Your host in Osaka, Japan, slips on a  and suddenly hears your words transformed into flawless Kansai Japanese. Even better, their reply in their native tongue comes through perfectly clear to you.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, neither of you is lost in translation. What once seemed like science fiction is  for cross-cultural communication.

Such AI-powered tools will be useful for many people, especially for tourists or in any purely transactional situation, even if seamless .

Does this mean the process of learning another language will soon be a thing of the past?

As scholars of  and , we disagree and see language learning as vital in other ways. We have devoted our careers to this field because we deeply believe in the lasting and transformative value of learning and speaking languages beyond one鈥檚 mother tongue.

Lessons from past language 鈥榙isruptions鈥�

This isn鈥檛 the first time a new technology has promised massive disruption to learning languages.

In recent years, language learning startups such as Duolingo aimed to make acquiring a language easier than ever, in part by gamifying language. While these apps have certainly  to more people,  most platforms and apps have failed to fully replicate the inherently social process of learning a language.

One thing鈥檚 clear: The massive popularity of language apps shows there鈥檚 still strong demand , despite a . Duolingo alone had  around the world at the end of 2024, a 36% increase over the prior year. This is about 10 times more than the number of students who take languages other than English in U.S. schools.

The meaning of learning a language

Numbers aside, the gold standard of language learning is the ability to follow and .

Since World War II, government departments and education programs recognized that  methods did little to support real interaction. Interpersonal conversational competence gradually became the main goal of language classes. While technologies you can put in your ear or wear on your face now promise to revolutionize interpersonal interaction, their usefulness in such conversations actually falls along a spectrum.

At one end, you have simple tasks you have to navigate while visiting a city where they speak a different language, like checking out of a hotel, buying a ticket at a kiosk or finding your way around town. That is, people from different backgrounds working together to achieve a goal 鈥� a successful checkout, a ticket purchase or getting to the famous museum you want to visit. Any mix of聽聽鈥� even AI tools 鈥� can help in this context. In such cases, where the goal is clear and both parties are patient, shared English or automated interpretation can get the job done while bypassing the hard work of language learning.

At the other end, identity matters as much as content. Meeting your in-laws, introducing yourself at work, welcoming a delegation or presenting to a skeptical audience all involve trust and social capital. Humor, idioms, levels of formality, tone, timing and body language shape not just what you say but who you are.

The effort of learning a language communicates respect, trust and a willingness to see the world through someone else鈥檚 eyes. We believe language learning is one of the most demanding and rewarding forms of deep work, building cognitive resilience, empathy, identity and community in ways technology struggles to replicate.

The 2003 movie 鈥�,鈥� which depicts an older American man falling in love with a much younger American woman, was not about getting lost in the language but delved into issues of interculturality and finding yourself while exposed to the other.

滨苍诲别别诲,听聽due to climate migration, remote work and retirement abroad all increase the need to learn languages 鈥� not just translate them. Even those staying in place often seek deeper connections through language as聽.

Where AI falls short

The latest AI technologies, such as  to instantly interpret and translate, certainly are powerful tools that will help a lot of people interact with anyone who speaks a different language in ways previously only possible for someone who spent a year or two studying it. It鈥檚 like having your own personal interpreter.

Yet relying on interpretation carries : distortion of meaning, loss of interactive nuance and diminished interpersonal trust.

An  with strong motivation and near limitless support found that falling back on speaking English and using technology to aid translation may be easier in the short term, but this undercuts long-term language and integration goals. Language learners constantly face this choice between short-term ease and long-term impact.

Some AI tools help accomplish immediate tasks, and  but can take away the  from which durable skills emerge.

AI interpretation may suffice for one-on-one conversations, but  to join ongoing conversations already being had among speakers of another language. Long-term language learning, while necessarily friction-filled, is nevertheless beneficial on many fronts.

Interpersonally, using another鈥檚 language fosters both  and  empathy.

In addition, the cognitive benefits of multilingualism are equally well documented:聽听迟辞听,听,听聽in shifting聽,听听辞蹿听, and聽聽in reasoning.

The very attributes聽聽in the AI age 鈥� resilience, lifelong learning, analytical and creative thinking, active listening 鈥� are all cultivated through language learning.

Rethinking language education in the age of AI

So why, in the  and U.S., are fewer students choosing to learn another language in  and at ?

The reasons are complex.

Too often, institutions  of language studies. Yet innovative approaches abound, from  and linking it to  to connecting students with others through  or community partners via , all while .

