[My new book release, The Art of Learning a Foreign Language, is now available on Amazon!] Today, there more opportunities than ever before to travel and connect with people from all around the world. There is also greater access to quality dictionaries and language learning resources than at any point in history. The benefits of being bilingual and multilingual — culturally, economically, intellectually, and personally — are myriad. Foreign language study is a regular part of many people’s lives, and it is rare to meet someone who never studied a language for any length of time.

Today, I transcribed a clip from WatchMojo.com that ranks the Top 10 most useful languages in the world. Your list may vary depending on where you live, your ethnicity, your interests, and other individual considerations that inform the highly personal decision to study a foreign language.

Check out the complete video and transcript below, in descending order! What languages did they leave out and how would your list — and its underlying rationale — differ?

10. Portuguese

This Ibero-Romance language can be traced back to the Kingdom of Galicia and is rooted in variants of Vulgar Latin with a splash of Celtic phonology for good measure. This, thereby, makes it unique from the language it’s most often compared to, Spanish. While it’s considered more difficult than Spanish, it isn’t much harder than English or French, and shouldn’t be too much trouble to those interested in learning. With over 230 million speakers and the official language of many countries across the globe, including the upcoming economic force of Brazil, Portuguese is fast-becoming a very attractive language to master.

9. Russian

Considered the “easiest” of the hard languages, Russian is spoken by over 250 million people. Understanding Russian and the Cyrillic alphabet can aid in the learning of other languages and is a great foundation to have. It’s also considered a politically important language. Furthermore, if you’re into scientific and technical literature, then Russian is for you, as some of the world’s largest collections on both those subjects are in these East Slavic tongue. Or you could stick with the works of Tolstoy, Bulgakov, and Dostoevsky. As it’s geographically the most widely spoken language of all the Slavic languages, you can find native Russian speakers throughout Eurasia.

8. Japanese

Spoken by 125 million people, Japanese remains useful not only for business and Asian studies but also thanks to the ever-increasing influx of Japanese media in Western culture. Plus, it’s an enjoyable language to learn. On top of all that, you’ll be able to watch your favorite anime and Kurosawa films with the subtitles off. There is a catch, however. Japanese is arguably the most difficult language going. So, get ready to study a lot. Mixing three complex writing systems, levels of formality in speaking, and complex grammar, there’s a lot to know. Don’t let all of that discourage you. Ganbatte — that’s good luck to you.

7. Hindi

Along with English, this Indo-Aryan language, is one of the government of India’s two official languages, and it’s also one of the Republic’s 22 scheduled languages. Boasting over 260 native speakers, it’s one of the top 10 most spoken languages in the world. So, in short, you’d have a lot of people to talk to . While most commonly found in India, it’s also Fiji’s official language and is spoken significantly throughout Mauritius, Diana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. So, if your travel plans have you venturing to any of those countries, Hindi suddenly becomes a useful language to learn. Or, at least, to master a couple of its phrases.

6. Arabic

This ancient Central-Semitic language was first spoken in North-Western Arabia all the way back in the Iron Age. Arabic continues its robust tradition and remains an important and well-used language. With up to 420 million speakers, it’s in increasingly high-demand, especially in the energy and security sectors. However, with its difficult writing system and very complex grammar, and dialects varying greatly, it’s an incredibly difficult language to learn. However, it’s not as foreign as you may think, as it’s already influenced Spanish and has given loanwords to English.

5. German

While previously though to be a language in decline, German is becoming more useful than ever as Germany gains a foothold as a major powerhouse in the EU. Spoken as a first language in several European countries, it’s the most used native language in the European Union. After English, Spanish, and sign language, it’s also one of the most studied languages in the US. Furthermore, understanding German will help to increase your comprehension of other Germanic languages. It’s considered on pa with English in terms of learning difficulty. It’s grammar is more complex, but then it’s also more logical, as well, and so it balances in the end.

4. French

Before English started to take over, French was the lingua franca of much of Europe. While the lion’s share of the 80 million native speakers of the language of love are in France, others can be found in North America, such as the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick, as well as Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of South America. It’s also a very important language in the European Union. Outside of travel, it’s very useful to those studying philosophy and for diplomats. On top of all that, it’s also just a very lovely language in general, giving any speaker a certain “je ne sais quoi.”

