Guide to Top 3 Most Spoken European Languages

When it comes to languages, Europe is a small yet mighty linguistic hub. As a relatively small continent with only 50 countries, it can be shocking to some that Europe is home to 150 languages. The majority of these languages evolved from the Indo-European family language tree; which also covers not only Europe but South Asia.

Here at Absolute Translations, we have teams of native-speaking translators across the globe; particularly in Europe where seven of our offices are based! As pioneers in translation services and interpretation, our professional translators understand the cultural nuances and specific subcultures of over 200 languages.

From French translation services to simultaneous interpreting services in Italian, Absolute Translations can provide high quality, culturally-accurate translations in every European language.

Today, our expert team of European translators have broken down the three most widely spoken languages in the continent:

1. Russian

People are often surprised when they are told Russian is the most spoken language in Europe. However, as the largest country in Europe in size and population; Russia tops the list with a total of 120 million native speakers. Another interesting note about the Russian language is its use of the Cyrillic alphabet. Most other European languages such as English use the Latin alphabet. But Russia uses the Serbian-derived alphabet system, making Russian a harder language to learn.

For businesses who are looking to expand into Russia, the use of a different alphabet system could be a challenge when trying to communicate with potential customers. However, when you utilise our expert Russian translation services, you will find that our native-speaking, Russian translators have an excellent understanding of Russian language etiquette and modern business in the country.

2. German 

Often regarded as the language of philosophers, German comes in second for the largest native-speaking population in Europe. As the official language for Germany; Austria and Liechtenstein (as well as a secondary official language for Switzerland; Belgium and Luxembourg), German is spoken by approximately 95 million people. It is also the mostly widely-understood language after English, as most Europeans know German as a second language. With a global network of German-speaking translators across the globe; our team can provide you with specialist German translations of documents for your business. We even have an office in Frankfurt, meaning all of our German translations services are accurately and efficiently delivered to our clients in 24 hours.

3. French

After Russian and German, the third most spoken language in Europe is French. With an estimated 80 million native speakers, it is the official language of France and a co-official language of Belgium; Switzerland and Luxembourg. As for second languages, French is understood by 30% of European inhabitants. This is due to its popularity in schools across the continent.

When it comes to the French, they are proud of their language so you need to make sure all of your translations are accurate. Using our expert French translation services, we guarantee that all of our French translators have a thorough understanding of French business culture and specialist knowledge of translations, meaning you can be reassured knowing your business materials are completely culturally accurate.

For more information about our translation services including our specialist document translation services and multilingual DTP services, get in touch with our team on 0333 577 0767.