The number of American students who learned a language other than English decreased by about 100,000 between 2009 and 2013, according to research by the Modern Language Association. For many, taking a class in economics might seem more beneficial than a French course. But is it really?

　　据现代语言协会一项研究称，2009至2013年间，美国学习英语之外语言的学生人数减少了约10万。对许多美国学生而言，学一门经济课似乎要比学法语课有利得多。但果真如此吗？

　　The Chinese dialects combined already have more native speakers than any other language, followed by Hindi and Urdu, which have the same linguistic origins in northern India. English comes next with 527 million native speakers. Arabic is spoken by nearly 100 million more native speakers than Spanish, which has 389 million speakers.

　　中文各种方言加起来，以中文为母语的人早就超过了世界任何一门其他语言，紧随中文之后是起源同为北印度的印度语和乌尔多语。之后是英语，有5.27亿人口以英语为母语。以阿拉伯语为母语的人比以西班牙语为母语的人超出近1亿，讲西班牙语的人有3.89亿。

　　Which languages will dominate the future? Predictions vary, depending on your location and purpose.

　　哪门语言将会主宰未来？各种预言不尽相同，取决于你的位置和目的。

　　外媒：在未来 哪种语言将统治地球？

　　You want to make money in growth markets? These will be your languages.

　　你想在成长型市场里赚钱？如下语言适合你。

　　In a recent U.K.-focused report, the British Council identified more than 20 growth markets and their main languages. The report features languages spoken in the so-called BRIC countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China — that are usually perceived as the world's biggest emerging economies.

　　一份关注英国的报告显示，英国文化委员会确定了20多个成长型市场及其主要语言。这份报告重点关注了所谓“BRIC”国家的语言，即巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国，这些国家通常被认作为世界最大的新兴经济体。

　　Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Indonesian will dominate much of the business world by 2050, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian. If you want to get the most money out of your language course, studying one of the languages listed above is probably a safe bet.

　　到2050年，印度语、孟加拉语、乌尔都语和印度尼西亚语将会继西班牙语、葡萄牙语、阿拉伯语和俄语之后主导商界。你若是想靠你的语言课尽可能多赚钱，学习上述语言中一门会是稳赚不赔的生意。

　　Of course, demographic developments are hard to predict. Moreover, the British Council only included today's growth markets, which says little about the growth potential of other nations that are still fairly small today. Also, Arabic and Chinese, for instance, have many dialects and local versions, which could make it harder for foreigners to communicate.

　　当然，人口发展很难预测。此外，英国文化委员会只列了当今的成长市场，鲜有论及其它一些目前尚不具规模的小国的成长潜力。此外，举例而言，阿拉伯语和中文，有很多地方口音和方言，对于外国人而言交流会更困难。

　　Despite all that, the chart above gives a broad look into which linguistic direction the business world is developing: away from Europe and North America, and more toward Asia and the Middle East.

　　尽管如此，如上的图表大致探究了商界语言发展导向：远离欧洲和北美，逐渐趋向亚洲和中东。

　　You want to speak to as many people as possible? How about Chinese, Spanish or French?

　　你希望所说的语言说的人越多越好？何不试试看中文、西班牙语和法语?

　　1. Chinese. Although Chinese has three times more native speakers than English, it's still not as evenly spread over the world. Moreover, Chinese is only rarely used in sciences and difficult to read and write.

　　1. 中文。尽管讲中文的人数是英语的三倍之多，但人数在世界遍布不均。此外，中文很少用在科学领域，难读也难写。

　　2. Spanish. Spanish makes up for a lack of native speakers — compared with China — by being particularly popular as a second language, taught in schools around the world.

　　2. 西班牙语。较之中文，以西班牙语为母语的人少，但作为第二语言尤其受欢迎，在世界各国学校均有教授西班牙语。

　　3. French. French has lost grounds in some regions and especially in Europe in the last decades. French, however, could gain influence again if west Africa where it is frequently spoken were to become more politically stable and economically attractive.

　　3. 法语。法语在有些领域已经缺失了根基，最近几十年在欧洲尤为如此。然而，法语在西非广泛使用，若西非想要政治上更稳定，经济上更有吸引力，法语的影响力会有所增益。

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