Trends in language learning often arise from (pop)cultural, economic or political developments. At the moment, languages are particularly in demand:

• Korean: The boom in K-pop, K-dramas, Korean series and Korean cuisine has led to a worldwide increase in interest in Korean. The language seems modern, cool and is omnipresent on social media.

• Chinese (Mandarin): For years, Mandarin has been considered the "language of the future", mainly due to China's economic importance. Many companies see language skills as an asset in international trade.

• Spanish: Spanish remains one of the most popular languages, not only because of the large number of speakers worldwide, but also because of the cultural diversity it represents and because the language is also considered relatively easy to learn.

• Arabic: The role of Arabic in politics, business and religion has also contributed to an increasing number of people wanting to learn this language.

These trends are exciting, but they don't suit everyone. After all, there's little point in learning Korean if you can never use it. And of course, these trends are cyclical - for example, during the pandemic, when air travel was difficult, we saw Italian become slightly more in demand at the expense of Spanish. This trend has since reversed.

Neighboring languages: often more useful than global trends

Instead of following a trendy language, it can make more sense to learn a language that is actually useful to you in everyday life. For Austria, for example, this would be Italian, Hungarian, Czech or Slovak - languages that are spoken in neighboring countries and that you can also hear very often on the street in Vienna. Why?

• If you regularly take vacation leaves in Croatia or travel to Italy on business, it makes sense to learn these languages.

• Cultural proximity: Neighboring languages often offer insights into similar cultural backgrounds, which facilitates and enriches learning.

• Regional economy: Language skills in the neighboring languages are often a great advantage if you work with companies from the region.

Unfortunately, the number of courses on offer for these languages is often quite limited, but you can also learn with a tandem partner. I often hear people say how difficult some of these languages are, especially Hungarian or the Slavic languages. From my own experience I can say - far from it! Once you've got to grips with these languages, they don't seem difficult at all - and above all, when you're talking to native speakers, even a little knowledge is admired and mistakes are gladly looked over.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

*Why language trends should be questioned

Learning languages is time-consuming and requires a lot of commitment. If you follow a language trend because it's popular at the moment, your motivation can quickly wane as soon as the hype is over. Questions you should ask yourself:

• *How often will I use the language?
  If you only need the language a few times a year, the effort might be disproportionate.

• *Why do I want to learn this language?
  Is it because it fits in with your professional or personal goals, or just because it's "in" at the moment?

*What alternatives are there?
Sometimes it is more beneficial to learn a language that is more common in your region or in your everyday life than a language that is popular worldwide

(Norbert Conti, 26.2.2025)