Constantly living in the same environment does not make it possible to fully understand what the native language means to a person. When there are no difficulties in overcoming the language barrier, few people think about the role of communication for the psychological and moral state of each individual. Sometimes only the arrival of foreigners can shake confidence and peace. Even the slightest difference in languages with the inhabitants of the countries makes it clear how difficult it is for a person without understanding the speech of his interlocutor.
The importance of speaking skill in a person’s life
From birth, a child is instilled with knowledge and skills that will help in life. And speech is one of the most important skills that a small person masters. Remember how awkward you feel when you cannot understand what exactly a two-year-old child wants from you. Babbling and distorting words, he tries with all his might to convey his point of view, desire, emotions. And if it is simply difficult for adults to understand such a “conversation,” then it is sometimes even more difficult for a child. Despite all his efforts, he remained unheard. It is from this age that it is important to form in children an understanding of what their native language means for a person, to instill a love for words.
How to educate in your native language?
It is very important to help children learn the language. And this applies not only to the school curriculum. In educational institutions, teachers polish the basis already acquired by the child, expanding the vocabulary, and correct some errors that are present in the speech of the child and his environment. But you cannot place all your hopes only on the school curriculum, which is limited by scope, time and methods. Teachers cannot always convey to their students the role of their native language in a person’s life. Discussions, reading, watching films, listening to songs in a relaxed home environment will be the key not only to spending time together, but also to preserving the native language.
The language of a people is a mirror of its soul, cultural heritage
Language is not only a tool for communication between different people. The meaning of the native language in a person’s life is much deeper and more important. He is the bearer of the culture, mentality, traditions and history of every nation. There are more than 6 thousand different languages in the world. Some of them are similar, and representatives of nearby countries can understand each other’s spoken language in whole or in part, others are absolutely incomprehensible and have nothing in common with the native dialect of a person. Even within the same country, different dialects may be in use.
Each of them is the highlight of the region, its soul. After all, language is a reflection of the thoughts of both one individual person and a group of people, an entire nation. This is a defining component of national unity, uniting people who are different in spirit, way of existence, and social aspects. E. Sapir’s statement very characteristically describes the role of language in the formation of culture as a phenomenon and the culture of an individual person: “Culture can be defined as what a given society does and thinks. Language is how one thinks.”
Away is good, but home is better
The easier it is to understand what a person’s native language means, the further he is from his home. This problem is felt very acutely by emigrants who, due to various circumstances, were forced to leave their homeland. The need for communication, which cannot be fully satisfied by speaking a foreign language, pushes people to create interest groups, communities, and diasporas. Very often, such communities preserve centuries-old traditions much more reverently and reliably than their compatriots who do not experience difficulties of a similar nature.
It is very important to have the opportunity to hear, speak, and understand your native language every day. In it, it is a kind of path connecting him with home and loved ones. It is not for nothing that many, unable to bear the separation from their native land and suffering from nostalgia, are unable to settle down in a foreign land. Often the reason for this is not only the economic aspect, but different mentality and habits. The impossibility of free communication in the language in which you think becomes an insurmountable obstacle to permanent residence abroad.
After all, the lack of speaking practice, writing, and reading can lead to forgetting and distortion of even the native language that a person has been using since birth. Of course, some everyday phrases, absorbed with mother's milk, will not disappear forever, but vocabulary, the ability to speak freely and without an accent may be lost. It is all the more important to try to preserve a piece of your homeland, to cherish and glorify it through the word.
Is it necessary to teach a child their native language while living abroad?
For every person, their native language is the language they speak from birth, these are mothers’ lullabies, first questions and answers. However, what about children born in a country foreign to their parents, or those who moved to a new area while still a toddler? How to determine which language is their native language? How can you explain the difference between two different ways of expressing your thoughts and feelings?
The trends of the modern world are such that knowledge of several foreign languages is no longer a whim or desire of parents. Most often, this is a necessity, without which it is difficult to navigate in adult life and get a good job. Psychologists and teachers say that it is much easier for a child to learn a language than for an adult. Moreover, the basic foundation is laid at a very young age, even before school. The brain’s ability to perceive information in this period of life is colossal. Children living in a bilingual country or family can freely communicate both in the generally accepted language and in their native language.
