Hank's thread and poll made me wonder what one additional language besides English would allow one to speak to the broadest group of people on the planet?
I initially thought Chinese, but as I understand it there are at least two different main languages (Mandarin and Cantonese) and there are a number of dialects. I think India has a large number of languages as well.
In the western hemisphere (North and South America, and the Caribbean) if you knew English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French I think you could speak to about 98% of the population. I guess if you were fluent in English and Spanish you could probably speak with 75% of the population.
What do you guys think?
I initially thought Chinese, but as I understand it there are at least two different main languages (Mandarin and Cantonese) and there are a number of dialects. I think India has a large number of languages as well.
In the western hemisphere (North and South America, and the Caribbean) if you knew English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French I think you could speak to about 98% of the population. I guess if you were fluent in English and Spanish you could probably speak with 75% of the population.
What do you guys think?
Comment