Mandarin, China's official tongue, is also the top language worldwide for business other than English.
Mandarin, spoken by 845 million people, scored highest in a ranking of languages, excluding English, based on business usefulness. The ranking scored languages according to the number of speakers, number of countries where the language is official, along with those nations' populations, financial power, educational and literacy rates, and related measures.
French, spoken by 68 million people worldwide and the official language of 27 countries, was ranked second.
Mandarin is unlikely to supplant English soon as the primary language of business, said Leigh Hafrey, a seniorlecturer in communications and ethics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.
"In much the same way that the dollar remains the preferred currency, English will remain the preferred language for the foreseeable future," Hafrey said in a telephone interview.
Mandarin speakers can gain an advantage in doing business in China, he said.


据彭博社31日报道，除了英语，中国官方语言汉语也是全球商务使用最为广泛的语言。


讲汉语的人有8.45亿。从商务实用性来看，除英语外，汉语排名最靠前。此次语言评比是根据某种语言的使用人数，把它作为官方语国家的数量、以及这些国家的人口、财力、教育与识字率等相关标准完成的。


法语排名在汉语之后，全球有6800万人讲法语，有27个国家把法语作为其官方语言。

美国麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院沟通与伦理高级讲师利•哈佛雷认为，在短时期内，汉语不太可能取代英文成为最主要的商务语言。


哈佛雷在接受电话采访时指出："正如美元依然是优先通货一样，在可预见的未来，英语依然会是优选语言。"

他说，在中国做生意，会讲汉语将无往不利。

• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• primary [´praiməri] a.主要的 n.居首位的 (初中英语单词)
• institute [´institju:t] n.学院 vt.建立；设置 (初中英语单词)
• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)
• educational [,edju´keiʃənəl] a.教育(上)的 (高中英语单词)
• related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• currency [´kʌrənsi] n.通货；通用；货币 (高中英语单词)
• usefulness [´ju:sfəlnis] n.有用(性)；有益(性) (英语六级单词)
• unlikely [ʌn´laikli] a.不像的；未必可能的 (英语六级单词)
• supplant [sə´plɑ:nt] vt.(用策略等)替换 (英语六级单词)
• lecturer [´lektʃərə] n.演讲者；讲师 (英语六级单词)
• ethics [´eθiks] n.伦理学；道德标准 (英语六级单词)