways you can stack the odds in your favor, maximizing your chances of seeing positive gains in language learning.

Stacking The Deck

1. Use the best Language materials available

While good language learning material is key to learning, using the consensus best software or enrolling in the most highly-recommended school won’t always guarantee your success. What they do is further increase your odds of successfully learning the foreign language, though, so choosing language resources that suit your requirements is very important.

2. Stick to your Language material

Whether you bought that Language software or enrolled in a course, make a point of sticking to your material. Too many heads can literally spoil the pot in this case, especially when those different resources have different ideas about how you can best learn. Instead of hastening your progress, going that route will likely impede it.

3. Study Language Materials everyday

We can’t stress this enough. You see those guys in the gym with ripped bodies, six pack abs and muscles where you didn’t think people can have muscles in? Those aren’t the guys who go to the gym three times a week for a 45-minute workout like you see mentioned in every other fitness article. In reality, those guys are the gym rats who spend upwards of three hours in the gym six days a week all year round. Seriously.

Language learning is the same way. If you confine your lessons to twice a week classes or thrice a week sitdowns with a language software, you’ll get some results, but they’ll be nowhere near the fluency that you’re hoping for.

We’re not telling you to make language learning the center of your day. However, be prepared to give it a good chunk of your time every single day if you really want to guarantee success.

4. Review Language Materials regularly

Take notes during your lessons and review them. Set aside some time every day for this purpose alone, preferably separate from your daily lessons. Going over your past lessons, even just by reading through them, will help etch concepts in your mind, maximizing your chances of absorbing the information.

This will be especially important once you’ve gone over a big chunk of material. You’ll likely forget a lot of things, so these review sessions can be your only chance of restoring the knowledge bank.

5. Learn passive Language skills first

Before jumping into the pool, try lingering around the poolside a bit. That is, don’t dive directly into language lessons your first time. Instead, devote one or two weeks before that to developing your passive skills.

Listen to the language being used in songs, movies and other readily available content (the internet is your best friend). Pick up a magazine in the target language and flick through the ads, acquainting yourself with the written words. While you may feel like you’re gaining no useful skills in doing these, you’re actually picking up bits and pieces of the language that will come in handy later on.

Doing this makes the transition to learning a foreign language a little less drastic, since you have a bit of exposure to it. You’ll have some idea of how sounds are pronounced, how people pace their sentences and other important elements that will make actual lessons a lot less troublesome.

6. Start from the Language basics

Don’t rush it. The basics create the foundation of your skills in the new language, so take the time to learn them properly. The stronger your foundation, the easier it will be to build upon it further down the line. Do all the early lessons and perform all the suggested exercises. Try to avoid going forward without completing lessons in their entirety — that’s the best way to ensure your basics are tight.

7. Set Language Goals

Goals give you a target to work towards, allowing you to turn your focus towards something that’s tangible and specific. Without goals, it’s like walking without a specific destination — you could end up going around in circles just wasting time.

When you have goals, your activities gain some structure. You immediately have a filter when deciding whether to do something or not. If it will further your goals, then go for it. If it won’t, then why bother?

8. Find ways to keep encouraging yourself

There will be points during the process that you’ll question your own progress. Sometimes, your growth will be rapid. Other times, it take on a tortoise-like pace. That latter one is crucial — find ways to keep encouraging yourself during those down times, so you don’t end up throwing in the towel.

9. Practice the Language Materials a lot

Devote lots of time for practice. If you’re not in a foreign country, use the internet to meet and chat with people who speak the language. Many times, you’ll be able to find people who will practice with you in language learning forums, often as an exchange deal — help them practice their English and they’ll help you practice on your target language. Take advantage of these situations.

The more practice time you can get, the faster your progress will be. Count on it. People who sit through lessons all day without applying what they learned will have a hard time truly integrating it into their available skills, so consider practice a required course, rather than an elective.

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Languages Learn Chinese Language

Easiest Language To Learn For Chinese Speakers?

What is the easiest language to learn for chinese speakers? East Asian languages belong to some language families that are usually believed to be genetically unrelated, however, share many functions due to interaction. In the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area, Chinese ranges and languages of Southeast Asia share many areal features, having the tendency to be analytic languages with comparable syllable and tone structure.

In the first millennium AD, Chinese culture pertained to dominate East Asia. Literary Chinese was embraced by scholars in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, and there was a massive increase of Chinese vocabulary into these and other neighboring languages.