3. Spanish

A must for travelers to Latin America, South America, the Southern United States, and Spain, this is the language of Borges, Marquez, and Cervantes. As a bonus, this language, with the second greatest number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese, is considered one of the easiest to learn with straightforward grammar, pronunciations, and writing system. Of all the Romance languages, Spanish is thought to be one of the closest branches from the Latin roots, although it went from an evolution when the Moors brought over roughly 4,000 Arabic loanwords during the time of Al-Andalus. The official languages of 20 countries all over the world, Spanish is a very accessible and desirable language to have in your repertoire.  

2. Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin Chinese is the official language of the People’s Republic of China, with over 950 million native speakers. With China on the rise as the next global superpower, Mandarin is becoming increasingly desirable as a language for both business and travel. Once you master the tricky tones, which can drastically change the meaning of a sentence, it’s considered relatively easy to speak, with practice. Likewise, the grammar system is considered easier than some of the other difficult languages. However, the writing system is notoriously tough. But, if you get this one down pat, you’ve earned some serious bragging rights.

1. English

Nearly anywhere you go anywhere in the world, most people will understand at least a little bit of this beautiful mess of a language, a true hodgepodge. Modern English has adopted a little of everything. While Old and Middle English are almost incomprehensible even to native speakers modern English is now the language of international business. And, in many countries, it’s hard to hold down high-level business and diplomatic jobs without knowing at least a little of this new lingua franca. Good thing it’s relatively easy to learn, if you ignore the non-sensical grammar and spelling rules.

Learning a foreign language is an art, and a lot of people have really creative ideas on the topic, some more compelling than others. One dubious theory that I hear get recycled frequently is that it isn’t necessary or advisable to study grammar, dictionaries, or vocabularies. Proponents of this theory hold that the best way to learn a foreign language is to imitate how people naturally learn their native language–that is, by gradual exposure in an immersive environment with other native speakers. It is certainly possible to learn a language like this. I imagine this is how most people had to learn languages before dictionaries were invented. However, as I will explain, I think this method is generally the hardest, slowest, and least efficient way to go about it. .

In my opinion, not all ideas about language learning are equally resourceful. In this article, I want to address a few of the the less helpful ones that commonly get circulated. I also want to suggest some alternative ideas that have proven particularly helpful for me on my language journey with Spanish and Arabic during the last decade.

I invite you to check out some of the other language learning articles on the blog for more topical editorials. If you’re in a giving mood, share your favorite tips/ideas/strategies down below, as I am always looking to learn from others!

Without further ado. . .

1. Adults Do Not Learn Like Children

It does not logically follow that the best way to learn a foreign language is the same way we learned our native language. Babies brains are wired differently than adult brains. Babies are like blank canvases. They are capable of passively absorbing and synthesizing information in their native language with minimal conscious effort.

The brilliance of babies aside, how much of a chronological advantage do native speakers really have? When’s the last time you talked to a 12 year-old? How about a 15 year-old? Most of us don’t want it to take us two decades to master a language, but that’s exactly how long it takes most native speakers. With a fully developed adult brain, we can learn foreign languages in a more time-efficient manner (albeit, with a lot more conscious effort), than a native speaker did naturally growing up.

2. The Dictionary Is Your Best Friend When Learning A Language

This item is probably the most important language learning tip of all. The choice to regularly use a dictionary, to regularly look up words and phrases, on one hand… or to passively “go with the flow,” trying to infer the meaning of everything new by context on the other hand.. may be the difference between achieving proficiency within a few years and spending an entire lifetime bumbling around in a target language. The dictionary isn’t just for nerds like me. It’s for all serious language students who want to accelerate time.

Before the invention of dictionaries, foreign language acquisition was especially difficult. For example, the first Japanese-English dictionary was not published until the 19th century. You can imagine having to ask a native speaker every time you needed to know the meaning of word or grammatical concept, and then again a second and third time when you inevitably forgot. You’d either need some really patient friends or enough money to pay someone for years to achieve exactly what you can achieve with an electronic dictionary/grammar, most of which are free.

