There are almost 7,000 different languages spoken throughout the world, some with just a handful of speakers and some with hundreds of millions. In fact it is estimated that 94% of languages are spoken by just 6% of the world’s population, meaning there are a small number of languages spoken by millions of people and many languages each spoken by just a few. So which are the world’s most commonly spoken languages, where are they spoken and what is it that makes them so popular?

1. Mandarin

With estimates ranging between 845 million and a billion speakers, Mandarin Chinese is without a doubt the language spoken most across the world. Mandarin is the official spoken language of the People’s Republic of China and its origins can be dated back thousands of years to Early Chinese.

With the 20th century popularity in migration from China to countries such as America, Australia, Canada and the UK, Mandarin was spread across the globe, successfully retaining its usage amongst migrant settlers and their children. “Ni hao” is how you would say hello in China, while “my name is” would be “wo jiao”, “thank you” is “xie xie” and “goodbye” is “ziajian”.

2. Spanish

Next on the list is Spanish, with over 358 million native speakers and well over 400 million speakers in total. Modern Spanish first began to develop in 15th century Spain, but was spread across the world with the colonization efforts of Spanish conquistadors. It now has official status in 25 countries, with Mexico boasting the most native speakers. To greet someone in Spanish we say “hola”, whereas to say goodbye we would say “adios”. “My name is” in Spanish translates to “mi nombre es” and “thank you” is “gracias”.

3. English

With an estimated 330 million speakers, English is the world’s next most common language. English has a fascinating history and finds its present form thanks to contributions from Germanic, Romantic, Scandinavian, African and Asian languages. Like Spanish, English was spread throughout the globe with British colonization efforts and is now the official language of many countries including America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the United Kingdom.

4. Hindi-Urdu

After English, it is believed that Hindi-Urdu is the next most widely spoken language, with approximately 242 million speakers across the globe. Dating back from the 13th century, this language actually has two official forms, Hindi – the official language of India – and Urdu – the official language of Pakistan. The two languages are very similar, although they are written using different alphabets. “Hello” is “namaste”, “goodbye” is “namaskar”, “mera nam …….. hai” is “my name is” and “thank you” is “dhanyavad”. Like English, however, Hindi-Urdu is subject to a wide variety of regional variations.

5. Arabic

Arabic, a Central Semitic language similar to Hebrew, is next on the list of world’s most commonly spoken languages, with approximately just over 220 million speakers. Arabic has very close ties with the Islamic holy book – the Quran – and is spoken predominantly in Islamic countries.

Arabic is the official language of 26 different nations, including much of the North of Africa and the Middle East. In order to say “hello” in Arabic you should say “marhaba” and to introduce yourself to someone you would say “ana Ismi” followed by your name. To thank someone for something you would say “shukran” and to bid someone farewell you say “ma`a as-salaamah”.

6. Bengali

After Arabic, Bengali is thought to be the world’s next most widely spoken language, boasting around 180 million speakers across the globe. Like Hindi-Urdu, Bengali belongs to the Indo-Aryn family of languages, with the majority of native speakers living in Bangladesh and the Indian states of Assam, West Bengal and Tripura. There are also many Bengali speakers living in Australia, Europe and North America. “Hello” in Bengali is “nomaashkaar”, whereas saying goodbye is “khudaa hafiz”. To tell someone what your name is in Bengali you should say “amar nam” and to thank them you should say “dhonnobad”.

7. Portuguese

With just less than 180 million speakers across the world, Portuguese is thought to come just behind Bengali in terms of the most commonly spoken languages. Just like Spanish and other languages belonging to the Romance family (such as Italian and French), the Portuguese language is a descendant of Latin, though modern Portuguese has a much harsher sound than its Romantic counterparts.

As with English and Spanish, Portuguese was spread by traveling colonialists hundreds of years ago and so despite finding its home in Portugal, it is now most widely spoken in Brazil, as well as being spoken in a number of African countries. You say “olá” to say hello to someone in Portuguese and “adeus” to say goodbye. “Obrigado” is Portuguese for “thank you”, whereas “Meu nome é” is how to tell someone your name.

8. Russian

There are around 150 million Russian speakers in the world, making Russian the world’s next most commonly spoken language. Russian is a Slavic language and unlike many of the other languages in this list, the vast majority of its speakers actually reside its country of origin – Russia – making it the most widely spread native tongue in Europe.

