Post Tagged with "Chinese"

Top 10 languages on the internet

Or why you should consider learning a new language / translating your blog.

We recently wrote about the most widely spoken languages in the world. Learning a new language takes a lot of effort so it helps to know which one will get you the most conversation opportunities.

Well, the internet is one of the hottest places to interact with people from different countries so it makes sense to have a look at the top languages used on the Internet as well.

This list is by Internet World Stats, which counts the number of internet users speaking each language. The numbers were last updated in June 2008.

The Top 10 Internet Languages

1. English (431m)
2. Chinese (276m)
3. Spanish (125m)
4. Japanese (94m)
5. French (68m)
6. German (61m)
7. Arabic (60m)
8. Portuguese (58m)
9. Korean (35m)
10. Italian (35m)

So Chinese and English get the top spots, no surprises there.

But number 3 is Spanish, replacing Hindi in the top 3 spoken languages (more on this in a future post).

Chinese is counted as one language here because the different dialects use a common writing system, although their spoken versions (eg Mandarin, Cantonese etc) are quite different.

Languages to watch

In 2020 this ranking could look very different. Chinese now outnumber Americans online, according to a report released this month. How long before Chinese replaces English in the number one spot?

Spanish is also increasing quickly, as is Arabic. With only a small percentage of its native speaker population online, Arabic is likely to rocket up this list in the next few years.

The future of English

As the USA has led the sprint online, English has been the dominant language on the Internet until now. But as online populations grow in the rest of the world, so does the challenge of other languages on the web.

The big question is, will English continue to be used for communication between different cultures, or will the internet split up into self-segregating communities based on preferred language?

In the long term the role of English as a ‘bridge’ language across cultures may give it the upper hand. But this might not help native English speakers – it seems they cannot understand International English as it is spoken by non-native speakers.

Update: Global Culture blog analyses some cultural implications of the increase of Chinese on the web in the post a billion web users.

Read More:
Top 20 Languages of the World
How difficult is Chinese?
Is there an easy way to blog in a different language?

Dedicated follower of Chinglish

Hands up if you ever had a t-shirt with Chinese characters on it. Any idea what they meant? Or whether they were even real Chinese? Or you didn’t really care, because they just looked cool?

This is one of the reasons for the growth of Chinglish, according to Oliver Lutz Radtke. He believes it is often used for decorative purposes and no-one really minds what it says. Oliver majored in Chinese and is author of the book ‘Chinglish: Found in Translation’ and The Chinglish Files, a blog about everyday examples of Chinglish.

This obsession with Chinglish is not meant as a joke, however. Rather, he sees Chinglish as a great opportunity for Westerners to understand differences between Western and Chinese culture. For example as Westerners we find some examples of Chinglish shocking or funny because they talk directly about subjects our culture has taught us to avoid talking about.

Chinglish is becoming more and more common as China learns English, and some think it could be accepted in the future as a standard variation of English.

PocketCultures asked Oliver some questions about his love affair with Chinglish.

1. Oliver, Where are you based now?

I am based in Beijing now, which feels great to be back in the Chinglish cradle again. [After studying in China, Oliver has been based in Singapore for the last few years] I’ve been to Beijing for the last time in 2004 and the city has changed enormously. Many public signs are corrected. Many restaurant menus are not; despite the effort of the Beijing Tourism Bureau to issue a standard set of 2000 plus dish names last year.

2. In the introduction of your book you state that the Chinglish found on written signs in China is an endangered species. But there are reports that spoken Chinglish is starting to take on a life of its own, assimilating grammatical attributes of Chinese languages.

What do you think are the chances that it will someday be recognised as a standard variation of English?

We have to differentiate between written and spoken Chinglish. In the academic context Chinglish is rather referred to as China English and I am pretty sure it’s a trend you can’t stop.

Languages keep changing and English has proven to be one of the liveliest languages ever, just take a look at how much French you find in there! So I guess certain expressions have already started to make their rounds around the globe and more and more will.

I am not at all in favour of teaching a language without using a local context and I don’t think that AE or BE will be the standard of the future, with billions around the globe learning English as a foreign language. Besides, research has shown that native speakers aren’t necessarily the ones that are being understood the easiest, rather the opposite.

3. Out of the (1000+!) examples of Chinglish you have gathered over the last few years what is your personal favourite?

I think it is definitely a tough choice between the first one “Don’t forget to carry your thing”, because it keeps reminding you that Chinglish is mostly about laughing at yourself and not others and “Little grass has life, please watch your step”, since in a wonderfully anthropomorphized way clearly shows the Chinese love for flowers.

Photos from The Chinglish Files

Many thanks to Oliver for his help with this post.

More like this:
Is Chinglish the future of English?: most English conversations do not involve a native speaker
Top 20 languages of the World: What are the most widely spoken languages in the world?
Languages fight for global dominance: more about the prospects for English as language of international communication

Top 20 Languages of the World

What are the most widely spoken languages in the world? Or, if you are contemplating learning a second language, which will get you the most new conversation opportunities for your effort?

The following list shows number of people speaking a language either as their first or second language. It is taken from Nicholas Ostler’s ‘Empires of the Word’, a detailed (and long!) history of the main world languages.

1. Mandarin Chinese (1,052m)
2. English (508m)
3. Hindi (487m)
4. Spanish (417m)
5. Russian (277m)
6. Bengali (211m)
7. Portugese (191m)
8. German (128m)
9. French (128m)
10. Japanese (126m)
11. Urdu (104m)
12. Korean (78m)
13. Wu Chinese (77m)
14. Javanese (76m)
15. Telugu (75m)
16. Tamil (74m)
17. Yue Chinese / Cantonese (71m)
18. Marathi (71m)
19. Vietnamese (68m)
20. Turkish (61m)

It would be interesting to know how the popularity of these languages is evolving. These figures are nearly 10 years old so in that time the Chinese speaking population has probably increased by around 40 million, for example. Rate of population increase must be the strongest factor in determining whether a language is currently moving up or down this list.

I suspect this list may under-estimate the power of English by not counting those who speak English very competently and use it on a regular basis, but have learnt it as their third or even fourth language. That may sound improbable if you are a native English speaker, but for some it is a necessity. As one example, This post on A Wide Angle View of India blog explains that in many parts of India children grow up learning three languages, of which one is English.

English is currently the most popular choice as language of international communication, but will there come a point where another language becomes so widely spoken that it overtakes English as second language of choice? It may happen sooner than you think.

Update: compiling a list like this involves difficult decisions. The most obvious question is ‘why is Arabic not on this list?’. If included it would come around 5th place. See Ostler’s remarks in the comments below on why he considered Arabic dialects as separate languages. As an alternative view, this post from The Linguist Blogger incorporates different sources of information as well as Ostler’s list.

Read more:
Dedicated follower of Chinglish: interview with a Chinglish spotter
Is Chinglish the future of English?: most English conversations do not involve a native speaker
How to say Hello in 20 languages
Top 10 Languages on the Internet

Languages fight for global dominance

Has the use of english as global language of international communication gone so far that it will never be overtaken? Or is it destined to go the way of Latin and Ancient Greek as the balance of power between civilisations shifts and other languages gain in importance?

Apparently experts are divided on this question. Across cultures, English is the word is a very interesting article from the International Herald Tribune discussing the issue.

Meanwhile a post from Chinese in Vancouver blog Is Chinese culture going mainstream? highlights the rising importance of Chinese culture and language in Hong Kong, the USA and Canada.