Embedded Files
Anna Boyne
When Eva Bailey started filming herself chatting in French, she never imagined that one day she’d post them on TikTok for thousands to see.
But as the UK’s dire lack in linguistic skills threaten its economic power, Eva and many other British students are turning to social media to make language learning more exciting and accessible.
“We're living in such a digital age- there are so many resources that are available to everyone,” says Oxford University student Bailey. “You don't necessarily need to have a formal education to be able to learn a language.”
Dominance of English had previously given Brits a comparative advantage in European markets- where necessary hiring people from abroad with language skills. But now Brexit means EU citizens must go through the more costly and complicated processes of obtaining visas and work permits.
Dependence on one language also excludes the UK from international markets where English is not the lingua franca. In fact, a 10% increase in students taking Arabic A Level (exams taken aged 18) would see a £944mn increase of GDP by 2050, and a £733mn increase for Mandarin.
For Oxford University student Bailey: “Social media provides you people to practice with, which is fundamentally the hardest thing to find when you're learning a language.”
Her comments section is flooded with other linguists relating to her experiences, and natives offering constructive criticism.
British Council Schools Adviser Vicky Gough says: “They [international connections] can be important for broadening horizons and the light bulb moment for language learning.”
She believes it is important for student motivation and showing the practical value of language learning outside of the classroom.
But the Language Trends Report 2024 found that two thirds of schools had no international engagement. This is a 25% increase since 2018- before both the pandemic and the UK’s official departure from the EU.
“Social media can really play a part in making language learning more fun,” says Bailey. She follows meme accounts where she learns French slang and swear words.
“I think the reason why people get put off at school is because they're being taught what they consider useless things.”
Since the late 90s, the number of pupils studying a foreign language GCSE (exams taken aged 16) has nearly halved.
To meet this new demand, by 2025 the government aims for 90% of pupils in England to study a foreign language GCSE. The British Council estimate a quarter of a million more pupils need to take a language as one of their options for this to be achieved.
President of the Association for Language Learning Liz Black says: “There's ways of transporting students in lessons to the country [they’re learning about] through technology, which we never could do when I started teaching. What a shame to not use it.”
Throughout her 30 years of teaching, Black has always strived to make her lessons engaging by using real-life examples. She uses screenshots from WhatsApp conversations, virtual city tours, weather apps, and videos of multilingual celebrities to keep the content relevant to her students’ interests.
But Black also faces challenges of balancing time restraints and a narrow curriculum.
“The content isn't geared to them [students]. We've got to look at what they're interested in. How are we going to motivate them to learn and enjoy it?”
Durham University graduate Maddie Simpson uses TikTok to document learning Italian outside of a school or university environment. She uses digital tools, such as listening to foreign language podcasts and following native speaking influencers.
“You can get that immersion without really thinking about it. If you're going to be on your For You Page, you may as well listen to something in the target language that you're trying to learn,” Simpson says.
But for her, it’s about using social media to complement traditional methods: “I don't think that you can learn a language entirely through watching content. I think there does have to become point where you sit down and learn some grammar, or you get to grips with how to form phrases.”
Simpson comes from a working-class background and is passionate about using her platform to demystify and encourage more people to learn languages.
Last year, 53% of private secondary schools taught every pupil at least two languages up to age 14, compared to only 16% of state schools. Private schools also report a higher level of international engagement.
Due to a lack of school resources, both Bailey and Simpson could take only one language at school.
“Working class people aren’t going to want to pay that to learn a language. Whereas at least with online content, it's completely free,” she says.
Simpson started learning Spanish from scratch at university and now pays £55 for an annual Babble app subscription to learn Italian. But other language courses can be thousands of pounds.
“Hopefully, even if there are still barriers to accessing learning a second language, the actual motivation to learn might be there more if people are seeing it on social media.”
The first video she posted quickly amassed 30k views. Simpson had hit a gap in the market so kept posting her languages videos.
For Gaelic content creator Somhairle Maclain, social media plays a crucial role in encouraging more of the younger Scottish generation to learn the founding language of their country.
“There's definitely a lack of content for younger people. That's probably one of the main problems, because they don't see Gaelic outside of the classroom,” says Maclain.
Originally spoken across Scotland, Gaelic was gradually replaced by English as a primary language of government and became critically endangered. Yet it remains fundamental to shaping Scottish identity and culture.
Maclain also delivers Gaelic filmmaking workshops in schools where students have told him they’re seeing the language online more and more.
But the misconception that Gaelic is a language of the older generation persists. Maclain wants to see more media geared towards a younger audience, including a Gaelic BBC TikTok page.
Language learning is crucial for adapting to an increasingly globalised world. But for many linguists it goes beyond economics and geopolitics.
“You're not just learning a language to learn words,” says Bailey. “You’re learning a different way of being, because language structures the way we think about the world.”
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