The popularity of a particular language is made up of a number of criteria. One of them is pragmatism. A pragmatic approach to the choice of learning a foreign language can certainly bring substantial dividends in the future.
One of the main factors in the popularity of a particular language is its economic feasibility. The stronger the economy of a country, the more popular the language of this state in the world.
English and German?
Do you travel frequently or are you looking for a good job? Then, without knowing English, you seriously complicate your life. English is indeed the most popular language in the world and, to one degree or another, is spoken in all countries of the world. If you plan to work in a scientific field - mathematics, programming, physics and other exact sciences, do economics or business not only in your country, work in communications, travel the world often, knowledge of this language will greatly facilitate your life.
Further, if you follow the same logic - work and travel, the next most popular language is German. The German economy is currently one of the leading in the world, moreover, if you are engaged in technology, medicine or law, knowledge of the German language will increase your chances in the labor market. And he can certainly help when traveling. After all, the Germans, after the Japanese, are one of the most traveling nations, therefore, almost all service personnel all over the world have knowledge of German, like English, at a minimum level.
Chinese or Spanish?
About one and a half billion people live on our planet, for whom Chinese is their mother tongue. That is, at least three times more people speak Chinese than, for example, English. Taking into account the fact that the Chinese economy is developing rapidly and penetrates literally all spheres of modern life, the time for learning this language will definitely not be wasted. Taking into account the trends of recent political events - the reorientation of the economy and finances of Russia from west to east - it is for Russians in the coming years that the Chinese language may become one of the most necessary means of communication.
As a matter of fact, proceeding from the same premises - the reorientation of Russian economic life, in the everyday life of an ordinary Russian in the next decade, three or one of three languages may be needed: Chinese, Hindi and Spanish.
By the way, about Spanish. Studies in recent years have shown that Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world after Chinese (even on Twitter). The number of Spanish speakers in the world is more than 495 million (for example - 341 million English speakers). The new partners of the Russian economy in Cuba and South and Central America speak exclusively their native language - Spanish. They have problems with English and Chinese.
Popularity criteria are different in all areas of human life and language is no exception. But having decided on the motivation for the need for this information, it is easy to determine the popularity.
