End of year campaign showcases most popular languages, phrases, and learning motivations

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL), the world’s #1 online learning platform, this week revealed the “Most 2022 Phrase” which is “Please don’t cancel my plans”. Duolingo selected this phrase, found in its English for Spanish speakers course, to reflect the tone and overall feeling of the year which saw record flight cancellations, natural disasters in vacation spots, and soaring travel costs.

Alongside the “Most 2022 Phrase”, Duolingo also launched the company’s third global Language Report, which examines the latest language trends based on data from millions of Duolingo learners. In 2022, over one billion hours were spent learning on Duolingo with more than 14 billion lessons completed and 24 billion words learned. Almost 32 million people worldwide were learning more than one language. Duolingo has more insight into global language learning trends than any other entity in the world and the 2022 Language Report provides thoughtful analysis and unique insights into what learners want to study and why.

This year’s data shows how reopened borders and eased travel restrictions impacted learners' study choices. Key findings reveal:

• Ukrainian language learning surged. More than 1.3 million people around the world began studying Ukrainian in a show of solidarity following Russia’s invasion in February, making it the fastest growing course this year.
• English remains the most popular language to learn globally, and ranks #2 even in the U.S. The top ten languages studied around the world are (in order): English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Hindi.
• Duolingo predicts 2023 will be the ‘Year of the Confident Traveler’. There is reason to believe that 2023 will see big changes in learners studying for travel. For one, 45% of Americans plan or hope to learn a language ahead of traveling in the future, according to a recent survey by Duolingo. Not only that, but more than a third (38%) of Americans say that to feel comfortable while traveling they would need to know enough of their travel destination’s language to have a simple conversation at the very minimum, according to a recent survey by Duolingo.
  

“We saw fascinating patterns in our language learning data as people returned to pre-pandemic schedules and habits. For example, as students and digital nomads ventured out again, we saw the increase of countries studying their own languages for the first time since the start of the pandemic,” said Dr. Cindy Blanco, senior learning scientist and managing editor of learning content. “Looking ahead to 2023 and anticipating an uptick in global travel, we expect to see an increased interest in language study as a way to travel abroad with confidence.”

Duolingo also rolls out its Year in Review experience today, which provides a visualized deep dive on individual learner activity, showcasing eight different learner personas based on learning data, including: hours spent learning, number of courses taken, what time a learner tends to practice, and more. All learners can view their yearlong learning journey and share personalized cards on social media to celebrate their accomplishment. The Year in Review experience is available now for all Duolingo learners who completed at least 10 lessons in 2022.

About the U.S. survey: In partnership with a trusted third-party vendor, Duolingo conducted an online omnibus survey among n=1,187 U.S. adults 18 years+, fielded on November 1st, 2022. The sample was weighted and nationally representative across age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, and region. The margin of error (MOE) is +/- 3 percentage points.

About Duolingo
Duolingo (www.duolingo.com) is the most popular language-learning platform and the most downloaded education app worldwide. The app makes learning new languages fun with bite-sized lessons that feel like playing a game. The company's mission is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. Duolingo offers over 100 total courses across 42 distinct languages, from Spanish, French, German and Japanese to Navajo and Yiddish.

Press Contact
Monica Earle
PR Manager
press@duolingo.com