Around the turn of the millennium, about a quarter of the world's population could communicate in English to some degree.

大約在千禧年時，世界上約有四分之一的人可以用英文，在某種程度上溝通。

But with changing world demographics and globalization, the languages we all use are sure to change in form and popularity.

但是隨著世界人口結構改變以及全球化，我們所使用的語言，不論是在形式或是普及率，勢必將會改變。

So, we wanted to know, what is the future of language?

因此，我們想知道，未來的語言會是什麼樣子？

Well, there are certainly competing ideas about what will become the most widely spoken language.

目前對於未來最為廣泛使用的語言為何，當然有幾種相互競爭的想法。

But one thing is agreed upon: that the total number of languages worldwide will drop considerably.

但被肯定的是：世界上的語言總數將會大量減少。

Today, there are about 7,000 languages spoken around the globe.

現在全球仍被使用中的語言大約還有7,000種。

But this number is thought to drop by about 90% although new hybrid languages are expected to spring up, maintaining culture and diversity.

但是這個數字估計會減少 90%，雖然新混合語言預期將會出現，可以保存不同的文化以及多元性。

Even today, nearly two-thirds of the world natively speaks only one of twelve languages.

即使是現在，幾乎世界上三分之二會說母語的人，只會說最大宗的十二種語言其中的一種。

Most language predictions are based on population growth, with China and India taking the lead.

大多的語言預測都是建立在人口成長，由中國和印度占領先地位。

Another somewhat questionable prediction has been that French will become the most spoken language within the same time period.

另個稍具爭議性的預測指出，法文在同個時期，會成為最多人使用的語言。

Although, today, French is natively spoken by roughly 220 million, that number is expected to increase to roughly 750 million.

雖然法文目前僅作為 2 億 2 千萬人的母語，該數字預期會上升至大約 7 億 5 千萬人。

And the study suggests it will eclipse both Chinese and English.

研究也指出，法文將會超越中文以及英文。

A major reason for this assumption is that a number of African nations speak French, and Africa's current economic growth is a strong predictor of a rapid population growth.

該假設的主要原因，是因為有不少非洲國家使用法文，而現今非洲的經濟成長，是未來人口快速成長的重要指標。

Still, many have criticized this view, saying that French-speaking nations in Africa don't actually represent the total number of French speakers.

儘管如此，不少人批評這論點。批評者認為講法文的非洲國家，不能夠代表實際講法文的總人口。

But while population growth is a good measure of native language rates, it may actually be English as a second language that dominates the world.

雖然人口數量是一個用來衡量母語使用人口的好指標，但也許真正占多數的，是以英文作為第二語言的人口。

For example, although Chinese is spoken by more people, English is spoken in three times as many countries.

舉例而言，雖然中文使用人數較多，但使用英文的國家卻是中文的三倍。

Furthermore, Chinese is considered more complicated to learn than English and is not used nearly as often in scientific communication.

此外，中文被認為比英文更困難學習，且在科學溝通方面，也不如英文使用來的頻繁。

It is also important to note that English has the considerable advantage of already being the predominant language for print, education, media, and most importantly, the internet.

還有一點很重要就是，英文有個很大的優勢，它在印刷物、教育、媒體，以及最重要的網路已經是主要的語言。

Many estimates also predict that Spanish and Arabic will see a huge influx of both native and secondary speakers,

也有許多預估預測，西班牙文和阿拉伯文在母語以及第二語言使用人口上將有大量湧入。

with Spanish already the second most spoken language in the United States.

西班牙文已經是美國第二大被使用的語言。

The future of language is easy to see: Most languages will die out, and existing languages in countries with rapid population growth will naturally see the greatest rise.

語言的未來是顯而易見的：大部分的語言即將消失，而在人口快速成長的國家，將會自然看見現存語言有最顯著的成長。

But the most likely scenario is that the world will continue to globalize through the English language, largely through non-native speakers.

但最可能的情況還是：未來世界會繼續透過英文全球化，大致上是透過非英文母語人士。

The world has over 7,000 languages; to learn more about the most common languages spoken, watch our video.

世界上有超過7,000種語言，想知道更多最普遍的語言，請看我們的影片。

Technically, Chinese is a macro language made up of seven major groups, spread out over more than 200 different dialects.

嚴格來說，中文是一個巨大的語言，由七種主要的類別組成，分布在兩百多種不同的方言中。

In particular, Mandarin represents the vast majority of Chinese speakers, some 70%.

特別是華語，代表了大多數的中文使用者，大約占百分之七十。

Thanks for watching TestTube News; make sure to like and subscribe to our channel.

感謝收看這集TestTube News，請記得按讚並訂閱我們的頻道。

And we'll see you next time.

我們下回再見。