As we close out December, we also close out National Learn a Foreign Language month.

Thanks to the rise of language learning apps such as Duolingo, the number of people learning a second – or third – language continues to climb. According to app tracking site, Business of Apps, Duolingo has more than 575 million users worldwide.

Users have a variety of reasons for learning, ranging from job opportunities to curiosity to a New Year’s resolution favorite – international travel.

“Language is not like math or some science subjects that we understand the formula and then we can do things correct. So, we have to keep it practice,” said Dr. Helen Yuan Zhuang, coordinator of the Foreign Language Institute at Missouri State University. “Language learning is useful and more important than sometimes we think.

“It’s not just one language or skill. It actually opens a whole world. We can travel, we can make friends. If we know some words, we can connect with people all over the world, globally.”

According to Duolingo, English is the most popular language on its app, with Spanish and French fighting it out for the next two spots.

There is not magic number for how long someone should study a language before travel, but Zhuang says consistency is the key to confidence. The rest is a personality comfort level.

Read the full transcript