Welsh is fastest growing language in UK, says Duolingo

The Welsh language is now the fastest growing language in the UK, according to Duolingo.

The smartphone app firm said the number of new Welsh learners using its services has risen by 44% in 2020.

It is ranked as the fastest growing UK language and outflanks the likes of Hindi, Japanese, Turkish and French.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen "changes accelerated" with people "learning for fun, not function", the language app said.

Welsh is now the ninth most popular language to learn on the app in the UK.

New Welsh learner Myla Corvidae, who lives in Aberdeen but grew up in Cardiff, said they "felt like I was missing a piece of myself" as they grew up seeing bilingual road signs in their hometown.

The 31-year-old said their dyslexia had prevented them learning with more traditional learning methods.

"My family always say to remember your roots and celebrate your culture," they said.

"Learning Welsh enables me to feel more connected to where I was born and the heritage of Wales.

"I look forward to the day where I can read books and listen to poems in Welsh and understand the cultural aspects that translations often don't manage to convey."

Meanwhile, 25-year-old brain injury linkworker Philippa Birch said learning Welsh had helped her understand patients when working in Llanelli.

"We saw a patient who kept inadvertently switching to Welsh because of her brain injury.

"I could understand her whereas [a colleague] could not."

Ms Birch, who is from Worcestershire but moved to Cardiff for university, said she has found more time since the pandemic to learn and now "loves" the language.

"I have tried to immerse myself in more Welsh culture by listening to the music and find I can now understand at least bits of it," she said.

To date more than 1.5 million people have started learning Welsh on Duolingo.

In its 2020 language report, the firm noted among UK learners that "the shift is down to people wanting to learn Welsh to connect with the country and see Welsh thrive as a language".

Colin Watkins, Duolingo's UK manager, said: "I don't think it can be underestimated how much of an achievement it is for Welsh to be top in UK fastest growing languages.

"We've seen big growth in Japanese and Asian culture, and the Welsh course has been around for a few years now - so it is surprising, but we're delighted it has taken off."

Mr Watkins also said data shows "Welsh learners are some of the most committed in the world" as they rank third for most dedicated with the longest learning streaks.

He said Duolingo found the rise in Welsh interest was "partly driven by education, with 23% choosing school as their primary motivation".

The company also found many wanted to learn because interest in Welsh culture and heritage was growing generally, as well as there being an increasing desire in people to "brain train".

For example, one Russian teenager took it up after she saw the village name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

However Mr Watkins said 2021 could be a "battle ground" between home nation languages - including Scots Gaelic - which now has 10 times the number of native speakers on the app, since figures recorded in the 2011 census.