Japanese and Korean
Korean and Japanese are very comparable in some aspects; both have sophisticated politeness systems embedded in their morphology. And some have said that they could be associated, however not knowing more about those languages, I’ll refrain from going to far into that. There will be some similarity in vocabulary, given that both Japanese and Korean obtained greatly from Chinese at different times in the past.
Also, most morphemes in Chinese are a single syllable, whereas in Japanese and Korean they can be longer. Chinese also has very little morphology, maybe just permitting compounding, while Japanese and Korean both have a selection of inflectional and derivational suffixes.

What Language Is Easy To Learn For Chinese Speakers?

What language is easy to learn for chinese speakers? Lots of Japanese people believe when traveling to a Chinese-speaking area that even if they do not speak Chinese, they might be able to manage if they interact by writing. If you are aiming to convey something simple, written communication may allow you to obtain by. Nevertheless, it is necessary to bear in mind that 20-30% of the kanji used have various significances in Japanese and Chinese. What would take place if you wrote a succession of kanji, which look the same in Chinese, without knowing that they suggest something different in Chinese?

Which Language Is Easy To Learn For Chinese Speakers?

Which language is easy to learn for chinese speakers? Korea (willingly and involuntarily) count on Japan to be introduced to modern objects and concepts, many of the words in both languages use the same Chinese characters. This remains in contrast with the Chinese character use in between China (paradoxically) on one hand and Korea/Japan on the other. To offer an example of a modern-day gizmo, in both Korean and Japanese, a camera is 寫眞機 (pronounced as-jin-gi in Korean, sha-shin-ki in Japanese), which equates to “truth-copying machine”. However in Chinese, a cam is 照像機 (pronounced zhao-xiang-ji), which means “image-lighting device.”

Is English Easy To Learn For Chinese Speakers?

Is english easy to learn for chinese speakers? English is an easier language to learn. Languages with alphabets can be ‘exercised’ phonetically by learning how the 26 letters sound. The playground video game of ‘C-A-T’ applies to most of the words in the English language. This is not the case in logogram languages like Chinese, where there is no indicator whatsoever of the noise of the logogram by how it looks – you merely need to memorize the image and match it with the right sound. There are something like 3500 characters in Chinese script, and the user will need to learn them all. There is no logic to it, and you cannot work it out – it’s just a laborious memory game.

In conclusion, it depends on upon people’s interest or demand from work or life and education in China pays more attention to reading and writing ability, which would help them much on their major, since there is not a necessity for every single native student to speak Eglish with complete confidence. Actually, lots of native students have own excellent spoken English by watching or mimicking English motion pictures and songs, or something like that.

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Languages

List of Best Online Language Learning Tools [2025]

best online language tools

Learning a new language doesn’t need to be a struggle. Powering through a textbook can prove next to impossible. You really can’t get a feel for the language; how to pronounce it, or even how to read it when compared to English, when relying on the written word alone. Fortunately, there are many other tools out there that are great for you.

That is exactly why you need to check out some of the best free online language tools available to you. These tools are going to give you a kick start before you commit to spending money on a structured language platform.

Best Online and Apps

Duolingo

This is a really fantastic online learning tool you can take advantage of. Duolingo has a nicely designed website and provides free web apps for language learning. The languages are limited to around 20 (ranging from German to Turkish), but as long as you want one of the more common Germanic or Romantic languages, you should find exactly what you want. You won’t find any Asian based languages here as there are not as many similar words that cross over from English to Japanese, Mandarin or Thai, so you’ll need to go elsewhere for a different language.

It is an easy way to start up with learning though. There is a walkthrough that shows you the fun program for learning new languages. Best of all, there are no ads running through the software, so you don’t need to constantly click out of the ads in order to reach the language tutorials you want or need.

www.duolingo.com

OptiLingo

  • OptiLingo – App
    OptiLingo is a language learning program designed from strategies its founder, Jonty Yamisha, used to save his native language Circassian from extinction. It uses guided immersion and spaced repetition systems to get you speaking, not typing, your new language fast. In just 20 minutes a day, you’ll uncover useful phrases that help you talk to native speakers confidently. Avoid endless memorization and boring grammar lessons, and start speaking in your next foreign language with OptiLingo.

optilingo.com

Open Culture

This is like an open forum type language learning tool. It is nice for getting started or for completely immersing yourself within a specific language, as there are all sorts of different courses and media available to you. With almost 50 different languages to choose from, you do have more selections as well. The languages are going to range from Bulgarian and Cambodian to Dutch and Persian.

The Open Culture program provides you with a nice iTunes service that also gives you podcast so you can download the content and listen to it as you go. This way, there is always something for you to listen to and to try and help you become fully engulfed with the language. This way, you can learn without logging directly onto your computer. It makes it great for playing in the car or while commuting to work or from school, so you don’t need to let this time go by without taking advantage of it. You need to travel for work or school, so you might as well take advantage of this time and basically kill two birds with one stone.

www.openculture.com

Live Mocha

This service helps educate you and also connects you with other individuals who are looking to learn the language as well. This has a wide selection of available languages for you to learn from as well. It is also going to provide you with different variations on languages, as there are different kinds of language forms, based on where you are at in the world. For example, you can learn Brazilian Portuguese and Portugal Portuguese. This way, if you are planning to visit a particular location in the world, you can practice the exact kind of dialect that they use.

There are also many Asian based languages on Live Mocha, which is very nice. So, whether you want to learn Japanese, Hinder even Indonesian, there is the chance for you to do just this with the help of the online programming which also provides you with a solid application and programming that you can download to your mobile device or tablet. After all, you are a busy individual and you don’t always have time to just sit around and work on a language program. Instead, you can actually take advantage of any downtime you might have and listen to programming, podcasts and audio books, all of which are designed to help you learn a new language.

If you want to learn a new language it doesn’t mean you have to invest money right off the bat. Instead, start with some of the free online language tools until you build momentum. Then once you’re ready to commit to a structured program, check out our reviews to see which one is best for your needs.

www.livemocha.co

Here, I provide honest language software reviews of the top brands in the industry today. There are many pros and cons to consider when choosing a platform, and I discuss these details in depth within the individual reviews. But for your quick reference, I present this easy to use chart:

Language Software Reviews:  Top 5 Platforms

Provider Pros & Cons Cost
1) Rocket Languages ++Best Interface ++Money Back Guarantee +Excellent Content +Good Price Average
2) Transparent Languages  ++Lots of Variety +Good Tech Support +Fair Price -A bit boring Average
3) Primsleur  +Established Company +Good Interface -A bit costly -Mostly Audio Above Average
4) Rosetta Stone  +Established Company +Language Exchange -Expensive -Outdated Platform Expensive
5) Babbel  +Plenty of Material -Awkward Interface -Poor Customer Support -Overpriced Above Average
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Languages

Which Languages are spoken in each country? Languages of the World

Languages of the World

Languages by Countries A-Z

Languages in Afghanistan

 Dari Persian, Pashtu

Languages in Albania

 Albanian (Tosk is the official dialect), Greek

Languages in Algeria

 Arabic, French, Berber dialects

Languages in Andorra

 Catalán (official), French, Castilian, Portuguese

Languages in Angola

 Portuguese (official), Bantu

Languages in Argentina

 Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

Languages in Armenia

 Armenian 95%, Yezidi, Russian

Languages in Australia

 English 80%, native

Languages in Austria

 German (official nationwide); Slovene, Croatian, Hungarian (each official in one region)

Languages in Azerbaijan

 Azerbaijani Turkic 90%, Russian 2%, Armenian 2%

Languages in Bahamas

 English (official), Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

Languages in Bahrain

 Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu

Languages in Bangladesh

 Bangla (official), English

Languages in Barbados

 English

Languages in Belarus

 Belorussian (White Russian), Russian, other

Languages in Belgium

 Dutch (Flemish) 60%, French 40%, German less than 1%

Languages in Belize

 English (official), Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib), Creole

Languages in Bhutan

 Dzongkha (official), Tibetan dialects (among Bhotes), Nepalese dialects (among Nepalese)

Languages in Bolivia

 Spanish, Quechua, Aymara (all official)

Languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian

Languages in Botswana

 English 1% (official), Setswana 79%, Kalanga 8%, Sekgalagadi 3%

Languages in Brazil

 Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Languages in Brunei

 Malay (official), English, Chinese

Languages in Bulgaria

 Bulgarian 85%, Turkish 10%, Roma 5%

Languages in Burkina Faso

 French (official); native African (Sudanic) languages 90%

Languages in Burundi

 Kirundi and French (official), Swahili

Languages in Cambodia

 Khmer 95% (official), French, English

Languages in Cameroon

 French, English (both official); 24 major African language groups

Languages in Canada

 English 59.3%, French 23.2% (both official); other 17.5%

Languages in Cape Verde

 Portuguese, Criuolo

Languages in Central African Republic

 French (official), Sangho (lingua franca, national), tribal languages

Languages in Chad

 French, Arabic (both official); Sara; more than 120 languages and dialects

Languages in Chile

 Spanish

Languages in China

 Standard Chinese (Mandarin/Putonghua), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages

