[Duolingo JAPAN Report] Announcement of “Comparative survey on seniors’ motivation for personal life depending on whether they have studied Duolingo language or not”
*Duolingo, Inc.*
Press release: September 10, 2024
**
[Duolingo JAPAN Report] Announcement of “Comparative survey on seniors’ motivation for personal life depending on whether they have studied Duolingo language or not”
*There is about a 2-fold difference in motivation to learn new things depending on whether you have studied a language or not! Language learners tend to have high self-esteem and a strong sense of purpose* * Duolingo, Inc., which provides the world’s most downloaded language learning app “Duolingo” (Headquarters: Pittsburgh,
On the occasion of Respect for the Aged Day, Duolingo (USA) conducted a survey of 600 people between the ages of 60 and 99 to find out the secret to living a lively life. A comparative survey was conducted. * *
We found that many people are concerned about changes that occur as we age, such as physical decline and decline in cognitive function, and more than 70% of people feel that they need to take measures against dementia. In addition, in terms of non-cognitive functions such as the frequency of communication with outside parties and the presence or absence of goals, those who are currently learning a language (hereinafter referred to as language learners) and those who are not currently learning a language (hereinafter referred to as
non-learners) A comparison of the results revealed that compared to non-learners, learners are more positive about new learning and live with goals in mind. (※1)*
*1: This research release is based on the results of a questionnaire survey of a research panel, and does not prove that language learning is effective in preventing dementia.
The number of people aged 65 and over in Japan is 36.23 million, or 29.1% (*2) of the total population, and the country is entering a “super-aging society.” Furthermore, according to a survey conducted from 2020 to 2020, the number of elderly people with dementia in 2020 was 4.432 million (prevalence rate: 12.3%), which is considered to be a pre-dementia stage. It is estimated that 5.585 million people (prevalence rate: 15.5%)*2 have mild cognitive impairment, and as the population ages, the number of people with dementia is also
increasing.
As we enter the era of 100-year lifespans, extending healthy lifespans will lead to continuing to live a healthy life that suits oneself.To achieve this, it is important not only to be healthy, but also to connect with people and the community, and have a purpose in life. It is said. In Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare formulated the “Healthy Lifespan Extension Plan” in 2019, aiming to extend the healthy lifespan of both men and women by at least three years by 2040. Among these, “nursing care prevention, frailty countermeasures, and dementia prevention” are positioned as one of the pillars of specific initiatives, and various initiatives are being carried out by industry, government, and academia.
Therefore, Duolingo will conduct a deeper investigation into whether there are differences between language learners and non-language learners in terms of the need for dementia prevention and the dementia prevention measures being taken, as well as connections with outsiders and new learning. Therefore, we conducted an internet survey targeting 600 people aged 60 and over.
*2: White Paper on the Aging Society 2020
Survey summary
-The reality of dementia prevention-
– Approximately 50% of seniors over the age of 60 are concerned about declines in cognitive function such as memory loss and forgetfulness.
– Approximately 70% of people feel that it is necessary to prevent dementia. – 83.8% of people actually take some action to prevent dementia – Of those who are learning languages, 69.6% answered that they are learning languages to prevent dementia.
– Of those who say they are learning a language to prevent dementia, one in four have continued to do so for more than 10 years. – Comparative survey of lifestyle attitudes and motivation depending on whether or not language learning is done –
– About half of language learners communicate regularly with people outside their family, at least once or twice a week.
–
34.8% of language learners said they had a specific goal they wanted to achieve, and a further 43.2% said they had a specific goal in mind. On the other hand, 54.5% of non-learners answered that they did not have any goals.
–
Language learners tend to have higher self-confidence and
self-esteem than non-learners (45.9% of language learners answered “very high/quite high”; 35.4%)
– Regarding interest/motivation in “new learning”, the difference between language learners and non-language learners is about twice that of those who answered “interested/motivated”
–
Among language learners, the top answers that made them happy about learning a language were “I became more interested in other countries, cultures, and politics,” and “I was able to lead a more fulfilling life through language learning.” “Now I can enjoy traveling abroad/My anxiety has been reduced.”
* Survey results details*
* Approximately 1 in 2 seniors suffer from cognitive decline, which causes anxiety. It is clear that more than 80% are taking some kind of countermeasures *
When seniors aged 60 and older were asked about their impressions of getting older, the most common answer was “anxiety,” with 85.6% of respondents having some kind of anxiety. The most common reason for anxiety was “physical decline” (65.8%), followed by “deterioration of memory” (65.8%).
/ Forgetfulness” (49.8%), indicating that they were not only concerned about physical anxiety, but also about the decline in cognitive function.
In addition, when asked about the necessity of preventing dementia, a condition that interferes with daily life due to decline in cognitive function, 70.8% of people answered “It is necessary” (I think it is very necessary/I think it is necessary). The reasons for this are “I want to live an independent life as before” (67.7%) and “I put a physical and mental burden on the people around me, such as my family and relatives” (65.2%). ) and “Because I don’t need long-term care” (60.2%), which shows that people are concerned about changes in their lifestyle due to the onset of dementia. When asked, “Are you doing anything to prevent dementia?” only 16.2% of people answered “Nothing”, and 83.8% actually took some action. I found out that * Is language learning effective in preventing dementia? Stimulates nerve cells and prevents decline in brain function *
Improving your eating habits and exercising are well-known ways to prevent dementia, but language learning has also been attracting attention in recent years.
In this survey, 69.6% of people who are working on language learning are also working to prevent dementia.
Of these, one in four have continued their studies for more than 10 years. Does Duolingo actually help language learning help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia? Shinohara, Department of Information and Applied Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Suwa Tokyo University of Science
We received a comment from Mr. Kikunori.
* <