There’s never been a better time to embark upon learning a new language. With the technology available to us nowadays, learning a language is much easier than it used to be. But many people are often stuck on deciding what is the best foreign language to learn.
In this article, we’ll go over the most useful foreign languages to learn in 2026. We’ll cover the following:
- Arabic
- French
- German
- Hindi
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Mandarin
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
- Swahili
Let’s get started.
1. Arabic
Being the 5th most spoken language in the world, many people are now considering Arabic to be the best second language to learn. Why? Because it is the official language of lots of countries in Africa and the Middle East, many of whom have dynamic and growing economies.
In total, there are around 300 million Arabic speakers and hardly anyone in the English-speaking world learns Arabic as a second language. If you do, you’re highly regarded in the business world!
Arabic countries also hold more than $600 billion GDP-wise, and the economy of Middle Eastern countries has increased hugely over the last decade. With many people only speaking Arabic in these areas, demand is rising for Arabic speakers.
Arabic is one of the hardest languages to learn, but don’t let this put you off. The rewards of learning it are huge!
2. French
After English, French is the second most widely spoken in Europe, which makes it the most useful foreign language to learn for English speakers in Europe.
What makes French the best foreign language to learn? Post-Brexit, it is expected that France will begin to dominate European decision-making much more. What’s more, its usage throughout the whole world makes it a really useful language to learn, particularly as far as emerging markets are concerned.
In total, there are 80 million native French speakers around the world. This number goes up to 153 million when we include non-native French speakers. According to Forbes, there are expected to be as many as 750 million French speakers globally by 2050, which makes it a most useful foreign language to learn indeed.
For English speakers, French is also one of the easiest languages to learn too.
3. German
Since we’ve mentioned Europe, Germany places a huge part in the European economy. In fact, this country has the highest GDP of all and many workers flock here to seek out new careers. For this reason, German can be considered among the best second language to learn.
Though Germans are renowned for their ability to speak English, it is important that English speakers learn their language too. There are 95 million German speakers in the country but 210 million speakers worldwide.
Like French, German is expected to be much more important in a post-Brexit Europe. It’s already one of the three official European Union languages and is the fourth most used language worldwide online.
Finally, Germany is the third-largest development and research contributor in the world, which makes German a really important language.
4. Hindi
It might come as a surprise to find Hindi on this list but if we look at which languages are the most spoken worldwide, Hindi has an impressive number of speakers. There are 310 million Hindi native speakers across the world and over half a billion Hindi speakers in total.
Though Hindi can be difficult for English speakers to learn, it is a phonetic language, which makes it easier. When you learn Hindi, you’ll also see many foreign loan words. These include ananas for pineapple, which is the same as French.
If you love Indian cuisine, you’ll already know many food items in Hindi: curry, tandoori, biryani, and masala are all Indian styles of cooking. Naan, roti, chapati, and parathi are all different breads. You might even know daal (lentils) and mirchi (chilis).
Finally, there are lots of other Hindi words that have made their way to the English-speaking world. These include sandals, jungle, bandand (baandhana), bungalow, chutney (chattni), dungarees, karma, khaki, pajamas, yoga, and shampoo.
5. Italian
It’s the language of classical music, art, fashion, and world-famous cuisine so it’s no surprise that Italian is considered by many as the best foreign language to learn. It’s also one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers.
For anyone considering Italian for professional reasons, it is a great choice. For sectors like design, fashion, fine arts, culture, haute cuisine, food and beverage distribution, engines, and the luxury car industry, it’s a great choice.
International brands like Fiat, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Versace, and Dolce and Gabbana, are always on the lookout for international employees who can speak Italian.
6. Japanese
Though Japanese might not be the first language that comes to mind when deciding on the best foreign language to learn in 2022, it certainly should be considered.
There are over 125 million Japanese speakers and Japan is considered to be a huge economic force in technology and science.
Though Japanese can be difficult for English speakers to learn, what you’ll also learn is that Japanese people communicate a lot by gestures and body language! It’s actually a phenomenon with a name: haragei.
7. Korean
Korea is a huge player in the global economy. Being proficient in this language will certainly give you a great advantage in the job market. It’s the 18th most used language in the world and has over 75 million speakers.
Though Korean is a challenging language for English speakers, it’s also really fun. The alphabet itself (Hangul) is really easy. The pronunciation is simple and there are no gender nouns like in Romance languages. What’s more, the grammar isn’t complicated because there are no verb conjugations.
Korean culture is also becoming more popular around the world especially its K-pop music and TV shows!
8. Mandarin
We can’t have an article on the best foreign languages to learn article without mentioning the most spoken language in the world: Mandarin.
There are over one billion Mandarin speakers, which means that one in seven of the world’s inhabitants speak it.
Though the majority of Mandarin speakers do live in China, the country is a huge global power. This means it’s becoming more and more important for international businesses to have Mandarin-speaking employees.
Mandarin is also the second language of the internet after English. Should the Chinese e-commerce market continue to expand at its current rate, it’s possible for it to overtake English.
9. Portuguese
Portuguese is spoken by 230 million people around the world and there are native speakers in Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe.
This language is the sixth most widely spoken language and is also the fastest-growing European language.
What’s more, Brazil is fast becoming a global economic powerhouse and there is a growing relationship, especially between Brazil and India. In industries involving technical support, technology, education, exports, finance, and tourism, Brazil is very up-and-coming.
For English speakers, Portuguese is quite easy to learn too.
10. Russian
Though its current political state might put people off learning Russian, it’s actually more important than ever to learn it.
The country’s natural resources, its economy, and its sheer size are all important reasons why the world needs more Russian speakers. Interestingly, Moscow is home to the highest number of billionaires in the whole world!
There are 300 million Russian speakers in the world, making it the 8th most common language. The level of English speakers in Russia isn’t high, which makes it potentially the most useful foreign language to learn.
Russian is difficult to learn as an English speaker, but the challenge of this makes it all the more worthwhile!
11. Spanish
Arguably the most popular foreign language to learn for English speakers, it’s no surprise to find Spanish on this list.
There are around 405 million native Spanish speakers in the world and only Mandarin is more commonly spoken.
Learning Spanish is great for your career as it opens doors to links with Latin America, Spain, and even the U.S. where over 37 million people speak Spanish as their first language.
What’s more, for English speakers, Spanish is a relatively easy language to learn. And because there are loads of Spanish speakers in the world, there are so many Spanish resources to make learning even easier (and fun!).
12. Swahili
Perhaps it’s unexpected to feature Swahili on this list of the best foreign languages to learn, but it is a really useful language to have under your belt.
Swahili is used widely in East Africa, including in Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya. It’s believed that around 16 million people speak Swahili as their first language and up to 80 million speak it as a second language.
If you’re a Lion King fan, you’ll already know some words in Swahili: Rafiki means ‘friend’ and Simba means ‘lion’.
Final thoughts
If you can’t decide which foreign language to learn as your second language, we’ve covered all bases with this list of the 12 best foreign languages to learn.
You’ve got a huge mix of difficulties, alphabets, and cultures to choose from. Making the choice is tough but all of these are great suggestions!