It is very important for parents to pay a lot of attention to their native speech, because school and communication with peers will help the child speak competently and clearly in the language necessary for life. But a complete absence or lack of practice will lead to the fact that the native language is completely erased from memory, forgotten and the invisible thread connecting a person and his homeland is severed.
How to overcome the language barrier
Often communication problems arise due to a person’s inability to solve this problem. An extensive vocabulary, understanding of the basics of grammar, and ways of constructing sentences still do not provide the opportunity for free communication. Such difficulties occur due to a lack of understanding of the spoken language. The acquisition of the necessary skills occurs only during live communication, through reading fiction, periodicals, and watching movies. At the same time, it is important not to forget to improve the pronunciation of individual words and phrases. What a person’s native language means will help you figure out the knowledge of several dialects. And only by feeling the difference can you really understand how much you love your country and its language.
At first glance, the answer to this question is simple: my native language is the language of my people. But here is an interesting statement by the wonderful Russian poet, Decembrist, friend of A. S. Pushkin, Wilhelm Kuchelbecker: “I am German by father and mother, but not by language: until I was six years old, I did not know a word of German; My natural language is Russian.”
Then, perhaps, the native language is the official language of our homeland - the country where we were born and live? However, why, for example, in my native Ukraine are there so many people who speak Ukrainian well and love it, but at home and with friends they speak only Russian? They prefer Russian films and TV shows, and even read all seven books about Harry Potter in Russian translation, although the Ukrainian one usually appeared a couple of months earlier. And similar examples can be found in any country, at any time...
In search of a true answer to all these questions, let us turn to one of the best experts on the Russian and Ukrainian languages, the creator of the “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language” and the collector of the first Russian-Ukrainian dictionary, Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl. His father was Danish by birth, and his mother was French.
Pondering the most complex problem of scientifically determining a person’s nationality, Dahl came to the conclusion: “The spirit, the soul of a person - that’s where you need to look for his belonging to one or another people. How can one determine the identity of a spirit? Of course, by the manifestation of the spirit – by thought. Whoever thinks in what language belongs to that people. I think in Russian."
Modern linguists have used Dahl's insightful ideas to define the concept of mother tongue. So, a given person’s native language is the language in which he usually thinks. As a rule, this is the language of the parents, which the baby hears and assimilates from the first hours of life.
Having grown up, we, of course, no longer remember this, but our mothers began to communicate with us as soon as they first held us in their arms. They talked to us when they swaddled us, fed us, and put us to bed. Not counting on our verbal reaction at first, they still made pauses in their speech necessary for a response, and sometimes they themselves answered for us, setting an example that we unconsciously learned... Many of our linguistic knowledge and speech skills appeared, thanks to this one-sided, at first glance, communication with my mother. That is why in some European and Asian languages there is no such thing as a native language, but there is a mother language.
“And I can think in Russian, and Ukrainian, and English, and a little more in French. So, do I have four native languages? Many people probably have similar questions. Therefore, the definition needs to be clarified.
The fact is that there is a difference between verbal communication and verbal thinking. With more or less ease, we can silently, without opening our mouth, communicate with an imaginary interlocutor and even with ourselves in any learned language (linguists call this action inner speech). However, when we think about our life plan for the next month, try to understand and evaluate the unexpected act of a friend, look for arguments for a serious conversation with our parents, write down an important conclusion in our personal diary, when we feel very bad or, conversely, very good - we, as a rule, think in native language.
Why is this happening? Yes, because in our native language we have a larger vocabulary and its grammar is more familiar. Our native language is like the right hand of our intellect, the well-worn shoes of our thoughts. In other words, a person’s native language is the language in which it is easiest and most convenient for him to think, ponder, invent, that is, use his verbal thinking in a creative, productive, constructive mode.
Having a correct understanding of your native language is also important for this reason. According to the International Organization of Applied Psycholinguistics (ICPL), when learning in a non-native language, the mental and general psychological development of a child slows down by 20 to 40 percent. Surely the above article raised other questions. And if the father and mother have different native languages, what will the child’s native language be? Is the native language always the language of the parents? But how to explain the examples of Dahl and Kuchelbecker? Under what conditions can you master several languages as if they were native? Can a person change his native language during his life?..
