Portuguese

Portuguese is the sixth most natively spoken language in the world, with a whopping 200 million native speakers and approximately 270 million total speakers.

Portuguese has a greater variety than only Brazil and Portugal; in addition to being the official language of 10 countries in South America, Africa, and Europe, it is also spoken in a few African countries including Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape Verde. It goes without saying that fluency in Portuguese is a huge asset for professionals wishing to work in international relations. Beyond the statistics, though, studying Portuguese is a great option for people who love the arts. Brazil is the birthplace of many musical music genres, including bossa nova, samba, and funk carioca. Writers like Paolo Coelho and José Saramago are native Portuguese speakers.