Did you learn a language in lockdown?
I definitely downloaded an app in lockdown and tried learning a language with the kids for a few weeks, then, to be honest, it got sunny and we played outside.
I digress (already I know...) - according to Rosetta Stone, over 3.3 million of us learned a new language through lockdown when there weren't an awful lot of other things to do.
That number in reality is significantly higher (look at the Duolingo stats below for example) and, after viewing Exploding Topics this morning, I noticed that the Foreign Language Marketplace has been "exploding" in growth over the last five years by +1450% from an average of 7,000 searches in 2019 to 93,000 today (which is also double the monthly search volume than 2020).
Why languages in events matter
I'm not sure yet tbh... ;-) But let's see where this goes.
When I start to research a new topic to write about, I ask a lot of questions such as:
Does it mean that learning a foreign language is becoming more important to people? Is it just because of the pandemic, or are people looking for ways to develop their skill sets and broaden their horizons? Could this be an indication of things to come as we continue to move away from traditional forms of education and events and become more comfortable with online learning and content?
Does it mean that more international attendees are either tuning in online or turning up to in-person events? Or could it just be that people want to learn the local language of where they're holidaying next?
In case you're interested, according to DuoLingo, after English, Spanish is the second most learned language through the app with 33.4 million learners, followed by French with 20 million learners.
The world is becoming more connected than ever before — no matter what language you speak — and we're seeing a real globalization of culture and ideas.
That's pretty cool, isn't it?
It's clear that an increasing number of people are turning to foreign language learning as a way to gain new skills and invest in their future, however, with diversity and inclusion at the top of many event agendas, do we overlook language as a form of inclusion at events?
There are many solutions such as Silent Seminars (website) headphones which have multiple channels available so you could deliver translations in real-time to your audience (just one of the benefits of solutions like this for inclusion) or apps like Interprefy (website), which streams professional language interpretation and AI-powered live captions into your events.
I'd love to explore more what this means for events in the future, but for now, I think it's important to question everything.
A key takeaway from Meeting Professionals International's EMEC Brighton event last week was to see how you could improve everything you do by 1%. So can we improve our language mode of operations at events by 1%?
I know I could use a translation service / app to translate this blog, for example, pero no estoy tratando de convencer a los españoles de que puedo proporcionar servicios de escritura.
I'd love to know what you think about adding languages to your event or if you're a tech provider, to your offering. Drop me a DM so we can chat.
Adios, ciao, au revoir and ta-ta for now.