Russian is also used by many of those living in countries surrounding Russia and those that were once part of the former USSR. “Hello” in Russian is “Zdravstvujte”, “goodbye” is “Do svidanija”, “my name is” is “Men’a zovut” and “thank you” is “Spasiba”.

9. Japanese

With somewhere in the region of 130 million speakers, Japanese follows Russian in terms of most widely spoken languages across the globe. Most of the language’s speakers do actually live in Japan, although there are strong migrant communities – particularly in America and Australia – where Japanese is also spoken. Interestingly, Japanese is written using Chinese characters (called kanji), as well as modified versions of the Chinese script. “Konichiwa” is Japanese for “hello”, “sayonara” is “goodbye”, and “arigato” is “thank you”.

10. German

Finally, the tenth most commonly spoken of all the world’s languages is thought to be German, with an estimated 90 million speakers. The majority of German speakers live in Germany, however German is also an officially recognized language in Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

As well as these countries, German is also spoken in parts of Luxembourg, Northern Italy, Belgium, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Russia, Africa and South America thanks to colonialism and migration. There are also 5 million German speakers in the US. German for “hello” is “hallo” or “guten Tag”, goodbye is “aufwiedersehen”, “danke schön” is “thank you” and “mein name ist” is German for “my name is”.

This was a guest post written by TravelSupermarket, a travel comparison site who have great deals available on holidays, flights, hotels, car hire and everything else travel related.

Puerto Plata is a go-to destination in the Dominican Republic, which occupies the majority of Hispaniola Island in the Greater Antilles (the remainder is made up by the country of Haiti). The city is built on raised ground, making it visible from the port, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and the Isabel des Torres mountain in the south.

Certainly one of the most exciting things to do in Puerto Plata is to take a cable car and ascend 793 meters up Isabel des Torres to view panoramic ocean vistas and the outlying regions of the city. Botanical gardens and a statue of Christ the Redeemer (similar to that in Rio de Janeiro), as well as souvenir shops, are open to tourists visiting the plateau.

There is a beautiful and varied coastline in Puerto Plata, of which the main beach is Long Beach in the east, located in the busy, urban perimeter of the city, but which offers snorkeling and diving in colorful coral reefs. Because the city has boomed in recent years with luxury resorts, adventure parks, marinas and casinos, the beaches have been swept up in development and dominated by the tourism industry. Confresi and Costambar have excellent amenities but tend to be busy, while Playa Dorada or Golden Beach has endless shores of glittering sand.

Other popular activities include whale watching between January and April when humpback whales return to the nearby bay of Samana. Visitors may like to stop by Puerto Plata’s rum distillery off the main Sosua-Playa Dorada highway, or take a tour of a cigar factory in neighboring Santiago. There’s also a variety of bird species in the El Morro National Park just a few hours drive from the city in the region of Monte Cristi. Be sure to book a package holiday to the Dominican Republic where the sun shines all-year round and enjoy the golden beaches.

Travelers can find cheap holidays to Dominican Republic with HolidayHypermarket, where flights and hotel bookings are inclusive.

If there’s one thing when it comes to traveling around a bustling city that makes everything so much more difficult, it’s transport. If there’s another, it’s expenses. If there’s a third, it’s timing. I could go on, but let’s say that when I had the pleasure of viewing some of Moscow’s most iconic and inspiring architecture, I was relieved to find that the easiest, most hassle-free method was by boat.

Of course, I had to get to the dock first, which meant a trip on Moscow’s Metro. The dock itself is across the street from Kievskaya Metro Station. Fortunately, I could bide my time because the boat leaves every twenty minutes or so, and runs from about midday until well into the evening; the last run is about eight at night. Tickets are around three hundred rubles, or about a fiver. There are several stops along the way where passengers are free to board and there are ticket officers at each stop. I also found out that the trips run from May to October because the river has a tendency to freeze over during the winter.

From Kievskaya Metro the boat chugged lazily along the River Moskva which dissects the city. I found it was the perfect way to relax and see the sights at the same time. I took a seat on the outer decking (there is inner seating as well), and was treated to a fantastic journey, albeit without any commentary or explanation as to what was what – research was needed.

