Chinese has the most native speakers. Spanish has the most countries and English is the most common second language. So between the three of them you have a huge chunk of the world population covered.
Not saying there really should be an "official" language but there will need to be a lingua franca because putting two dozen languages on a street sign doesn't help anyone.
When I was a kid I learned to speak enough Chinese I could get around the city but I never could get the hang of reading it. In two years I doubt I learned more then 100 or so characters. So yeah I feel ya.
2000 characters gives you a ton of coverage unless you're working with obscure topics (which you'll pick up from context anyway). I would also say that speaking is significantly more important that reading, writing, or listening, and if you focus on that as a first objective (but not the only objective of course), everything else will come pretty naturally.
Chinese has the most native speakers. Spanish has the most countries and English is the most common second language. So between the three of them you have a huge chunk of the world population covered.
Not saying there really should be an "official" language but there will need to be a lingua franca because putting two dozen languages on a street sign doesn't help anyone.
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When I was a kid I learned to speak enough Chinese I could get around the city but I never could get the hang of reading it. In two years I doubt I learned more then 100 or so characters. So yeah I feel ya.
2000 characters gives you a ton of coverage unless you're working with obscure topics (which you'll pick up from context anyway). I would also say that speaking is significantly more important that reading, writing, or listening, and if you focus on that as a first objective (but not the only objective of course), everything else will come pretty naturally.
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Lol every one speaks Firefly.