Arabic in countries with more than 50% Arabic-speakers is considered a majority language, otherwise, it is a minority language. (Sources: ethnologue.com /CC)

Elham Asaad Buaras

One in three young Brits (18 to 24-year-olds) thinks Arabic will be one of the world’s most important languages by the next decade, according to YouGov data published on July 1.

However, fewer than 15 per cent of 55-year-olds and over believe Arabic will become an important language in 2029.

Only one in five older people believe French and German will remain important in the next 10 years, compared to one in three 18 to 24-year-olds.

English tops the list as the world’s most important language across all age groups except for 18 to 24-year-olds where Chinese (Mandarin) ties with English.

Despite believing non-European languages will become increasingly important, young people would still choose Spanish (73 per cent), French (75 per cent) and German (65 per cent) as the only foreign language that should be taught in schools, ahead of Chinese (Mandarin) (58 per cent) and Arabic (36 per cent).

According to language learning apps providers, the importance of non-European languages will soar. “As the world becomes more global, being able to communicate in a non-European language like Chinese and Arabic will become increasingly important for travel and business,” said Colin Watkins, Duolingo’s Country Manager in the UK.

“But it’s not just travel and commerce. We’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of people learning languages to challenge themselves. Learning a language like Arabic or Chinese requires you to rethink how you learn. Studies also show that learning a language like Arabic can improve cognitive ability and slow down the onset of dementia.”

Arabic is spoken by over 250 million people and is the official language of 27 countries around the world. Arabic is also the liturgical language of over a billion Muslims around the world, as it’s the language in which the Qur’an was revealed.