The new year has arrived, and people are kicking things off with exciting New Year’s resolutions. It’s a great time to get re-energized, set goals, and try new things—like learning a new language!
To celebrate this inspiring season, we launched a survey asking members of the Drops community about their language learning experiences and plans for 2025. More than 2,000 respondents in the US participated in the survey, giving us a snapshot of learners’ emotions, motivations, and challenges when learning and practicing new languages.
Read on for the full breakdown of the survey’s results, and see how well they match up with your own language learning goals and journey!
The world is becoming more connected each day, through media and pop culture, travel, working and studying abroad, and more. With more cultural exchange than ever before, it’s no surprise that learning a new language is a popular goal for the new year. In fact, 75% of survey respondents say they have decided to learn a new language in 2025.
We’re also excited to see learners of all ages join in. Nearly a quarter (24%) of respondents aged 56–65 report pursuing new languages, dispelling the myth that there is any age limit on acquiring new linguistic skills. In fact, science has uncovered a variety of brain-boosting benefits of learning a new language for any age!
Interestingly, while many are just beginning their language learning adventure, a large number of respondents (23%) already speak three or more languages. High-five to the Drops multilingual community of experienced learners and global citizens!
As the second most commonly used language in the US, Spanish tops the rankings of most popular target languages, with 25% of respondents planning to learn Spanish this year. However, Korean comes in a close second as the language goal for 20% of respondents, followed by Japanese at 13%. Tagalog is the new language of choice for 11% of respondents, and French finished the top 5 list at 9%.
When we asked Drops users what was fueling their motivation to learn a new language, the top driver (59%) was passion for the culture, country, or language.
At the same time, 42% chose upcoming travel plans or just the fun of learning over career-related goals as their motivation. This suggests that while learning a new language can certainly boost your résumé, Drops users in the US today are primarily pursuing language learning as an avenue for personal enrichment, connecting with others, and simply finding joy in lifelong learning.
When developing any new skill, a positive learning experience is key to staying motivated and engaged in the learning process, helping learners make greater progress through consistent practice. Fortunately, language learners on Drops say they are enjoying the ride and celebrating their learning wins. Respondents report that learning a new language inspires strong positive emotions, with curiosity and a sense of accomplishment topping the list at 78%, followed by excitement and success.
Despite this, learning a new language is not always easy. Learners call out a lack of time and discipline as their top challenges at 73%, underscoring the need for flexible tools that make it easier to fit language learning into busy schedules. Another obstacle that learners point to is the anxiety of practicing speaking a new language, mainly due to worries about pronunciation and grammar mistakes. This reveals where learners may need the most support to become confident communicators in their new language.
When we asked learners how they build confidence to practice a new language, the #1 solution at 84% was using language learning apps. Not only does this reveal the important role that these apps are already playing in helping learners achieve their language goals. It also shows how critical it is that apps address learners’ top language practice anxieties—including pronunciation and grammar errors when speaking—to foster confidence effectively.
Drops’ recently launched Speaking Practice feature makes it easier than ever to hone your pronunciation skills and prepare for real-world conversations in your target language. In these interactive, gamified exercises, you can practice pronouncing new vocabulary and phrases out loud, and an AI large language model (LLM) will compare your pronunciation to a recording from a native speaker. This can help language learners of any level improve their verbal communication skills—anytime, anywhere with the power of AI.
On the other hand, language learners who want to connect with others and enjoy a more social learning experience can check out Drops’ new feature, Multiplayer: the first-ever synchronous multiplayer learning game on a language app. Multiplayer brings learning to life in a fast-paced, real-time language competition, with the option to be matched with other Drops users worldwide or host your own session for friends, coworkers, or students.
No matter which of our 50+ available languages you choose to learn, whether you’re motivated by interest in another culture, travel plans, or simply the fun of learning, Drops is your destination to discover a new language in 2025. Get your language learning adventure started today by downloading Drops for free on the App Store and Google Play!
This survey was conducted by Drops on the Drops platform from December 12th to December 18th, 2024. A total of 2,071 respondents in the U.S. participated in the survey. For more information on the survey findings, please contact press@languagedrops.com.
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"Great little learning app! I've learned at least 5-10 new words in Spanish in my first 5 minutes. Easy to pick up and thorough."
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"I have been desperate to find an app that really helps me learn Japanese and this is the best by far"
"I like that you can switch between different subjects and topics constantly and it’s really easy to learn a lot of vocabulary very quickly! This works perfect for me because I can learn a lot of words but then practice sentence structure with my grandmother whose from Croatia"
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"This app us the best and how I am doing Learning Ukraine is Helping me alot tnx"
"Definitely recommend! I'm using this to learn mandarin 10/10"
"Fun and interactive. Great for repetition!"
"Very engaging way of learning Yoruba in a stimulating way. Will be using to learn myself and to teach my child!"
"Amazing language learning tool. Excellent app for increasing vocabulary in your foreign language of choice. Useful for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. The repetition of the words makes them much easier to remember, and without the hassle of making your own flash cards. I have used Drops for two years now and have seen great results."
"Great little learning app! I've learned at least 5-10 new words in Spanish in my first 5 minutes. Easy to pick up and thorough."
"I have been desperate to find an app that really helps me learn Japanese and this is the best by far"
"I like that you can switch between different subjects and topics constantly and it’s really easy to learn a lot of vocabulary very quickly! This works perfect for me because I can learn a lot of words but then practice sentence structure with my grandmother whose from Croatia"
"Fantastic app great opportunity to learn languages on your spare time. Drops makes it easy to learn and retain words to formulate sentences."
"What an amazing app! I’ve tried several apps for language learning and I cannot recommend Drops enough. I don’t know how a short Drops session can teach me as much as 1 hour+ of focused use of other apps, it’s like magic."
"Love my fun language learning and practice with daily Drops sessions, and monthly Challenges to participate in, and quiz mode to test contextual learning - brilliant! So much thought, consideration and inclusivity has gone into the design and function of this app, I can't praise it highly enough."
"Definitely recommend! I'm using this to learn mandarin 10/10"
"This app us the best and how I am doing Learning Ukraine is Helping me alot tnx"