You can find arguments and facts for these problematic issues in another article on the same site - “How many native languages can a person have?” (Internet search: Svetozar – page Entertaining linguistics – section Language and society).
However, it is not enough for a real teacher to know the truth - he must convey it to his students in a vivid and memorable form. We wish you, dear colleagues, inspiration, perseverance and good luck!
V. I. KOVALYOV,
Ph.D. ped. Sciences, teacher of Russian language and literature Secondary School No. 54, Lugansk
3 comments on ““V.I. Kovalev. WHAT IS MY NATIVE LANGUAGE?”
And I’m annoyed that some modern scientists write articles not based on the results of personal research, but based on someone else’s opinion. And then, instead of looking for the truth and answering simple questions, they try to drag their opponents through the mud, to tell them that they are uneducated, in contrast to the great and terrible, who considers a quote and a reference to authority to be the most important argument. This is not science, but a way of self-affirmation. I read your article carefully. And had fun. I just imagined how you, in order to determine what a person’s native language is, threateningly order him: “Come on, think about the innermost! Write an entry in your diary!” Don't hide behind other people's names. Try to think)
Mister Associate Professor, you so confidently said that “However, when we think about our life plan for the next month, try to understand and evaluate the unexpected act of a friend, look for arguments for a serious conversation with our parents, write down an important conclusion in our personal diary when we feel very bad or , on the contrary, it’s very good - we, as a rule (I am amused by this “as a rule”. Is this how you define your native language at random? This is not a rule, but as a rule? - user), we think in our native language.” But this can only be said if you yourself are sufficiently fluent in a foreign language and have experience of long-term communication in it. In connection with this question. Please tell me: a) what foreign languages do you speak? Because in order to claim that a native language is one in which someone thinks about something that they cannot think about in a foreign language, one must simply be able to at least speak and think in this foreign language. b) knowing your answer to the first question, I’ll ask the second: on what basis did you decide that a person who knows a foreign language cannot think about some lofty matters in it? Are there any laboratory studies to confirm this? The data from psycholinguists that you refer to do not appeal to the native language, but to the language in which a person communicates and thinks in everyday life, that is, to the functional first language. But our children studying abroad, having entered the language environment, learned the language, making it functionally the first, quickly acclimatize in this educational space. Moreover, they find it difficult to adapt to learning in their native language. So, following your logic, did they change their native language? In short: “you came up with something absurd)))” (C)
I am also annoyed that there are such “some modern scientists”. Personally, I don’t consider the quote and link to be the main argument. When I try to find the truth and answer difficult questions, I reflect on classic research in this area and my own experience. In any case, I am glad of your cheerful, cheerful reaction to my modest thoughts. After all, “humor is a life preserver on the waves of life.”
Native language... Many believe that knowing your native language is a great happiness, since knowing your native language gives a person a lot: both a sense of self-confidence and a sense of pride in the achievements in the field of spiritual culture of his people, which he can learn with the help of his native language language. All this is very important for a person.
Dear... this is how we usually address a person when we have the warmest feelings for him. This word exudes maternal love, the warmth of home, the joy of meeting dear family and loved ones. When we speak our native language, we also give the word language special meaning. This is the language that our ancestors, our grandparents spoke, the language that we heard from childhood, and that our mothers and fathers spoke, whom we love very much and therefore our native language is so dear to us.
Knowledge of the native language is a manifestation of a genuine sense of national dignity and high ethnic consciousness, and the native language is of great value. It is the main instrument for preserving and developing the spiritual culture of the people.
There are thousands of peoples on planet Earth. These are thousands of languages, the exact number is difficult to even calculate - somewhere around 7 thousand, but maybe more. It would seem that enormous linguistic and cultural diversity was created by the genius of man, and there is nothing to worry about! But... today there is cause for alarm as this wonderful linguistic and cultural diversity is in danger of disappearing. It is believed that languages are disappearing at a faster rate than ever before. Scientists have calculated that in a few decades only half of the existing languages will remain - only 3 thousand. This means that along with the languages, the original cultures and the peoples themselves will disappear. This is a huge loss for all humanity, since cultural diversity is the key to the development of all existing cultures.
