Learn how to summarise information in a table and write a report on the main features.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Reading text

The table below gives information about some of the world's most studied languages. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Language Number of people learning the language Number of native speakers Number of countries where the language is spoken
English 1.5 billion 527 million 101
French 82 million 118 million 51
Chinese 30 million 1.39 billion 33
Spanish 14.5 million 389 million 31
Italian 8 million 67 million 29
Japanese 3 million 123 million 25

The table illustrates some interesting facts about some of the world's most popular languages to learn. It allows comparisons between the number of people who study a language versus those who speak it as a mother tongue, and shows how many countries have speakers of each of the languages.

The prominence of English is striking. 1.5 billion people are learning English compared to only 82 million studying the second most popular language to learn, French. English is spoken in 101 countries, roughly twice as many as French and three times more than Chinese. English is the only language with more learners than native speakers.

In terms of native speakers, Chinese is the most spoken language, more than double English with 1.39 billion. It is the third most popular language to learn with 30 million learners. Spanish has over five times more native speakers than Italian, but proportionally fewer learners at 14.5 million for Spanish and 8 million for Italian. As for Japanese, it is the least studied language of those given with 3 million learners.

Overall, more people are learning English than the other languages combined and English is spoken in the highest number of countries. However, Chinese has by far the greatest number of native speakers. There seems to be little correlation between how many native speakers there are of a language and the number of learners, but there is a stronger link between the number of learners and how many countries have speakers.

Please note: This page was designed for writing practice only. Information and statistics in the table may not be accurate.

Tips

  1. Start by saying what information is shown. If you are writing in an exam, try to avoid repeating the same wording as the question, e.g. The table illustrates some interesting facts about some of the world's most popular languages to learn.
  2. In the second paragraph give an overview of the most important features of the information.
  3. Be selective and choose the key observations and trends. You don't have to write about every single detail.
  4. Divide your observations into paragraphs about different aspects of the data. A concluding paragraph is not always necessary.
  5. Don't use your own general knowledge to give reasons for the data or to add more information than is shown. The question only requires you to summarise and report the data in the table.
  6. Use a variety of structures for:
  • making comparisons, e.g. slightly more than, by far the highest, as … as, compared to, double the number of, correlation between
  • approximating, e.g. nearly, roughly, almost
  • stating what you are referring to, e.g. in terms of … , as for … , of those given.

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

Task 3

Exercise

Discussion

Which language apart from English would you like to learn?

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Language level

Advanced: C1

Comments

qtn03's picture qtn03 replied on Australia

Besides English, I would like to learn French. As I've known English has many words derived from French, so it's easier to learn than other languages. French is also systematically organized that makes learning even more easily for learners. In addition, it is the second most spoken language in countries of the number given with 51, in which some are very developed such as France and Canada. Those countries illustrate themselves as a dream place for living, learning and tourism, especially Quebec, Canada where is accepting immigration broadly. It's prominently seen that French can't versus English, but, in case of someone trying to live in a developed country, if a competition to the English world is too hard, then moving to the French world is good as well.

Chiquado's picture Chiquado replied on Nigeria

Apart from english and my local language, i would like to learn french.