Interesting findings about lockdown language learning

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30-SEP-2022 | Which languages were the most popular to learn in each country during the lockdown?

When it came to choosing a new hobby during COVID lockdowns, learning a new language was a popular choice. According to data compiled by language application Duolingo, 30 million people attempted to learn a new language in 2020. But which languages were the most popular to learn in each country?

Company Wordtips did a research using Google to find out which language was the top choice in countries around the globe and this is what it discovered:

• Japanese was the number one language to learn in Canada and the USA, while in Mexico it was English.
• In the UK, Spanish takes the top spot. But more interestingly, Spanish is also Spain’s most popular language to learn, which seems counterintuitive. However, it could be because of Spain’s high concentration of British expats. According to BBC News, there are more than 300,000 British expats currently living in Spain.
• Surprisingly, Chinese was the most studied in Belize. According to the 2000 Census, almost 1% of Belize’s population identifies as Chinese. More recently, a wave of Taiwanese migrants have immigrated and set up businesses in Belize, as part of Taiwan’s international development efforts.
• Meanwhile in South America, both Peru and Chile showed a strong desire to learn Korean. The Korean popular music in South America demonstrates how media and art can help spread languages far beyond their original borders, and sometimes in unexpected places.
• Coming as no surprise to anyone, English remains the world’s most chosen language to learn. It was the clear favorite in the Far East and Central Asia. English came top in 34 European countries, though three countries bucked this trend. In Sweden, the Portuguese language was most searched for, in the Czech Republic it was Spanish, while in Denmark the German language was a preferred search option.
• Africa is the only continent with countries that want to learn French more than any other language. The African countries searching for French lessons include a former French colony Algeria and protectorate Morocco, as well as Botswana, Kenya, and Zambia.

it shouldn’t be assumed that the most-searched language to learn in each country is representative of the whole nation. Open it up to the second most popular language search, and the picture broadens. For example, French only appears in Africa as a most popular search but is also sought-after in Canada, Portugal, and Bosnia, among other places, as an alternative language to learn.

While English is the most popular language to learn in various countries, it’s also the most spoken language worldwide, with approximately 1.1 billion total speakers, which is roughly 15% of the global population.

Language is a powerful tool to repair much of what has broken through the coronavirus pandemic. Learning a new language can make you more employable and improve the business outlook all around. Plus, languages are fun, fascinating, and a gateway to new cultures, so why not to learn one with our Verbalists Language Network. Contact us at info@verbalistseducation.com for a truly captivating and stress-free language education and travel adventure.

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