Originally Posted by
emma69
My French vocab (French being an official language of Canada, you know, the second largest country in the world) has improved no end since I moved here, given everything, from the "pistaches, grilles et sales" to the "lingettes déesinfectantes" on my desk are in both languages!
But not exactly the 2nd most in population...
In fact, Canada sits at 38th in this case
Both of you are correct:
1. By
area in square kilometer, Canada appears to be the 2nd largest (
source).
2. The top 3 largest countries
by population are China, India, and US (
source).
To pick a 2nd (or 3rd, or even 4th) language/s to master bases on either population or area index (or both) is too simple a criterion. Although English can be a popular choice internationally, there are other determinants to factor in as well.
The bottom line is speaking only one language can be very inadequate nowadays for worldly travelers.