Language list: 2019 edition

Presenting Languages From East That Are Taking Over The World

Shreya Tuli, AIS Vas 1, X

Language is what connects us all. But some languages have always enjoyed more popularity than others. Take English for instance, the lingua franca of business and academia has always been at the centre of the table with almost 1.5 billion native speakers. European languages like the fancy French, stylish Spanish and even glossy German also made it to the ‘popular’ list as Europe was once the centre of the global economy. But with the turn of the new century, the tables have also turned. The population and the economy of the East improving gradually, Asian and Middle Eastern languages took over the globe. Let us look at the ones which are topping the charts!

Mandarin
Why it’s hot: China might not have the biggest economy right now, but it is projected to overtake the economy of United States by 2028. Also, with China nudging the United States out of the top spot as the nation with the world’s largest GDP, the native language of the country is on high demand.
Future scope: Being a relatively tough language, it might take an average of 2,200 classroom hours for English speakers to master, but with the rapidly growing Chinese economy, it would not after all be a bad idea to learn Mandarin. It is sure to open various interesting job prospects and might even act as an instant hit for getting jobs in multi-national corporations and various global organisations.

Japanese
Why it’s hot: We already have 130 million Japanese speakers located primarily in Japan, which also happens to be the third largest economy in the world. Japanese is also very aesthetic, as it is graphical and instantly grabs the anyone’s attention.
Future scope: Japan has both a thriving export market and is also the world’s second largest investor in research and development, along with being one of the most technologically advanced and integrated nations in the world. Learning Japanese would give an easy access to an almost impenetrable culture and would open doors to a wide range of opportunities in the technology sector.

Hindi
Why it’s hot: Hindi is the national language of India and several other surrounding countries. India is the seventh largest country by area and the fastest growing major economy with the seventh largest GDP.
Future scope: The demography provides a major consumer market, generating future demand for localised content. Although the language is not the easiest to learn as the use of syllables is quite tough. Learning Hindi gives you an extra edge in the Indian market, considering companies across the world scramble to get into business with the booming Indian companies.

Arabic
Why it’s hot: Arab is rich in natural resources and has untapped economic potential. Arabic is spoken by 295 million speakers worldwide, and it’s the official language of 28 countries including growing economies in the Middle East and Africa.
Future scope: Six Arabic speaking countries are amongst UK’s top 50 export market in goods, with a combined value to the economy that surpasses that of Spain, China or Italy. This is one of the reasons why Arabic was referred to as the second ‘language of the future’ in a report from British Council.

Hot or not, all languages are important in their own way. So, go ahead and learn a new language to open doors to new opportunities and new avenues.