What are most prevalent languages of the internet and publishing? 

What are internet’s top languages by number of users? (Internetworldstats.com)

1. English (27.3%)
2. Chinese (22.6%)
3. Spanish (7.8%)
4. Japanese (5.3 %)
5. Portuguese (4.3%)
6. 4.0% and less are German, Arabic, French, Russian, Korean.

Let’s look at a more informal way of measuring the languages of the internet by looking at the number of articles in each language in Wikipedia.

1. English (4,264,000)
2. Dutch (1,652,000)
3. German (1,599,000
4. French (1,399,000)
5. Swedish (1,090,000)
6. Next, in order of prevalence is Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Japanese.

What are the number of books published by country (and language) per year?  The British Council correlates data and presents these data:

1. English (28%)
2. Chinese (13.3%)
3. German (11.8%)
4. French (7.7%)
5. Spanish (6.7%)
6. In order of prevalence for the next 5 slots: Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Italian

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from Oct 2, 2013 and Nov 8, 2016.

Tips for Being a Masterful Presenter

1.    An effective presentation builds a relationship with people who are giving you the gift of their time and attention. You may be able to require their time, but you have to earn their attention.

2.    To paraphrase Lani Arrendondo, to relate like a Pro or master of communication,
a.    Relate what is relevant and important to the audience and to your topic
b.    Satisfy these four needs of your listeners:
i.    Expectation: to help them know what to expect in your presentation, state your objective and give them a preview of what you are going to say
ii.    Recognition: let them know YOU know who they are
a.    Know who is in your audience
b.    Address your message to them.
c.    Affirm and praise them for their good qualities
d.    Vary the pace of your presentation so that you keep their attention
iii.    Participation: get the audience involved
a.    Ask questions
b.    Use recalls or remind them of something in their life or something you have already said
c.    Relate scenarios or examples from their lives
iv.    Application: tell your audience how what you say can benefit them
a.    State the value of your message to the audience. Value can be growing in knowledge and understanding, or making money, or getting a competitive edge, or…

Rerun from 9/16/2013 and 12/12/2016

What are Facts About the World’s Most Spoken Language?  

Another snapshot of our wonderful talking world.

What is the world’s most spoken language? Here, let’s focus on the most widely spoken languages by number of native speakers.

1. Mandarin Chinese (1197 million)
2. Spanish (406 million)
3. English (335 million)
4. Hindi-Urdu (260 million)
5. Arabic (223 million)
6. Portuguese (202 million)
7. Bengali (193 million)
8. Russian (162 million)
9. Japanese (122 million)
10. Javanese  (84.3 million)

What is the world’s most spoken language by total speakers? This combines native speakers with non-native speakers.

1.  English (1,000 million)
2. Mandarin Chinese (1,000 million)
3. Hindi/Urdu (900 million)
4. Spanish (450 million)
5. Russian/Belarusian (320 million)
6. Arabic (250 million)

What is most widely spoken by number of countries/dependencies where the language has official or defacto status? Note that Arabic provides the greatest challenge because the spoken languages that fall under the umbrella of “Arabic” are not all mutually intelligible.  However, Standard Arabic is used as the written language in countries where dialects of Arabic are spoken

1. English (101)
2. Arabic (59)
3. French (51)
4. Spanish (31)
5. Russian/Portuguese (11)

This list shows the influence of European Colonial histories on the world’s linguistic map.  Languages with a large number of native speakers like Japanese and Mandarin have not traveled far beyond Asia, unlike the West European languages that colonists spread to all corners of the earth.

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from 09/25/2013 and 11/02/2016

• The scenario:  You are asked to do a presentation. Perhaps it is at a lunch or you are asked to talk as part of a team. You were asked to speak because you have recognized expertise. To paraphrase Kevin Daley, the temptation for any speaker is to stuff the audience with facts. You need to provide information, but don’t think that’s everything.  No speaker was ever praised because he or she broke a world record for reciting data.

• We get lauded for being interesting, not for being a fountain of numbers.  Statistics are not interesting by themselves.  We use factual evidence to increase our credibility and to support our viewpoint.   But audiences don’t pay attention enough to track statistics.  An audience is much more moved by a story.  That is what grabs their attention and sways their viewpoint.  That is what impresses them.  If you want the audience to love you, tell a story.

Rerun from Sep 9, 2013 and Dec 5, 2016

What are Five Important Numbers for Global Communication and English Speaking? 

In my previous blogs, we were talking about my favorite advice from pros and experts about preparing and delivering a presentation.  Here in this post and the next couple we are going to look at wonderful numbers which give a snapshot of our wonderful world of talking people.

From Time Magazine, July 29, 2013

• 6,800  is the estimated number of languages in use around the world.
• 12.5% is the share of the world’s population that speaks Mandarin Chinese, the most common language.
• 850 is the approximate number of languages in Papua New Guinea, the world’s most polyglot country.

From New America Media, Commentary, Andres T. Tapia, Posted July 04, 2010

• Nearly a billion people around the world speak English, which means that more people speak English as a second language than there are native speakers.
• In Asia, the number of English-users has surpassed 350 million, equal to the number of people who live in countries where English is the dominant language: the United States, Britain, and Canada.  More Chinese children now study English – about 100 million—than there are Britons.

“There’s never before been a language that’s been spoken by more people as a second language than a first, “ says David Crystal, whose numerous books include English as a Global Language.

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun 09/11/2013 and 10/26/2016