Why is chinese the worlds most spoken language?
I know China is the world's most populated country but the majority of us,Canada,UK and Australia speak English and the majority of countries whose first language is not English learn it.Chinese is not a commonly taught language in schools whose first language is not English.
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you just answered your question
lots of chinese hello
lots of chinese hello
There's about 1.35+ billion Chinese people. The world consists of 7.126+ billion people.
I think that should make enough sense.
I think that should make enough sense.
Spoiler
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous1502
I know China is the world's most populated country
cus theres a f***load of chinese ppl
most of them speak mandarin then theres all the other chinese languages like cantonese
if u included non-native speakers of english then it probs is higher
most of them speak mandarin then theres all the other chinese languages like cantonese
if u included non-native speakers of english then it probs is higher
Not all Chinese people are in or from China, you know.
Would you consider Americans to be "English"?
Would you consider Americans to be "English"?
Original post by Anonymous1502I know China is the world's most populated country but the majority of us,Canada,UK and Australia speak English and the majority of countries whose first language is not English learn it.Chinese is not a commonly taught language in schools whose first language is not English.
Answered in the quote.
Might be worth reading a few books on British history if you want to know why English is treated as a lingua franca in modern times.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Hydeman
Answered in the quote.
Lots of people have said that to OP, but it misses her point: although China is the largest country in terms of population, many other countries speak English, thus combining the populations of such countries should mean (in her opinion) that English is the most spoken language.
Original post by Badabadabwah
Not all Chinese people are in or from China, you know.
Would you consider Americans to be "English"?
Would you consider Americans to be "English"?
The percentage of Chinese speakers who live outside of China is incredibly low. That's why I say Chinese is not a 'global language' in the way that English, Spanish or French is.
Original post by Pahlavi Palava
Lots of people have said that to OP, but it misses her point: although China is the largest country in terms of population, many other countries speak English, thus combining the populations of such countries should mean (in her opinion) that English is the most spoken language.
The numbers don't add up so that's just a case of the OP having an opinion uninformed by facts. A quick Wikipedia search shows that native English speakers (which we can take to be the combined population of the Anglosphere) are outnumbered by Mandarin speakers by almost 3 to 1.
It's doesn't follow that, because there are more English-speaking countries, the combined population of those countries must be greater than the population of native Mandarin speakers, who are mostly concentrated in one country. It's just that China's native Mandarin-speaking population isn't just huge, but it's bigger than the combined population of the Anglosphere (in fact, it would still be bigger if you lumped Spanish into the comparison with English).
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Hydeman
The numbers don't add up so that's just a case of the OP having an opinion uninformed by facts.
Undoubtedly true, but that doesn't mean that her query was "answered in the [her] quote", as you put it.
My point is that just because China has the largest population in the world it doesn't necessarily follow that Chinese is the world's most spoken language; which is what your response to her implied.
Original post by Pahlavi Palava
My point is that just because China has the largest population in the world it doesn't necessarily follow that Chinese is the world's most spoken language
It doesn't necessarily and only on the basis of China having the largest population of any country. However, it does follow if we make the reasonable presumption (easily proven by a quick Google search) that almost everybody in China speaks some variety of Chinese.
Throwing this out here, even though it's been said numerous times - China accounts for approximately 20% of the world's population.
In fact, Chairman Mao, the former communist leader of China, at one point wanted China to have a large population as something to fall back on in the event of a large-scale nuclear war.
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/08/a-surprising-map-of-the-world-shows-just-how-big-chinas-population-is/278691/
In fact, Chairman Mao, the former communist leader of China, at one point wanted China to have a large population as something to fall back on in the event of a large-scale nuclear war.
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/08/a-surprising-map-of-the-world-shows-just-how-big-chinas-population-is/278691/
Original post by leafcannon
Throwing this out here, even though it's been said numerous times - China accounts for approximately 20% of the world's population.
In fact, Chairman Mao, the former communist leader of China, at one point wanted China to have a large population as something to fall back on in the event of a large-scale nuclear war.
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/08/a-surprising-map-of-the-world-shows-just-how-big-chinas-population-is/278691/
In fact, Chairman Mao, the former communist leader of China, at one point wanted China to have a large population as something to fall back on in the event of a large-scale nuclear war.
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/08/a-surprising-map-of-the-world-shows-just-how-big-chinas-population-is/278691/
10 points to Gryfindoor for stating source.
Original post by Anonymous1502
I know China is the world's most populated country but the majority of us,Canada,UK and Australia speak English and the majority of countries whose first language is not English learn it.Chinese is not a commonly taught language in schools whose first language is not English.
Original post by harinimnida
you just answered your question
lots of chinese hello
lots of chinese hello
Original post by harinimnida
you just answered your question
lots of chinese hello
lots of chinese hello
hello!
Interestingly English is actually a compulsory part of the curriculum and taught in China from primary school up to university.
Original post by Pahlavi Palava
Lots of people have said that to OP, but it misses her point: although China is the largest country in terms of population, many other countries speak English, thus combining the populations of such countries should mean (in her opinion) that English is the most spoken language.
I am not saying it is I am just saying that it is interesting that a language spoken in just 2-3 countries (china,taiwan,singapore) is the world's most spoken.
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