Spanish emerged as the preferred language to learn in the United States this year, according to a recent study analyzing Google search frequencies. Globally, it stands second only to English, experiencing a notable 16.5% surge in popularity, marking one of the most significant increases among the top 10 languages most people seek to learn.
The study, conducted by the learning platform Promova, revealed that the primary language of interest for U.S. learners was Spanish, with more than 486,000 searches (32%). English and Japanese came in second, receiving a similar amount of searches in 2023 with each garnering over 177,000 (11% overall).
The growing preference for Spanish in the United States mirrors the changing demographics of the nation, as well as the continued expansion of the Spanish-speaking population.
Latinos are soon expected to make up 20 percent of the U.S. population, with many cities already representing higher percentages of the total. According to the 2020 Census, for example, Latinos make up 70.2% of the total 442,241 inhabitants in Miami.
Globally, the number of native Spanish speakers in the world has risen to nearly 500 million and, when non-native speakers are added, the figure rises to 595 million, according to the Cervantes Institute's 2022 yearbook "Spanish in the World."
The methodology used to conduct the study involved analyzing Google search queries containing the word "learn" both globally and in selected countries between November 2022 and October 2023.
Subsequently, Promova identified the top 10 search queries that also included a specific language ("learn+language") to provide a comprehensive overview of language learning trends in 2023.
Key Takeaways in Google Searchs:
- English was the most popular language to learn in 2023, both shown by Google searches and on TikTok. However, Google searches for the phrase "learn English" have declined by 5.54% compared to 2022.
- According to Google search data, the most popular language to learn in the US and the UK is Spanish — it made up 486К and 118.8K of those countries' language learning searches, respectively.
- The most popular language to learn in Canada is French (64.8K of searches), followed by Spanish (43.2K) and English (34.8K).
- Japanese turned out to be the most popular language to learn in Australia (28.8K of searches).
"Learn Spanish" in TikTok trends
Additionally, the platform scooped up TikTok data on hashtags involving the word "learn" as well as one of the top 10 most popular languages to learn according to their research on Google searches. Notably, the country that viewed the most videos with the hashtag #learnenglish is Qatar, the host of the previous year's FIFA World Cup.
However, perhaps the most interesting finding of the study was that #learnspanish turned out to be the hottest in Spain, #learnfrench in France, #learngerman in Germany, #learnportuguese in Portugal, #learnjapanese in Japan, #learnitalian in Italy, and #learnarabic was most popular in Qatar.
"Clearly, in 2023, people were willing to learn the language of the country they're staying in," Promova stated, regarding this trend. The argument can also explain the popularity in Google searches of "learn Spanish" or "learn to speak Spanish" in the U.S. for 2023.
TikTok rankings for #learn[language] posts didn't quite match Google search trends, a divergence that might find an explanation in the age group utilizing this social media platform. Data from TikTok was solely accessible for age groups 18–24, 25–34, and 35+.
- English — 28K posts and 659M views
- Chinese — 86K posts and 339M views
- Spanish — 15K posts and 373M views
- Korean — 5K posts and 116M views
- French — 5K posts and 105M views
Other interesting data from TikTok users globally:
- Korean took the prize for being the most popular language to learn on TikTok among people 18–24 in 2023.
- The country that viewed the most videos with the hashtag #learnenglish in 2023 was Qatar.
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