What languages would you need to speak to communicate with the majority of humans on Earth?

[Alinestra Covelia]

Please could you send for the hall porter? there appears to be a frog in my bidet.

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.

[Kuciwalker]

If you just want the majority, English and Mandarin could probably get you most of the way there. Add Spanish and I'm sure you've got it.

[Krill]

[action=Krill]presses the ejector seat button.[/action]

[Heresson]

English
Chinese
Spanish

would be enough

but
French
Arabic
Hindu
Russian
Portuguese

Polish

[fed1943]

To understand and be understood: English, then Mandarim and Spanish (not sure about
Russian).
No need of Arabian or Germanic languages, as they speak English; no need of Portuguese
if you speak Spanish, but the opposite is not true.
Best regards,

[chequita guevara]

Everyone learns English. So, English is all you need.

[Heresson]

No need of Arabian (...) languages, as they speak English

[Blaupanzer]

Not sure Mandarin gets you all of China. In the south the language is Cantonese. Probably covers 30 - 40% of the Chinese speakers.

[duke o' york]

Well it depends on how well you want to be understood. Mandarin is the official language of the entire country so most people will be cognisant of it, even if it's not their first language. Mind you, German is one of Belgium's official languages but very few people speak it.

[Ben Kenobi]

Well you would look for languages with little overlap.

English/Mandarin/Hindi would get it for you.

English alone would get you 1.5 billion people.

Mandarin gets you 885 million people, so 2.386 billion people.

Hindi gives you about 900 million people, so 3.186. You are good so long as there are fewer then 186 million ESL speakers in both Mandarin and Hindi.

The problem with French is that it is smaller then Spanish by about 80 million people, with greater overlap with English (France and Quebec).

[Riesstiu IV]

American is the only language you need to know.

[Monk]

Everyone learns English. So, English is all you need.

Please, please confirm this is a troll, or I might not be able to sleep at night

[Theben]

Say that in a language we can't understand, partner.

[Tattila the Hun]

Jos ei osaa suomea, ei voi ymmärtää suomalaisia. Olisiko tuo nyt suuri menetys, tiedä häntä.

(That last bit means "know the tail", btw. Like a cat's tail.)

[Lefty Scaevola]

I suspect that
Mandarin
English
Spanish

would get you over 50%