Language is one of the critical components pertaining to the identity of a nation; and learning another language can help enrich the experience of someone who is visiting a country — but teaching yourself to speak a foreign language can introduce you to the culture of another land while simultaneously broadening your horizons.
I have been given express written permission to use the maps and the verbatim text from this article written by Amy Ashton for WordTips, which highlights what are purported to be the most popular languages people in each country around the world wanted to learn.
Uno? Deux? 셋? How many languages did you learn during lockdown?
The first year of the pandemic was an annus horribilis for language teachers. Schools closed, foreign exchange trips were canceled, language meet-ups shut down.
To add insult to injury, a cartel of national academies declared that language learning was already kaput (among English speakers, at least). “To work together, the people of the world must be able to speak to each other and be understood,” they lamented.
But something odd happened. Language learning boomed. Armed with a language-learning app and their favorite foreign-language Netflix show, the furloughed of the world became autodidacts.
Brian Cohen at TheGate.com wrote the following based on the 2020 pandemic and it’s impact on language learning, great insight, excellent graphics and an interesting read which was published on July 18th 2021. You can read the piece in full and take in the graphics here.