07. Bengali – 202 Million Native Speakers



I bet you didn't see Bengali coming... in fact, I bet you don't know what Bengali is. Let me educate you. Bengali is the language native to the southeastern region of Asia known as Bengal. Think Bangladesh. While numbers vary for the 'native speakers' of this language, it's still in a solid place among the top 10 most spoken languages in the world.

08. Russian – 160 Million Native Speakers



Russian, or Russki as I like to call it (I don't know why) is a Slavic language that gives me fits when I try to learn it. Written in the Cyrillic alphabet, it looks and sounds foreign to most English speakers. The Russians know how to be cold and decline words. And be tough. And intimidating.

09. Japanese – 127 Million Native Speakers



Perhaps the most polite language on the top 10, Japanese is famous for it's difficulty in addressing various levels of people with regards to their status and respect level. Seemingly two different languages are used for addressing elders and people of authority vs. that annoying kid down the street. With it's unique writing system, it appears to be really foreign to a large portion of the world. However, to 127 million people, it's pure comfort.

10. Punjabi – 96-130 Million Native Speakers



Ahh Punjabi, what would a top 10 list be without you? Punjabi "...is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 130 million (2013 estimate) native speakers worldwide making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world."

It's clear to see that the vast majority of languages are comprised of only the top fraction of a percent. Of the 6,000+ languages spoken today, this list of 10 makes up for roughly 45% or so of the total population of the earth. As the world becomes smaller, we lose a lot of the underrepresented languages out there. Whether you consider this a natural part of civilization, or a tragedy, it is happening. There are large efforts out there to support and help preserve near-extinct languages, but it will remain an uphill battle as more and more people jump on the bandwagon to speak one of the more 'common' languages.

Author Jeffrey Nelson of LivingBilingual.com