Languages in Colombia

 Spanish

Languages in Congo

 French (official), Lingala, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba

Languages in Costa Rica

 Spanish (official), English

Languages in Côte d’Ivoire

 French (official) and African languages

Languages in Croatia

 Croatian 96% (official), other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, German)

Languages in Cuba

 Spanish

Languages in Cyprus

 Greek, Turkish (both official); English

Languages in Czech Republic

 Czech

Languages in Denmark

 Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (Inuit dialect), German; English is the predominant second language

Languages in Ecuador

 Spanish (official), Quechua, other Amerindian languages

Languages in Egypt

 Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Languages in El Salvador

 Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)

Languages in Estonia

 Estonian 67% (official), Russian 30%

Languages in Ethiopia

 Amharic, Tigrigna, Orominga, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, English, over 70 others

Languages in Fiji

 English (official), Fijian, Hindustani

Languages in Finland

 Finnish 92%, Swedish 6% (both official); small Sami- (Lapp) and Russian-speaking minorities

Languages in France

 French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

Languages in Gabon

 French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi

Languages in Gambia

 English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous

Languages in Georgia

 Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azerbaijani 6%, other 7% (Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia)

Languages in Germany

 German

Languages in Ghana

 English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)

Languages in Greece

 Greek 99% (official), English, French

Languages in Grenada

 English (official), French patois

Languages in Guatemala

 Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)

Languages in Guinea

 French (official), native tongues (Malinké, Susu, Fulani)

Languages in Haiti

 Creole and French (both official)

Languages in Hungary

 Magyar (Hungarian) 95%, other 5%

Languages in Iceland

 Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken

Languages in India

 Hindi 30%, English, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, Assamese, Sanskrit, Sindhi (all official); Hindi/Urdu; 1,600+ dialects

Languages in Indonesia

 Bahasa Indonesia (official), English, Dutch, Javanese, and more than 580 other languages and dialects

Languages in Iran

 Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%

Languages in Iraq

 Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian

Languages in Ireland

 English, Irish (Gaelic) (both official)

Languages in Israel

 Hebrew (official), Arabic, English

Languages in Italy

 Italian (official); German-, French-, and Slovene-speaking minorities

Languages in Jamaica

 English, Jamaican Creole

Languages in Japan

 Japanese

Languages in Jordan

 Arabic (official), English

Languages in Kazakhstan

 Kazak (Qazaq, state language) 64%; Russian (official, used in everyday business) 95%

Languages in Kenya

 English (official), Swahili (national), and numerous indigenous languages

Languages in South Korea

 Korean, English widely taught

Languages in Kuwait

 Arabic (official), English

Languages in Laos

 Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages

Languages in Latvia

 Latvian 58% (official), Russian 38%, Lithuanian, other (2000)

Languages in Lebanon

 Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian

Languages in Liberia

 English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic-group languages

Languages in Libya

 Arabic, Italian, and English widely understood in major cities

Languages in Liechtenstein

 German (official), Alemannic dialect

Languages in Lithuania

 Lithuanian 82% (official), Russian 8%, Polish 6% (2001)

Languages in Luxembourg

 Luxembourgish (national) French, German (both administrative)

Languages in Macedonia

 Macedonian 67%, Albanian 25% (both official); Turkish 4%, Roma 2%, Serbian 1% (2002)

Languages in Madagascar

 Malagasy and French (both official)

Languages in Malaysia

 Bahasa Melayu (Malay, official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; several indigenous languages (including Iban, Kadazan) in East Malaysia

Languages in Maldives

 Maldivian Dhivehi (official); English spoken by most government officials

Languages in Mali

 French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages

Languages in Malta

 Maltese and English (both official)

Languages in Mauritius

 English less than 1% (official), Creole 81%, Bojpoori 12%, French 3%

Languages in Mexico

 Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl

Languages in Moldova

 Moldovan (official; virtually the same as Romanian), Russian, Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)

Languages in Monaco

 French (official), English, Italian, Monégasque

Languages in Mongolia

 Mongolian, 90%; also Turkic and Russian

Languages in Montenegro

 Serbian/Montenegrin (Ijekavian dialect—official)

Languages in Morocco

 Arabic (official), Berber dialects, French often used for business, government, and diplomacy

Languages in Namibia

 English 7% (official), Afrikaans is common language of most of the population and of about 60% of the white population, German 32%; indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama

Languages in Nepal

 Nepali 48% (official), Maithali 12%, Bhojpuri 7%, Tharu 6%, Tamang 5%, others. English spoken by many in government and business (2001)