The first thing I passed as we went down the river was the Bogdan Khmelnitsky pedestrian bridge; a mass of twisted metal and glass intricately entwined together forming a spectacular construction. At night, it was lit up like a Christmas tree, adding to its ‘sci-fi-esque’ appearance. Next was the Mosenergo Frunzenskaya Power Station. Chimney stacks like light-houses and funnel stacks painted blue like circus tents; the Russians find joviality in almost all situations. However, turning away from that, I noticed various different Moscow restaurants and shops that had been newly built on the other side of the river. They could be worth checking out, I thought, until I laid eyes on the next iconic building: The Maiden Convent. Its golden onion domes and palace-like appearance stood proud in Moscow’s skyline and as we rounded the bend, everyone was rushing to snap a picture.

Further on, the sights kept my eyes well and truly glued: more fascinating bridges, more classic Moscow structures and skyliners, and the awe-inspiring statue of Peter the Great. It has to be seen to believe but, the monument itself, was a bronze plume of water with the fronts of small ships (in comparison to the life-size frigate above) jutting out. On the frigate’s deck stood Peter himself holding a golden scroll.

For me, that was the highlight of the hour and a half or so trip and, before it turned around and went back the way it came, there were many more thrilling sights to feast my eyes upon. The boat trip was definitely the cheapest, most relaxing way of taking in all of Moscow’s weird and wonderful cityscape.

For more info on Moscow view this page.

Having roughly the same size as the United States, the world’s biggest population and as many neighboring states as Russia, there’s no doubt that China is one of the must-visit vacation destinations in the world. Situated in East Asia, China includes the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Highlights of Traveling to China

The rest of the world already knows that China is a superpower when it comes to global economics, being as huge a country as they are. But what about when it comes to the tourism industry? It was during 2008 that China took center stage in the global scene when they hosted the Olympics. Prior to this, it was only the more adventurous travelers who have taken the long route to China – but this worldwide attention has put them back on the tourism map – with good reason.

China has an epic landscape where you can feel so small against the backdrop of the empty panoramas in Tibet. Or, you can lose yourself in the busy streets of Shanghai, marvel at the beauty of the volcanic dishes in Sichuan or simply immerse yourself in the local culture by sampling authentic Chinese cuisine in Qingdao.

The sheer diversity of the landscape, the interesting ancient culture, the silence at the Tibetan monasteries, being the curator of the world’s oldest continuous civilization – all these are the reasons why you should pay China a visit – and stay long enough to really discover more about its essence as a country.

Top Traveling Tips to China

Now that you already have an idea about the highlights of travelling to China, how can you make the most out of your visit – knowing that you can’t squeeze in touring the entire country in a one-week trip? Take a look at the following tips:

1. Travel through China via typical travel tours or go rogue and explore more of the country on your own.
Depending on whether you booked your Chinese adventure via travel agencies or if you planned your travel itinerary online by yourself, you can take any of these options.  The first one is to go on a package travel tour which takes you to the most popular tourist spots in the area. Or, you can go rogue and simply use a map or a guidebook to take you to some off-the-beaten-path destinations in China.

2. Get used to the noise.
When you have the world’s biggest population, it’s no wonder why people have to shout just to be heard over the din of noises. The noise is something that you will get used to, especially once you go hunting for bargains in night markets.

3. Learn a bit about the Chinese language.
It is only in the big hotels that you are bound to find staff who speaks English. So before leaving your hotel, make sure to get a card which indicates the place that you’re staying in Chinese characters – so you can be taken to the right place in case you get lost wandering through the city streets.

4. Don’t forget to have a tour of the main ancient sites.
You will definitely not be lacking in places to visit in China – but there are a few highlights to some of the ancient sites including sacred mountains, sites of Buddhist art, pilgrimage sites and the Great Wall of China.

5. Other tips to remember.
Have fun bargaining for great wares in some of China’s best markets. For female travelers, you are most likely to attract attention if you’re Caucasian but the busy city streets are relatively safe. If you want to have a tour of offbeat destinations, check out the domestic flights.

With ancient traditions, a magnificent landscape, a mouth watering local cuisine and a great many places to visit, there’s really no reason why you should say no to exploring China, one of the world’s biggest and best travel destinations.

Check out Travelsphere for more information on China holidays!

Since the first chartered flight touched down in the 1950s, Mallorca quickly became inescapably entangled with the sun, sea and sand destinations of the world and it’s not hard to see why. Everything seems to be aimed at the beaches – the hotels, the bars, the restaurants.  In addition, everything seems to have been designed as to induce the most minimal efforts possible on behalf of the tourists. “This hotel is just a 50 meters walk from the beach!” the glossy brochures tell you. “That bar is just a stone’s throw from the sea” another says!

