Spanish revealed as most popular UK lockdown language

Travel hungry Britons have been learning to speak Spanish more than any other language over the last 12 months.

That’s according to the linguists at Busuu who have revealed which languages Brits have been learning in lockdown to experience new cultures from the comfort of their home.

Spanish came out as the number one language to learn with over a fifth (21%) of learners practicing the native tongue of their favourite holiday destination.

Eighteen percent of Busuu users in the UK learnt English during the lockdowns, predominantly those learning it as their second language.

Around one in seven (14%) turned to the language of love, French, during the pandemic, and German was the chosen language for 13% of learners.

Japanese, one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to study, was learnt by a hardworking nine percent of learners.

The league table of languages was similar across the country’s major cities and the home nations with Spanish coming out as the top choice amongst almost all of those cities researched.

Other favourites included German, Italian, French, Japanese and English.

Bernhard Niesner, co-founder and CEO of Busuu said: “With travel being the most popular reason for learning among our UK users, it comes as no surprise that Spanish was a top choice over the last year.

“The Spanish language often reminds us of a sunny getaway and I’m sure that the thought of a future holiday has motivated many to improve their skills in the language.

“Interestingly, we’ve also seen the pandemic mark a behavioural shift in the UK – not only are more people learning a language here, they’re learning for longer and making more progress too. The UK still has a long way to go before it can shake off its monolingual reputation though.”