Lots of people, but spoken in only two countries (China and Singapore) and essentially nowhere else.
2. Spanish
With only half the number of speakers of Mandarin, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world. The people of over twenty countries on three continents prefer it.
3. English
Only third in speakers, but the most widely spoken language, number one in both art and commerce.
4. Hindi
Spoken in only two countries.
5. Arabic
The world's third most widely used language, but usually spoken in places where you just can't use it to pick up girls. (Unless you are a girl yourself)
If you're going to use Arabic to pick up women in conservative Middle Eastern countries, you need to: 1.) buy a phone with bluetooth [1], 2.) learn the Arabic chat alphabet [2].
You forgot Taiwan/ROC under Mandarin. Also there are a lot of cities in the US (or at least in California) where you can get by just speaking Mandarin/Cantonese.
Also, how is that list misleading? The title is, "List of languages by number of native speakers" and not, "List of languages by some specific importance"
1. There is only one China. The pretenders in Beijing will be overthrown soon enough.
2. The list is misleading if used, as suggested, to prioritize languages to learn. It seems accurate enough as far as sheer numbers go.
3. California should just be marked as an exception to every list of facts. (The only country where you can comfortably live you life speaking only Vietnamese, except California; the first twenty digits of pi, except in California; &c)
1. Mandarin
Lots of people, but spoken in only two countries (China and Singapore) and essentially nowhere else.
2. Spanish
With only half the number of speakers of Mandarin, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world. The people of over twenty countries on three continents prefer it.
3. English
Only third in speakers, but the most widely spoken language, number one in both art and commerce.
4. Hindi
Spoken in only two countries.
5. Arabic
The world's third most widely used language, but usually spoken in places where you just can't use it to pick up girls. (Unless you are a girl yourself)