in 2005, it was estimated that there were over 2 billion speakers of english. english is the first foreign language for most learners who have another main language. it is an official language of the united nations, european union, and many other international organizations. it is the most widely-spoken germanic language, with at least 70% of germanic speakers speaking english. about 220 million others use it as their second language. it is, together with german, the most important language of science and technology. it is often used in work and travel and trade, and there are at least a billion people who are learning it. that makes english the largest language by number of speakers.