Civilizations interact with each other using a lingua franca to make sure communicating goes smoothly. Today that common language is English, its impact is felt around the globe, yet there are others to consider and I think it's important to give a general overview.
Mandarin, a Chinese language, is the most spoken language in the world with nearly one billion native speakers. Almost all of these people live in China, although there is an increasing amount of outsiders learning the language particularly those with business interests in the rising economic superpower.
The influence of China and their languages is surely important and if you're looking to be ahead of the game this century, learning Mandarin is a prospective move. I'm sure you'll have an immense competitive advantage coming from the West knowing the most spoken language in the world; though let's keep in mind that not everyone is suited for the task.
Not only is it tremendous difficulty for the average learner with a non-eastern language background, it's also less culturally accessible throughout the world. Mandarin is spoken in one area of the world—in Asia, specifically China, Taiwan, and Singapore. In these regions they coincide with other dialects and local languages as well.
Likewise, Hindi is a language with a lot of speakers though it's confined to the Indian subcontinent.
Another widely spoken language is Spanish more precisely Castilian, as the Catalonians, along with others will claim it's not a singular language. Spain is the common language in a third of the Western Hemisphere, even spoken by a large population in the US. Arabic is also in similar position in that certain countries in the North Africa and Near East have their own variation from different influences though they use the standard language in formal contexts.
Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and Arabic are still massive languages regardless if they are not so globally dispersed.
The English and Portuguese alliance goes back to the 14th century Treaty of Windsor, but for all purposes it remained intact mostly for geopolitical interests. The British had to control the sphere of influence over the Atlantic, which first belonged to the Portuguese which was then eventually challenged by the Spanish Empire.
What's been important, or at least influential in the long run is the cultural and linguistic legacy both of these colonial empires have had; and what's unique about their scope is how geographically widespread it is, being the official languages in five continents, with only French being in the same category. The French language has been a cultural powerhouse around the globe for centuries, although the majority of it's speakers are in Africa and increasingly so.
You can thank the two great naval powers(at a certain period) for spreading their languages throughout the world. The Portuguese became the first true global empire controlling the maritime world from the Atlantic to the Far East. Vasco da Gama started the explorations importing the Portuguese language around Africa, Asia, Oceania, and over time accidentally landing on the Eastern coast of South America.
Today, Portuguese is the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere primarily spoken in Brazil which has become important trading partners with the most power nations around the world. If you learn Portuguese it can definitely facilitate learning Spanish as it's similar, but has a greater range of grammar and sounds making Spanish seem more simplistic to comprehend.
If you're reading this right now I don't have to attest to how much English has become the de facto common language. The reaches of British and the US empires have established Anglo culture throughout the world. Even in places where English has never had any sort of presence, we see many learn it as a second language.
English, compared with other languages, is fairly simple and direct, you can pick it up and get started as it has an easy structure albeit with some quirky rules. The utility of the language should be obvious to anyone who uses digital technology or is in anyway involved with such a universal communication medium.
Finishing off this general study, I would like to include something of personal interest.
The sport of surfing is getting very popular globally, it's a concrete example attesting to the Portuguese and English cultural significance as the US, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, and Portugal are dominant countries where top contenders come out of and a large industry market thrives. There are coastlines with waves everywhere in the world, yet these two distinct civilizations have made their mark. It's almost like the two old colonial powers still maintain their presence in the oceans.
