The Most Common Second Languages Spoken Around the World

According to some estimates, at least half of the world is bilingual, and among some populations, that number is significantly higher—95 percent of Latvians speak more than one language, for instance.

And that second language likely varies with geography. Americans living near the Mexican border are more likely to learn Spanish as a second language than someone in Latvia, where people are much more likely to find themselves in Russia than in Spain.

The international moving company Movehub mapped out the most common languages people learn in addition to their native tongue, and you might be surprised by how common certain languages are regionally. The data is sourced from the CIA’s world fact book, and some places aren’t included (Colombia and Myanmar, for instance).

As you might have gathered, English is a very popular second language. In fact, it’s the most popular second language in 55 countries. French (coincidentally, one of the easiest languages to learn) comes in second, but only 14 countries have it as their most common second language, which is a far cry from 55.

Peruse some of the other languages commonly studied as a second language in the infographic: