Language Learning: Most Learned Languages by Demographic
Choosing a language to learn is unique to every person who chooses to become fluent. New research based on Conversation Exchange users lists the top language choice learned by over 300,000 learners.
The WordTips article states that English is the most popular language learned in the world, coming in first place for 52 capital cities worldwide. Followed by French, learned in 27 capital cities globally, and German learned in 14 capital cities.
Spanish is, maybe unsurprisingly, the most learned language in the United States. Outside of Spanish, French dominates the U.S. map leading with the top language in 80% of U.S. cities. French is also the second most taught language in school from kindergarten through 12th grade.
In Honolulu, Japanese is the most in demand language due to the large Japanese-American community. Italian leads in popularity in Silver Spring, Maryland similarly due to the large Italian-American population in the area.
New York, Los Angeles, and London all follow similar trends to top U.S. languages. Spanish is the most learned, with French and Japanese following. However, the forth most popular language in New York and London is Italian, while in Los Angeles Korean takes the next most popular spot.
Not only does location effect the languages people are interested in learning, but so does age. The same study broke down top languages by generation. Spanish and French are the two most popular languages among all generations, including Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. After the top two languages, Gen Z and Millennials are learning Japanese and Korean most, while Gen X and Baby Boomers are learning Italian.
