Korean now 6th most popular language studied on Duolingo: report

Up the ranks: Korean has switched places with Italian to take the No. 6 spot among the top languages studied on the learning platform this year. It had ranked seventh since 2020.

A youth favorite: In a study published in September, Duolingo reported that Korean is more popular among younger learners ages 13 to 22 in several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The company said the language particularly saw a 75% popularity growth year-over-year in India.

Duolingo referred to culture, music and entertainment as driving factors for the increase in the number of people who want to learn Korean, citing “Squid Game” as an example. The platform reported an uptick in Korean language interest after the Netflix show’s premiere on Sept. 17, 2021.

Other top Asian languages: Joining Korean in Duolingo’s top 10 most popular languages for 2023 are Japanese at No. 5, Hindi at No. 8 and Chinese at No. 9. Japanese rose from No. 6 in 2021.

Read Duolingo’s full report here.