A few years ago, I discovered a comprehensive Syrian-English dictionary. It was a game-changer. (Google “A Dictionary of Syrian Arabic by Stowasser”..). That green book with the Romanized letters and barely legible font probably saved me years of stumbling around in Arabic, asking friends and relatives the meaning of this word and that word, even though working through it at the time was an ordeal. On a more macro level, I imagine it has multiplied the number of foreigners with a command of Syrian since it was published in 2004.

What’s more is that we have electronic dictionaries now, so we can access definitions, with sample sentences gathered from digital databases, on demand. (For an electronic Arabic colloquial dictionary, see Lughatuna.) The evolution of dictionaries/grammars/vocabularies is undoubtedly the biggest reason why foreign language acquisition is easier now than ever. These resources also enable us to progress in our native language more rapidly.

3. An Active Language Learning Approach Accelerates Time

This includes, but is not limited, to using the dictionary per #2 ^. An active approach entails effort–asking questions, looking words up, studying things. A passive approach is energy-unintensive. A passive approach is when we immerse ourselves in an environment where the foreign language is spoken and rely solely on context and our ability to make inferences for understanding. A passive approach is when we watch a program in the target language, the majority of which we cannot understand, without subtitles or the dictionary. A passive approach is when we engage in conversation and do not inquire about new words. In contrast, with an active approach to learning, we learn a lot more and we learn a lot faster.

4. Make Friends In The Target Language, And Find Creatives Ways To Stay Motivated

Language acquisition is a marathon, not a sprint, so we need to keep the big picture in mind when devising strategies and creating routines. Motivation, or emotional interest, may be fickle, but it is important. It is common to see people get excited about learning a language then fall off after they fail to notice significant progress, become undisciplined, or allow life to get in the way. We won’t always feel like studying a language, but the more regularly motivated we are, the easier it is to stay focused and make consistent progress.

My favorite way to stay motivated is to connect with friends in the target language on a semi-regular basis. The interactions themselves are productive, but, more importantly, they energize me to keep learning when I am alone or when I otherwise would not feel like it. People are social, and language is an essential reason why. Having social interaction in a target language is a lot more stimulating for most people than studying the dictionary or grammar. Friends advise, correct, encourage, and remind us why we were interested in learning the foreign language in the first place.

In the second place, I choose programs, TV shows, movies, podcasts, etc., that I am personally interested in, independent of the language benefits. For example, if I enjoy watching comedy or cooking shows in my native language, then I’ll do the same in Spanish or Arabic. You can also sometimes kill two birds with one stone. A lot of movies are available in multiple languages, as are sporting events, like football, baseball, and soccer, that we would be watching anyway. As a general rule, if you’re already consuming media that has been made available in the target language, then consider making the switch.

5. Avoid Burn-Out While Studying A Language

This is closely related to #4, but I want to include it under a separate heading of what NOT to do in order to avoid burn-out. In #3, I talked about effort and exertion.. We need to wrestle with the language actively as much as possible. That said, I also understand that it can be tedious to study definitions and grammar all of the time. People whose only activities in a foreign language are dense are at a greater risk of burn-out. Over time, they may even lose interest in the language altogether. That is why it is advisable to make friends and consume stimulating content in the target language.

Burn-out is also why passive language learning activities can sometimes be very beneficial. For example, when we relax to a program or book or conversation, without looking any words up and obsessing over linguistic minutiae. Passive language-learning activities are especially productive once we reach an advanced level and are able to understand the majority of what is going on with minimal effort.

That said, motivation also comes from progress. When we see that we are making progress, we may feel inspired to engage in more activities in the target language. In short, we want to balance our big picture desire to make maximum progress with our short-term need for emotional stimulation. No two people are the same, and only you can determine how much active and passive activity is appropriate for you on any given day.

If you liked this post, check out the following article on a single daily language habit that has helped me make huge gains in Spanish and Arabic during the last several years.

Creator Villa