I was wondering what does it take for a beta language to come together in the same category with the supported languages ?
@MADARA - We donât have clear cut rules, but in general we would like to see an good amount of active users and a good amount of content in the Library before doing this. These languages can be compared with our other supported languages to get a better idea of what we are looking for.
Thanks for your response . In a way I think it is a pity that languages like Arabic(which has more than 300 million native speakers and another 200 million who are learning it ) and Turkish (that has like 70 million speakers) should be seen as some rare or uninteresting languages where as for example a language like Korean which doesnât have to many speakers to be among the popular ones.
MADARA, it is more a matter of the historical progression of languages at LingQ, and it does not reflect the inherent importance of languages.
maybe beta languages not so important for all of us as other tongues. Or there very little amount of materials.
Yes Steve I understand that, that is why I was saying ââ In a way I think it is a pityâ'. I just wanted to point out that it looks like a paradox for me that languages that are more spoken than others may not be as popular.
@MADARA I think it is more about how popular the languages are on LingQ (amount of learners). Most of the Beta Languages are also ones that are newer so naturally, the amount of learners will be smaller than the supported languages.
Yes I noticed that , I just felt that the criterion of which people choose languages is rather subjective ( regarding the nations from which those languages reside) .
No, Iâd say the way people choose languages is really quite logical.
Spanish: North Americans are quite well surrounded by Hispanics, one of most spoken languages in world
French: Both North America and Europe have large French speaking populations, so influence is obvious even before considering Africa.
Japanese: Large presence of Japanese media in pop-culture
Korean: Same as Japanese. Have you not noticed the K-Pop chaos that has erupted?
Chinese: Really sets you apart if you know this language in both business and personal enrichment.
Russian: Same idea as Chinese.
English: Duh
Arabic is not chosen because a trip to the middle east is not a very realistic vacation idea, most Arabs I know in the US speak excellent English, and also, there is a kind of clash between Western and Arab cultures happening right now, in case you have not noticed.
Turkish: Basically no media presence. Why would anyone learn Turkish outside of have an extraordinary passion or need?
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Business in Russia ? Only the Russian entrepreneurs prosper there while the rest of the population barely make a living and live in small apartments (have you read âCrime and Punishmentâ to see how well they manage ?). Turkey may be a better place for business considering their economical growth ( in the winter they supply the whole Europe with vegetables and fruits ).Also the climate is way more convenient that the ice cube named Russia ( not to mention the people are more warm and civilized and they donât drink all the time like Russians do) .
You realize Crime and Punishment was published in 1866, right?
Even if your propoganda-influenced image of Russia was 100 percent correct (it is partially), Russian is not only spoken in Russia.
Donât try to argue that Turkish is more influential than Russian. Please.
Your drinking reference indicates a certain closemindedness that even your countryâs former relationship with Russia can not excuse.
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It hasnât change much since then.And by the way you are an American , why do you take sides with the Russians ?
Though your other arguments are pretty strong , The country that makes the most advertising regarding their culture will undoubtedly become the most popular .
I am not siding with Russia, I am siding with the argument that Russian is more influential than Turkish.
Yes but the only reasons they are influential is that they have a very powerful army , the nuclear bomb an the widest land in the world .
So would you argue that the only reason that Romania is not influential is because you donât have a powerful army, the bomb, or the widest land in the world?
But this all does not matter, because you are still confusing what this discussion is about. I am arguing the fact that RussIAN with an IAN is more influential than Turkish.
I wasnât thinking about Romania(and yes if you have a powerful army, the nuclear bomb you are an influential nation look at America,Israel ,North Korea ) . And you failed in giving me another reason for why is Russia above Turkey.
You misunderstood my argument. I said ââŚwould you argue that the ONLY reasonâŚâ
As far as I know North Korea does not have the bomb. They are influential for reasons outside of having a bomb. Romania could become just as influential if they had a megalomaniacal dictator. Its interesting how history comes full circle in different parts of the world, isnât it my Romanian friend?
As far as spreading language goes, North Korea is not influential at all, outside of raising the study of Korean in military academies.
I was never arguing that Russia is more influential than Turkey: it is obvious that it is. Why should anyone have to argue that Russia is more powerful than Turkey. I mean really, you even did it in your example with the bomb.
I think it simply is that the more âmainstreamâ languages as always going to be more popular.
@djvlbass I think I have been blabbering (to some extent) useless . These forums have been created to have some friendly conversations not to host some intercultural debates that may offend other people . It really doesnât matter who is more influential , it is all about learning a language (or more) which we believe to be interesting and beautiful to our ears(but still I know that North Korea has the atomic bomb 
) .
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