First of all, the languages of the most disadvantaged peoples - the indigenous - disappear due to the fact that other peoples (the British, Spaniards, French and others) came to their lands, on which they traditionally lived and led a traditional way of life, whose empires, expanding, conquered more and more territories in America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. In the occupied territories they imposed their languages, cultures, and religions on the indigenous peoples. That is why now the most common languages in the world are English, Spanish, and French, and the languages of indigenous peoples are disappearing. This is a serious problem and many scientists and public figures concerned about this are sounding the alarm, writing articles about the need for urgent measures to save languages, and taking some measures to record, study and revive the languages of indigenous peoples. The world has realized that with the disappearance of languages, the richness of cultural diversity will disappear and become duller.
Concerned about the disappearance of languages, the UN specialized agency for education, science and culture - UNESCO - compiled an Atlas of the World's Endangered Languages and proclaimed in 1999 International Mother Language Day, which is celebrated on February 21 around the world. The first Atlas of Endangered Languages was published in 2001. Then, out of 6,900 languages, 900 languages were recognized as endangered. Eight years later, in the second edition of the Atlas, the number of endangered languages was already 2,700, that is, it had tripled! Solving the problem of endangered languages requires large financial expenditures, so governments have little or no hearing from concerned publics.
The language situation in Russia is also deplorable. Many languages of indigenous peoples are disappearing, not only of small peoples, but also of numerous ones (Udmurts, Karelians, Buryats and others). The situation is especially difficult among the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East - of the 40 languages, the majority are classified as endangered languages. The situation is especially alarming among the Orochs, Nivkhs, Kets, Udeges, Selkups, Itelmens, Sami, Evenks, Shors, Yukaghirs and others. The main criterion for classifying a language as an endangered language is the number of children who know their native language. If the overwhelming majority of children and young people do not know their native language, then the language is endangered, even if the total number of representatives of the people is hundreds of thousands. This is due to the fact that with the passing of the older generation, there will be no native speakers left, since the language has not been transferred from the older generation to the younger.
Our country has laid down the legal foundations for the preservation of the languages of indigenous peoples (the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the law on the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation), which states that “the languages of the peoples of Russia are the national heritage of the Russian state”, that “the state contributes to the creation of conditions for the preservation of the languages of indigenous peoples”, but in real life the conditions for this are not created. The revival of languages is mainly carried out by enthusiasts. They are trying to do at least something to preserve languages. Thanks to their petitions and efforts, clubs are opened, native language classes are taught in some places, and books are published. But this is clearly not enough, it cannot solve the problem and languages continue to disappear. We need a targeted state program for the revival of the languages of the indigenous peoples of Russia and significant financial expenditures for it.
The Shor language is the language of the indigenous people of the south of Kuzbass and is one of the endangered languages. There are about 400 people left (3% of the total number of Shors) who speak the Shor language, and this figure is constantly decreasing. In 20-30 years, there may be no native speakers of the Shor language left and the language will become dead. This means that there will be no poems and songs in the Shor language, there will be no ensembles, there will be no Payrams and cultural events, there will be no books. The Shor culture will die completely. The remaining “Shorians” will have no choice but to change their ethnic identity (and only a few will be capable of this), or they will become even more drunk, fall into depression, and lead a deplorable existence, since they will lose the main support in modern multi-ethnic life - Shor culture and language. From the above we can conclude: the future of modern young Shors and their children is in their hands - they need to learn the Shor language from the remaining native speakers of the Shor language and create a Shor language environment in the family so that children know their native language and speak it fluently. Children are the future of the people. If they learn their native language, they can pass it on to their children, and the language will not disappear. Knowledge of two languages - Shor and Russian - is quite within the capabilities of Shor youth.
Abandoning one’s native language can lead to tragedy, but knowledge of two or more languages, on the contrary, makes a person spiritually richer, more successful, smarter and happier, opens up new opportunities in life, as a person becomes familiar with several cultures and takes from them for his development the best. In the modern globalized world, bilingualism (speaking two languages) and multilingualism (more than two languages) are widespread. For example, in India and Cameroon many speak 3-4 languages, and in Europe - also in Japan - two official languages (Japanese and English), which all Japanese study and know.
