Talk:List of languages by number of native speakers

Number of speakers in this article, compared to the numbers in the French language article

• The list on this page speaks of 68 million native speakers and 120 million total speakers.
• The French language article claims 110 million native speakers and 290 million total speakers.

One of the two articles is blatantly wrong and should be corrected. 193.190.253.146 (talk) 16:33, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

I'm sure they're both wrong. Counting speakers of a language is a tricky business. — kwami (talk) 20:29, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

This estimate is pretty accurate as of 2011: 136,456,100 Native French speakers + 59,052,000 Partial French speakers for a total of 195,508,100 French speakers in the world. Source [1] [2] See also List_of_countries_where_French_is_an_official_language — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fredericb (talk • contribs) 06:59, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

English - 1,340 million speakers?

English is spoken by over 1,340 million tongues worldwide. It is the language of science and entertainment. Please include it in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.99.14.165 (talk) 12:49, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

This article is about native speakers. Certainly many people around the world can and do speak English, but most do not fall into the category of "native speaker". Kidigus (talk) 04:02, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

A Problem of Precise Definitions More than Accurate Numbers

Throughout this article there is confusion as to which columns or numbers refer to native speakers, which to secondary speakers (but those for whom a given language, in this case English, has become their primary language), and others. With English, to continue that example, there are in the UK, USA, etc. large numbers of immigrants, and in countries like India and Ghana, for whom English is the national language, there are large numbers for whom the "second language" has become their primary mode of communication. And then, of course, there are those for whom it is only an "international language" that they speak in order to do business, science, or communication with English-speaking foreigners, both native and non-native.

The problem here is less one of accurate numbers than of more precise definitions of the categories of entities being counted,explicitly laid out and consistently applied across languages, as well as possible. Fair estimates might be made of each, and that could be useful to someone seeking information on this page

Numbers of Speakers and Population Figures Ought to Bear Some Reasonable Connection

Even in the clearest case, however, that of "native-speakers", in this case of English, one would expect the figures to match the population figures of "English-speaking" countries which these do not. And, if you include also those for whom English has become their primary mode of communication--a not unreasonable extension (as long as the definitions are clearly made)--then the numbers are even more undercounted. Indeed, if you totaled all of the languages, does the total equal the world population (or at least the world population minus those young enough not to yet be speaking--or even yet listening comprehendingly to--any language!). Brief acknowledgement of these matters, and some consistency and precision here, would go a long way to making this much needed page a great deal more useful! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.170.177.38 (talk) 17:51, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Understimation of Igbo and Yoruba native speakers

Its seems that the native speaker figures for Igbo and Yoruba are too low. For both of these 'peoples' they have a total of 25-30 million of total speakers. Barely any people speak these languages other than the natives, so I believe the proper number should be around 25-28 million. Just a suggestion. Also many other languages have been underestimated. I am a native speaker of Igbo. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.54.16.236 (talk) 01:11, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

We need refs. — kwami (talk) 08:03, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Footnote [4] refers to a dead link

I didn't know what to do, so I say it here... Galanom (talk) 19:31, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from Fredericb, 31 July 2011

Please edit this page to reflect the numbers of French speakers listed on

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers#Number_of_speakers_in_this_article.2C_compared_to_the_numbers_in_the_French_language_article

136,456,100 Native French speakers + 59,052,000 Partial French speakers for a total of 195,508,100 French speakers in the world.

Sources: http://20mars.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/FICHE_03_Nombre_de_francophones.pdf and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_French_is_an_official_language

I think these are more accurate than the numbers currently referenced.

Fredericb (talk) 07:08, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Well, your source says 136M French speakers (with a level of precision that makes it laughable), not 136M native speakers. We currently say over 200M French speakers, so yes, that's quite a difference. (We don't count partial speakers.) — kwami (talk) 08:13, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 67.177.189.176, 13 August 2011

Hello, I was looking at this page and the French Speakers part is just out right wrong. It states that there are about 68million native Speakers and 120million total. The population of France alone is greater than 68 Million. French is spoken all over the world and the total number of speakers is about 346,812,250. The number of native speakers is about 110 Million. French is the most second most studied language in the world and is definetly spoken much more than it is being shown as. It would help many people who use Wikipedia to know the truth so please change the number of native and total French Speakers on this page to the correct number. I have looked this up on many websites and this is the number that is most common and I have in my general knowledge

67.177.189.176 (talk) 17:46, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

 Not done: Please list the sources to support the requested change. As a side note, the population of France even including areas outside of metropolitan France is not greater than 68 million population per INSEE. Elockid ^(Talk) 18:09, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

First of all, I agree with the above about the French language. Second of all, according to your own wikipedia and other sources, the number of native speakers of persian is around 80 million, while the total number of people who speak persian is around 140 million. Here you only put 30 million people or so, which is less than half of the population of iran, not to even mention afghanistan and tajikistan, where 90% of people speak persian, as well as other regions. I don't have additional sources, but you already have everything in other pages of wikipedia.--Kasparov49acer 19:40, 22 August 2011 (UTC)