For many travellers, speaking English feels like a passport in itself, but Marta Bueno Arcos explores what’s gained when we reach for other languages too.
Travelling is a year-round activity, but as the winter holidays approach, many people prefer choosing destinations that share their same language. When it comes to modern travelling however, English has become the name of the game. As seen with the quick crash and burn of Esperanto — a constructed international auxiliary language meant to be neutral and easy to learn— it’s simpler to have an already established language be the Lingua Franca of the world.
A Lingua Franca, or a vehicular language, is a second language that people from different countries have in common to make international communication possible. And while that used to be French, nowadays that language is, undeniably, English. But why is that?
Data supports English’s popularity, but not its dominance when traveling. When tallied according to the number of native speakers only, the top three most spoken languages in the world are Chinese, Spanish and English, in that order. And yes, English is in the top three, but when you compare the 380 million native English speakers to 1.3 billion native Chinese speakers or 486 million Spanish speakers, there is an argument to be made for the popularity of these languages over English.
And yet, English is the most common language spoken, with the list of the top languages by total number of speakers in 2025 moving Spanish down to fourth, Hindi in third, Mandarin Chinese in second with 1.14 billion total speakers, and finally, English ending in first with 1.5 billion total speakers.
As such, English has become a vehicular language, spoken globally. Not only is it spoken in Ireland, England, Canada and the USA, but also in the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, and many more. The long list of countries where English is the native language, as well as its status as the Lingua Franca, makes English incredibly useful when traveling. It helps travelers feel less isolated, stay safer and help to navigate different destinations worldwide.
However, as useful as it is, English isn’t the be-all end-all when it comes to languages while travelling abroad. Alongside it, Spanish, French and Arabic are the languages that cover the most number of countries around the globe. Knowing the basics, or learning how to speak them at a conversational level, is useful worldwide. There are over 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa where Arabic is the official language. French too, is an official language in many African countries as well as in Canada and central Western Europe. Spanish as well, is spoken both in Spain and throughout most of Central and South America.
So, despite English’s dominance, not every traveler relies on it. As a non-native English speaker, I often use my native Spanish over English when travelling, both where Spanish is the native language and in countries with other Romance languages, like France, Portugal and Italy. Here, unless you speak to a young person in a major city, it’s often easier for locals to understand Spanish than it is English. In fact, many locals might not be comfortable speaking English, even if they do know the language, and it’s often easier to converse with gestures and our own mother tongues.
While English is very popular, it’s unrealistic to expect that people will speak English in every corner of the world, and so it’s always a safe bet to try and learn a few basics such as please, thank you, and the ever useful ‘how much is it?’ or ‘where is the bathroom?’ before you travel to a new country. Or at the very least, have a note of the translation on your phone to point to.
Learning the basics of the native language of where you’re traveling to, even if it’s only please and thank you, will do you wonders when travelling abroad. It's a great way to show appreciation for the place and people you are visiting, and a useful skill to have in a rocky situation. Plus, it’ll definitely help you connect with the locals, spark conversation, make new friends, and in general better your experience when travelling abroad.
All in all, if you are one of those 1.515 billion people who speaks English (and if you are reading this, chances are you are) then yes, English is incredibly useful to help you interact with people worldwide, especially in major cities. However, if you want to truly connect with the locals and experience a place authentically, consider at least learning the basics of their language.