In conclusion, I would like to quote the wonderful words of the great German scientist Wilhelm von Humboldt: “Through the diversity of languages, the richness of the world and the diversity of what we perceive in it are revealed to us, and human existence becomes broader for us, since languages give us in distinct and effective ways different ways of thinking and perceiving.”.
Russia is a multinational country, and therefore multilingual. Linguistic scientists count 150 languages - here both a language such as Russian, which is spoken by 97.72% of the population in Russia, and the language of the Negidals - a small people (only 622 people!) Living on the Amur River - are taken into account on equal terms.
Some languages are very similar: people can each speak their own language and at the same time understand each other perfectly, for example, Russian - Belarusian, Tatar - Bashkir, Kalmyk - Buryat. In other languages, although they also have a lot in common - sounds, some words, grammar - it will still not be possible to come to an agreement: a Mari with a Mordovian, a Lezgin with an Avar. And finally, there are languages - scientists call them isolated - unlike any other. These are the languages of the Kets, Nivkhs and Yukaghirs.
Most of the languages of Russia belong to one of four language families :
- Indo-European;
- Altai;
- Ural;
- North Caucasian.
Every family has a common ancestor language - proto-language. Ancient tribes who spoke such a proto-language moved, mixed with other peoples, and the once single language split into several. This is how many languages arose on Earth.
Let's say Russian belongs to Indo-European family . In the same family - English and German, Hindi and Farsi, Ossetian and Spanish (and many, many others). Part of the family group Slavic languages. Here, Czech and Polish, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian, etc. coexist with Russian. And together with closely related Ukrainian and Belarusian, it is included in the subgroup East Slavic languages . Indo-European languages are spoken in Russia by more than 87% of the population, but only 2% of them are not Slavic. These are Germanic languages: German and Yiddish; Armenian (one makes up a group); Iranian languages: Ossetian, Tat, Kurdish and Tajik; Romance: Moldavian; and even modern Indian languages spoken by gypsies in Russia.
Altai family in Russia it is represented by three groups: Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu. There are only two peoples who speak Mongolian languages - Kalmyks and Buryats, but just the enumeration of Turkic languages may surprise you. These are Chuvash, Tatar, Bashkir, Karachay-Balkar, Nogai, Kumyk, Altai, Khakass, Shor, Tuvan, Tofalar, Yakut, Dolgan, Azerbaijani, etc. Most of these peoples live in Russia. Turkic peoples such as Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, and Uzbeks also live in our country. The Tungus-Manchu languages include Evenki, Even, Negidal, Nanai, Oroch, Orok, Udege and Ulch.
Sometimes the question arises: where is a separate language, and where are only dialects of the same language? For example, many linguists in Kazan believe that Bashkir is a dialect of Tatar, and the same number of specialists in Ufa are convinced that these are two completely independent languages. Similar disputes occur not only regarding Tatar and Bashkir.
To the Ural language family relate Finno-Ugric and Samolian groups . The concept “Finnish” is conditional - in this case it does not mean the official language of Finland. It’s just that the languages included in this group have related grammars and similar sounds, especially if you don’t parse the words and listen only to the melody. Finnish languages are spoken by Karelians, Vepsians, Izhorians, Vods, Komi, Maris, Mordovians, Udmurts, and Sami. There are two Ugric languages in Russia: Khanty and Mansi (and the third Ugric is spoken by Hungarians). The Samoyed languages are spoken by the Nenets, Nganasans, Enets, and Selkups. The Yukaghir language is genetically close to Uralic. These peoples are very small in number, and their languages cannot be heard outside the north of Russia.
North Caucasian family - the concept is quite arbitrary. Unless specialist linguists understand the ancient kinship of the languages of the Caucasus. These languages have very complex grammar and extremely difficult phonetics. They contain sounds that are completely inaccessible to people who speak other dialects.
Experts divide North Caucasian languages into Akh-Lagestan and Abkhaz-Adyghe groups . On Nakh The Vainakhs speak mutually understandable languages - this is the common name for the Chechens and Ingush. (The group received its name from the self-name of the Chechens - nakhchi.)
Representatives of approximately 30 nations live in Dagestan. “Approximately” - because not all the languages of these peoples have been studied, and very often people determine their nationality precisely by language.