It’s not for me to pass judgement on how people choose to spend their holidays – as far as I’m concerned, if they are happy, that’s all that matters – but personally I was left in want of a little more. Plus, I was there in winter, and while the climate was mild and the sea just about swimmable, the temperatures weren’t exactly up to beach holiday standard.

So it was with some trepidation I booked myself on to a scuba diving excursion. From my base in Palma de Mallorca, the capital, I traveled to the north of the island – the most rugged part and as such the best for marine life – and found myself at Pollença Bay, a thin crescent of yellow sand back-dropped with brown mountains. As my guide handed me a wetsuit, he informed me the water temperature was sitting at a ‘refreshing 14 °C’. Refreshing… I could think of other ways to describe it – ‘frightfully cold’ springs to mind – but fortunately such things became insignificant the moment I submerged myself in the turquoise sea.

By the time the first ten minutes was up I had come mask to face with a stunning variety of fish, including rainbow wrasse, gobies, cardinals and damsels. And then there were the crabs, lobsters and all the other things that didn’t float. I actually began to feel quite peckish, but I don’t think that was the idea of the experience. The highlight was an enormous octopus that my guide coaxed from its hiding spot. At first glance, it appeared to be just another rock under a ledge. But when my guide tickled it lightly with the tip of his finger, the monstrous thing unfolded into a wriggling mass of tentacles and beady eyes, like Medusa herself had been disturbed.

Admittedly, diving in Mallorca is probably better suited to the summer months, but nevertheless it gave a tantalizing glimpse into a country that offers so much more than sunbeds and beach bars.

For more great info on Mallorca please visit Mallorca My Destination.

At first, entering the United Arab Emirates zone was slightly unnerving. I started to envisage that security would be the one thing to dampen my experience in one of the most commanding and pioneering countries in the world.  My airport experience was enough to send me into social isolation for the rest of my stay.  Never again will I pretend to sport a toy gun (harmless as it was) to a friend, in front of security, to provide light entertainment after a long journey. Subtlety was never my strong point!

However, at that point, I never guessed that another word beginning with ‘S’ would prove to be the more dominant factor in transforming my holiday in Dubai. Bustling around the busy streets of this global phenomenon, the seemingly intense airport staff I had previously been faced with had morphed into invigorated and excited crowds of multicultural locals and tourists. I questioned what was driving such fervour?

My answer was provided by a group of British global trotters, who were busily preparing their day, whilst enjoying a typical camel dish breakfast. Though the cafe had all the grim elegance of an Arabesque greasy spoon, you can’t beat it for authentic local eats. Anxiously overhearing their conversation, I learnt of the tourist attraction extravaganza of the year, the Dubai shopping festival.

Lasting for a month, every year, since 1996, it was clear from my surroundings that people were mesmerized by what was on offer. Now, I’m a girl’s girl and not surprisingly, I’m still here in the heat of the action (literally), after extending my visit for an extra couple of weeks before the event ends on 20th February. Returning home to the average high street shop is not an option!

Termed as the shopping capital of the Middle East, Dubai boasts some of the biggest and best shopping centres of the world. The city skyline is sprinkled with malls big enough to hold the entire wardrobe of Lady Gaga. Reef Mall, Dragon Mart and Burjaman have all been transformed into works of art. These are just three out of a long list. It could take a year to get around the lot!

This is when the less label conscious can be pleasantly surprised!

Apart from the obvious, the attraction can get you hooked onto various sports, games and water activities that provide added entertainment. An activity which has become somewhat of a daily routine for me is going to watch the spectacular bands and dance troupes in Dubai Creek Park. You can also check out the DSF Desert Camp, which brings attractions like quad bikes, camel rides, and horse rides to entice visitors.

At night, Dubai explodes into a rainbow of colour and beauty, where you can enjoy lively parades and street performances. Tonight I found myself in Al Diyafa Street, where the stunning lights, that decorate the streets, enhanced the vision that was to transform everyone’s evening meal. Not that I’m complaining about the Arabic cuisine, after taking quite a likening to their Maqluba. You may think you’ve missed out, but these events are set to remain until 20th February.

Whether you’re a shopaholic, a music buff, dance critic or food proficient, this vision would be just up your street…or should I say ‘high’ street. Thus, making Dubai a must on my calendar for 2012!

For more information and insight into Dubai take a look at dubai.mydestinationinfo.com

Written by Hannah Copues