Languages in Netherlands

 Dutch, Frisian (both official)

Languages in New Zealand

 English, Maori (both official)

Languages in Nicaragua

 Spanish 98% (official); English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast (1995)

Languages in Nigeria

 English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani, and more than 200 others

Languages in Norway

 Bokmål Norwegian, Nynorsk Norwegian (both official); small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities (Sami is official in six municipalities)

Languages in Oman

 Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects

Languages in Pakistan

 Urdu 8%, English (both official); Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashtu 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, Burushaski, and others 8%

Languages in Palestinian State

 Arabic, Hebrew, English

Languages in Panama

 Spanish (official), English 14%, many bilingual

Languages in Papua New Guinea

 Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin, the lingua franca), Hiri Motu (in Papua region), English 1%–2%; 715 indigenous languages

Languages in Paraguay

 Spanish, Guaraní (both official)

Languages in Peru

 Spanish, Quéchua (both official); Aymara; many minor Amazonian languages

Languages in Philippines

 Filipino (based on Tagalog), English (both official); eight major dialects: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense

Languages in Poland

 Polish 98%

Languages in Portugal

 Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official, but locally used)

Languages in Qatar

 Arabic (official); English a common second language

Languages in Romania

 Romanian (official), Hungarian, German

Languages in Russia

 Russian, others

Languages in Rwanda

 Kinyarwanda, French, and English (all official); Kiswahili in commercial centres

Languages in Samoa

 Samoan, English

Languages in San Marino

 Italian

Languages in Saudi Arabia

 Arabic

Languages in Senegal

 French (official); Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka

Languages in Serbia

 Serbian (official); Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, and Croatian (all official in Vojvodina); Albanian (official in Kosovo)

Languages in Seychelles

 Seselwa Creole 92%, English 5%, French (all official) (2002)

Languages in Sierra Leone

 English (official), Mende (southern vernacular), Temne (northern vernacular), Krio (lingua franca)

Languages in Singapore

 Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9%

Languages in Slovakia

 Slovak 84% (official), Hungarian 11%, Roma 2%, Ukrainian 1% (2001)

Languages in Slovenia

 Slovenian 91%, Serbo-Croatian 5% (2002)

Languages in Solomon Islands

 English 1%–2% (official), Melanesian pidgin (lingua franca), 120 indigenous languages

Languages in Somalia

 Somali (official), Arabic, English, Italian

Languages in South Africa

 IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2%

Languages in South Sudan

 English (official), Arabic (includes Juba and Sudanese variants) (official), regional languages include Dinka, Nuer, Bari, Zande, Shilluk

Languages in Spain

 Castilian Spanish 74% (official nationwide); Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% (each official regionally)

Languages in Sri Lanka

 Sinhala 74% (official and national), Tamil 18% (national), other 8%; English is commonly used in government and spoken competently by about 10%

Languages in Sudan

 Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English

Languages in Sweden

 Swedish, small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities

Languages in Switzerland

 German 64%, French 20%, Italian 7% (all official); Romansch 0.5% (national)

Languages in Syria

 Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood

Languages in Taiwan

 Chinese (Mandarin, official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects

Languages in Tanzania

 Swahili, English (both official); Arabic; many local languages

Languages in Thailand

 Thai (Siamese), English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects

Languages in Togo

 French (official, commerce); Ewé, Mina (south); Kabyé, Dagomba (north); and many dialects

Languages in Tonga

 Tongan (an Austronesian language), English

Languages in Trinidad and Tobago

 English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish, Chinese

Languages in Tunisia

 Arabic (official, commerce), French (commerce)

Languages in Turkey

 Turkish (official), Kurdish, Dimli, Azeri, Kabardian

Languages in Turkmenistan

 Turkmen 72%; Russian 12%; Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Languages in Uganda

 English (official), Ganda or Luganda, other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic

Languages in Ukraine

 Ukrainian 67%, Russian 24%, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian

Languages in UAE

 Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu

Languages in UK

 English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic

Languages in USA

 English 82%, Spanish 11%

Languages in Uruguay

 Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero

Languages in Uzbekistan

 Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%

Languages in Vatican City

 Italian, Latin, French, various other languages

Languages in Venezuela

 Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects

Languages in Vietnam

 Vietnamese (official); English (increasingly favored as a second language); some French, Chinese, Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

Languages in Yemen

 Arabic

Languages in Zambia

 English (official); major vernaculars: Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga; about 70 other indigenous languages

Languages in Zimbabwe

 English (official), Shona, Ndebele (Sindebele), numerous minor tribal dialects
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