To the Dagestan languages include Avar, Andean, Iez, Ginukh, Gunzib, Bezhta, Khvarshin, Lak, Dargin, Lezgin, Tabasaran, Agul, Rutul... We named the largest Dagestan languages, but did not list even half. It’s not for nothing that this republic was called the “mountain of languages.” And a “paradise for linguists”: the field of activity for them here is vast.
Abkhaz-Adyghe languages are spoken by related peoples. In Adyghe - Kabardians, Adygeans, Circassians, Shapsugs; in Abkhazian - Abkhazians and Abazins. But not everything is so simple in this classification. Kabardians, Adyghe, Circassians and Shapsugs consider themselves a single people - Adyghe - with one language, Adyghe, and official sources call four Adyghe peoples.
In Russia there are languages that are not included in any of the four families. These are primarily the languages of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East. All of them are few in number. In the Chukchi-Kamchatka languages Chukchi, Koryak and Itelmen speak; on Eskimo-Aleutian - Eskimos and Aleuts. The languages of the Kets on the Yenisei and the Nivkhs on Sakhalin and Amur are not included in any language family.
There are many languages, and in order for people to agree, they need a common one. In Russia, it became Russian, because Russians are the most numerous people in the country and they live in all its corners. It is the language of great literature, science and international communication.
Languages, of course, are equal, but even the richest country cannot publish, for example, books on all issues in the language of several hundred people. Or even several tens of thousands. In a language that is spoken by millions, this is feasible.
Many peoples of Russia have lost or are losing their languages, especially representatives of small nations. Thus, they have practically forgotten the native language of the Chu-lymys - a small Turkic-speaking people in Siberia. The list, unfortunately, is long. In Russian cities, Russian is becoming the common language for the multinational population. And most often the only one. However, recently national cultural and educational societies have taken care of their own languages in large centers. They usually organize Sunday schools for children.
Most languages of Russia before the 20s. XX century had no writing. Georgians, Armenians, and Jews had their own alphabet. Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and Finns wrote in the Latin alphabet (Latin alphabet). Some languages are still unwritten.
The first attempts to create a written language for the peoples of Russia were made even before the revolution, but they began to take this seriously in the 20s: they reformed the Arabic script, adapting it to the phonetics of the Turkic languages. It did not fit into the languages of the peoples of the Caucasus. They developed a Latin alphabet, but there were not enough letters to accurately designate sounds in the languages of small nations. From 1936 to 1941, the languages of the peoples of Russia (and the USSR) were translated into the Slavic alphabet (except for those that had their own, which was also ancient), superscripts were added, tall straight sticks to indicate guttural sounds, and combinations of letters that were strange to the Russian eye like "ь" and "ь" after vowels. It was believed that a single alphabet helped to better master the Russian language. Recently, some languages have begun to use the Latin alphabet again.
Culture
The development of oral communication skills can probably be considered one of the most significant achievements in the field of human relationships on our planet. Moreover, since humanity first began to develop the language of communication, many variations and varieties of different languages have appeared, while the process of modification of this tool of communication continues today. Information about the number of languages on our planet is extremely contradictory, but according to some data their number exceeds six thousand. However, the following ten languages are used on our planet by the largest number of people (the number of people for whom a particular language is native is presented in brackets).
10. German (90 million people)
The German language belongs to the so-called Indo-European family of languages, the Germanic branch (in fact, like English). The German language is used mainly in Germany, having the status of an official language there. However, German is also an official language in Austria, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg; he is also one of the official languages of Belgium(along with Dutch and French); one of the four official languages of Switzerland (along with French, Italian and the so-called Swiss Romansh); as well as the official language of part of the population of the Italian city of Bolzano. In addition, it is known that small groups of citizens living in countries such as Poland, Denmark, Hungary and the Czech Republic also communicate in German.
9. Japanese (132 million people)
The Japanese language belongs to the category of the so-called Japanese-Ryukyu languages (which also includes the Ryukyu language itself, which is spoken on the island of Okinawa as part of the group of islands of the same name). Most people whose native language is Japanese live in Japan. However, people for whom Japanese is also their native language can be found in Korea, the United States of America, Europe... Japanese is the official language in Japan, but it also has official status in one of the states in the Republic of Palau - an island state in the western Pacific ocean.
