Why is Spanish the most popular language in Australia on Duolingo?
December 5, 2024 9:57 AM Subscribe
I was reading a Duolingo blog post that had a breakdown of the most popular languages per country. I noticed that the most popular language in Australia is Spanish, and I’m curious why. It looks like Mandarin is the second most spoken language there, and obviously Australia is far away from Spanish speaking countries. Just wondering if any Australians would be able to weigh in!
I feel like whereever in the world I travel (as an American) I run up against gaggles of young Australian tourists. I feel like a) Duolingo demographics probably skew younger and b) those young people are traveling hard. Gap years are a big thing there. And Spanish is easier for English speakers to learn than Mandarin.
posted by greta simone at 10:42 AM on December 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by greta simone at 10:42 AM on December 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
My understanding is that the common languages taught in Australian schools are Japanese, Mandarin, and German (and I think some aboriginal languages?). So Spanish is conspicuous as a major global language that many Australians wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn the basics of in school.
posted by kickingtheground at 12:13 PM on December 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by kickingtheground at 12:13 PM on December 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
Maybe Duolingo is better for Spanish than other languages.
posted by Hex Wrench at 1:55 PM on December 5, 2024 [4 favorites]
posted by Hex Wrench at 1:55 PM on December 5, 2024 [4 favorites]
It is (it's also better for French and English), but like greta simone said, Spanish is better for English speakers (and maybe for language learners in general, I'm not that much of an expert) than many other languages.
posted by box at 2:16 PM on December 5, 2024
posted by box at 2:16 PM on December 5, 2024
Three FYIs, maybe a bit tangential. #1- the private grade school I went to back in the 1950s taught mandatory Spanish (Catholic nuns were Spanish). And, as a lazy kid and young adult I took it again in High School and College. #2 - I was always taught that little Spanish kids can spell Spanish words easily because it is so rigidly phonetic. #3 - However, as an old dude living in Southern New Jersey USA, I find that Portuguese is as common or more common than Spanish, and to my ear (listening to folks at Church) not that close to Spanish. FWIW.
posted by forthright at 3:12 PM on December 5, 2024
posted by forthright at 3:12 PM on December 5, 2024
Best answer: Australian here: I think there are two factors, first that Spanish is rarely taught in Australian high schools (compared to Japanese, French, German, and Mandarin), so Duolingo hits introductory learners. Second, Spanish speakers are a very small language minority here, so Spanish is a 'travel' language and has an appeal based on aspiration; whereas learning non-English languages that actually are spoken here (Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Khmer, etc.) have a stigma based on racism.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:28 PM on December 5, 2024 [11 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:28 PM on December 5, 2024 [11 favorites]
Let alone of course any Aboriginal languages or Māori.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:30 PM on December 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:30 PM on December 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
All of South America except for very few exceptions (Brazil, Guyana?) speak Spanish. And grammar is... pretty similar to English except for the gendered verbs and verb conjugations, IMHO. But it's been a long time since I've learned Spanish, hah.
posted by kschang at 7:08 PM on December 5, 2024
posted by kschang at 7:08 PM on December 5, 2024
I know a few Australians who've learned Spanish as adults with an eye toward working in Central and South America, so it doesn't sound that surprising.
posted by MarchHare at 8:09 PM on December 5, 2024
posted by MarchHare at 8:09 PM on December 5, 2024
Maybe Duolingo is better for Spanish than other languages.
This, I think. You can maybe blame founder, Luis von Ahn, for being somebody from Guatemala. Teaching Spanish to an American English speaking audience was the original main target of the app - and that course continues to get more development effort than - if you are an English speaker looking to learn Spanish then it is thus a strong choice. I believe, any other. On the other hand - I don't think Duolingo is so strong on languages like Japanese or Mandarin.
posted by rongorongo at 12:12 AM on December 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
This, I think. You can maybe blame founder, Luis von Ahn, for being somebody from Guatemala. Teaching Spanish to an American English speaking audience was the original main target of the app - and that course continues to get more development effort than - if you are an English speaker looking to learn Spanish then it is thus a strong choice. I believe, any other. On the other hand - I don't think Duolingo is so strong on languages like Japanese or Mandarin.
posted by rongorongo at 12:12 AM on December 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Spanish gives you diversity in travel destinations in a way that is rare for languages other than English. Speaking here as an Australian that has had a lot of friends learn Spanish.
posted by deadwax at 3:16 AM on December 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by deadwax at 3:16 AM on December 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
Spanish is much easier to learn than Mandarin, and much more accessible/well resources on Duolingo than an Aboriginal Australian language or Khmer. I'm not denying racism around language preferences in Australia but tbh in this case I think it's probably more to do with Duolingo itself, and the well known idea that Spanish is easy to learn and relatively useful.
posted by jojobobo at 1:29 AM on December 7, 2024
posted by jojobobo at 1:29 AM on December 7, 2024
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by madcaptenor at 10:42 AM on December 5, 2024