English is the most important language anyone can learn today. That’s not really in question as it dominates the world. But what is the second most useful language anyone can know?

The British Council published a list today of which languages are the most important after English and here it is.

1. Spanish
2. Arabic
3. French
4. Mandarin
5. German
6. Portuguese
7. Italian
8. Russian
9. Turkish
10. Japanese
11. French

The list was compiled based on economic, political and cultural factors and the UK has a worrying lack of people able to speak these languages fluently.

French and German (with Spanish a low third) are the languages traditionally taught in British schools and are in the list, but dominating it  are those languages which are almost never considered as options in schools: Arabic and Mandarin for example.

The creation of the list comes after a YouGov poll commissioned by the British Council, which found that of 4,000 UK adults polled, 75% were unable to hold a conversation in any of the languages seen as crucial to the UK’s economic standing.