8. Russian language (144 million people)
Russian belongs to the East Slavic subgroup of languages in the Slavic group, which also includes Belarusian and Ukrainian languages. The vast majority of Russian-speaking people for whom Russian is their native language live, of course, in the Russian Federation, where Russian, in fact, has the status of an official language. Besides, it is a well-known fact that a large number of Russian-speaking people live in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other republics of the former Soviet Union (and not only). It is noteworthy that in this top ten most widely used languages, Russian is the only language that uses the Cyrillic alphabet.
7. Portuguese (178 million people)
Portuguese belongs to the Romance group of languages. As is the case with other languages of this group, Latin is considered one of the predecessors of the Portuguese language. Portuguese is considered an official language in Portugal and Brazil, where he lives the vast majority of the world's population speaking it. In addition, Portuguese is considered the official language in Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Uruguay and Argentina. Today, Portuguese is one of the four most frequently studied languages (according to some sources, about 30 million people study it).
6. Bengali (181 million people)
The Bengali language (or Bengali language) belongs to the so-called Indo-Aryan branch, along with languages such as Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. Most people who speak this language live in the Republic of Bangladesh, where Bengali is the official language. Moreover, people speak it who live in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. This language is also spoken by some people living in Europe, the United States of America and even Saudi Arabia. The Bengali language is characterized by a rich literary tradition. In addition, the concept of Bengali nationalism is widely known in the world. The basis of Bengali writing is related to the basis of Sanskrit and Hindi writing.
5. Arabic (221 million people)
Arabic belongs to the so-called Semitic family of languages, which includes languages of the Arabian subgroup such as Syriac and Chaldean (now a dead language). Arabic is the most spoken language in the Middle East and North Africa. It is official in 26 countries of the world. It is also spoken in Israel. In addition, in Europe, as in North America, there are a lot of people who speak Arabic. As you know, the holy book of all Muslims in the world, the Koran, was written in this language. To write Arabic, it uses the Arabic alphabet.
4. Hindi language (242 million people)
Hindi is a member of the Indo-European family of languages and belongs to the Indo-Aryan group (as does the Urdu language). This language has many dialects, but its official forms are the so-called Standard Hindi and Standard Urdu. However, these two forms can sometimes be quite difficult to distinguish from each other. Hindi is known to is the official language of India, while Urdu is the official language in Pakistan. Hindi and Urdu are spoken in parts of Europe and North America, where large numbers of people from India and Pakistan now live. To write in these languages, the Hindi alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are used (this fact indicates the influence that Islam had on Urdu).
3. English (328 million people)
English, like German, belongs to the West Germanic group of languages. The roots of this language are considered to be Anglo-Saxon (so-called Old English). Much of English was borrowed from Latin and French due to the Norman conquerors. Despite the fact that the birthplace of this language is the British Isles, the largest proportion of people who speak English currently lives in the United States of America(more than 309 million English-speaking citizens). English is spoken in 53 countries around the world, where it is one of the official languages. These countries include Canada, South Africa, Jamaica, New Zealand, Australia and, of course, the UK. English is also spoken in many countries in the Pacific region, and in India it is considered almost another official language.
2. Spanish (329 million people)
Spanish is a member of the Indo-European family of languages and belongs to the Romance group. This language has quite a lot in common with the Portuguese language. Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages on our planet; it has been given the status of an official language in more than 20 countries of the world; Moreover, Spanish is considered official in almost every state of Latin America, excluding Brazil, Belize and so on. It is also known that a huge number of people whose native language is Spanish have moved to the United States of America. This is why Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the American Southwest. Additionally, Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (along with English, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and French).
1. Mandarin (845 million people)
Essentially, it is Mandarin Chinese, although many people who do not know the nuances call this dialect Mandarin. In fact, it is just one of many dialects of the Chinese language, which also includes Cantonese and other dialects belonging to the so-called Sino-Tibetan family. Mandarin is the most widely spoken dialect in China. being at the same time the official language of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. It is also one of the four official languages of Singapore (except English, Malay and Tamil). Large influxes of immigrants from China and Taiwan have resulted in Mandarin being spoken by many people in the United States and Europe. At the same time, the Mandarin dialect uses two writing systems - traditional Chinese and the so-called simplified Chinese.
