More than 70 languages ? « Bblop's Weblog

Top of the day to you out there!  I'm Donna J. Jodhan and today I have an important question for you.
If you can name the top 10 spoken languages of the world then you've won but if you can't then you need to read on.
 
More than 70 languages … « Bblop's Weblog
By Donna J. Jodhan

 

If I were to ask you to name some of the top spoken languages today, would you be able to do so?  If I were to ask you how many spoken languages there are today, what would your response be?
 
In answer to my first question, here are some of the top spoken languages today.  English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, French, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Russian, ...
In answer to my second question, this may be a bit more difficult to pin down as the answer can vary anywhere from 500 to 5000.  Believe it or not, the world continues to revolve around spoken languages and the winner is the one who can converse efficiently in any of the top languages named above.  It never hurts to learn a second language but in order to remain proficient in a second language, one has to use it constantly.
 
One should also remember this important tip:  It is always better to translate from a second language to one's mother tongue when operating in the world of translation.  Here is another tip:  A company would always do well to keep in mind that their profile rises to the top if they take the time to specialize in a handful of languages rather than trying to be a jack of all trades to everyone.
 
I am going to leave you with a reference to check out.  See what Mozilla is doing these days.
Please see below.
More than 70 languages … « Bblop's Weblog
By bblop
According to Wikipedia, the exact number of known living languages will vary from 5000 to 10000, depending on the definition of "language". At the same time, the top 10 languages (English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, French, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Russian, ... Community members do all this translation work in their spare time. And only a handful of people are managing the enormous process behind all those versions at Mozilla. Even huge companies do not match that. ...
Bblop's Weblog -
http://bblop.wordpress.com/ 

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.
Donna J. Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations
Now you can view blogs and editorials written by Donna at:
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com (Donna Jodhan!  Advocating accessibility for all)
 http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 (access and accessibility)
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php (accessibility issues in Canada)
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com (under the editorials section, an international perspective)
http://www.onestopbookcafe.com (under the café talk link) 
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm (important answers to consumers concerns)
http://www.diversityintheworkplace.ca (monthly editorial on issues concerning diversity)
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html (monthly editorial)
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html (blogs for language professionals and accessibility  consultants)