So, again, what鈥檚 the value of learning another language when AI can handle tourism phrases, casual conversation and city navigation?

The answer, in our view, lies not in fleeting encounters but in cultivating enduring capacities: curiosity, empathy, deeper understanding of others, the reshaping of identity and the promise of lasting cognitive growth.

For educators, the call is clear. Generative AI can take on rote and transactional tasks while excelling at error correction, adapting input and vocabulary support. That frees classroom time for multiparty, culturally rich and nuanced conversation.

Teaching approaches grounded in interculturality, embodied communication, play and relationship building will thrive. Learning this way enables learners to critically evaluate what AI earbuds or chatbots create, to join authentic conversations and to experience the full benefits of long-term language learning.

When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, on Oct. 4, 1957, it did more than spark fears about America鈥檚 ability to compete technologically. It also raised concerns that the capable of monitoring Soviet scientific and military activities.

In 1958, the authorized funding to strengthen U.S. education in language instruction, in addition to math and science.

More than six decades later, a is raising concerns about America鈥檚 foreign language capabilities anew. The report shows that the study of languages other than English at the university level experienced an between 2016 and 2021.

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The second-largest drop 鈥� of 12.6% 鈥� took place between 1970 and 1972.

This decline continues a trend that began in 2009. Even though we live in an increasingly globalized world, the number of college students taking languages is rapidly falling.

As a professor of Spanish and Portuguese who , I know that having fewer U.S. college students who learn a foreign language .

Foreign language census

Every few years since 1958, the MLA has conducted a census of enrollments in college-level language courses in the U.S. shows that enrollments in languages other than English spiked after the National Defense Education Act became law.

Between 1958 and 1970, these enrollments nearly tripled, from about 430,000 to almost 1.2 million. The bulk of students studied French, German or Spanish. However, enrollments in Russian doubled in the first three years alone 鈥� jumping from roughly 16,000 in 1958 to over 32,700 in 1961. Enrollments in less commonly taught languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Arabic also rose steeply.

After 1970, the enrollments in language study began to fall. Arabic was an exception. Although very few U.S. students studied Arabic to begin with 鈥� just 364 in 1958, increasing to 1,324 in 1970 鈥� the accelerated the trend, and enrollments passed 3,000 in 1977 before plateauing.

Role of geopolitics

College enrollments in Russian and Arabic courses illustrate how language study can be directly affected by 鈥� and have implications for 鈥� political events.

Enrollments in Russian in 1990. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to an immediate loss of interest in learning Russian. Enrollments dropped below 25,000 by 1995 and have continued to fall since. The latest MLA survey shows that between 2016 and 2021 alone, enrollments fell from 20,353 to 17,598 鈥� just over 1,500 more than in 1958. The low number of U.S. students learning Russian comes at a time when the current war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Russia鈥檚 role as a , makes knowledge of the language valuable to protecting national security.

Enrollments in Arabic, in turn, were low in 1998 鈥� just 5,505 college students studied the language. Training and hiring speakers with professional-level Arabic proficiency for the federal government at that time. As a result, the FBI had few translators who were proficient in Arabic, which caused in the run-up to the Sept. 11 attacks.

A year after 9/11, college-level enrollments in Arabic almost doubled to over 10,500, and they peaked in 2009 at just under 35,000.

Expansion takes time

Overcoming foreign language shortfalls is easier said than done. Gaps cannot be filled overnight, as languages require hundreds to thousands of hours of study . And it also takes time for universities to expand their language offerings and staffing.

Therefore, shortfalls have continued. In 2016, nearly a quarter of the State Department鈥檚 overseas positions were held by people who the language proficiency requirements for their jobs. The numbers were even higher for positions requiring critical languages such as Arabic, Dari, Farsi and Urdu. These language gaps have to protect embassies, manage emergency situations and more.

Steep declines

After peaking in 2009 at almost 1.7 million, college-level enrollments in languages other than English fell steeply. The new MLA report shows the decline has continued. By 2021, enrollments had fallen to under 1.2 million 鈥� a drop of nearly 30%.

Enrollments in almost all of the most commonly taught languages dropped significantly during this window. Arabic fell by almost 35%, Chinese/Mandarin by almost 25%, French by 37%, German by 44%, Japanese by 9% and Spanish by 32%. The only exceptions to this decline are enrollments in American Sign Language, which increased 17%, and Korean, which increased 128%. Korean in particular stands out, as its enrollments have increased steadily since 1974 and have been boosted recently by a global fascination with .

Overall, enrollments for 2021 are on par with those of 1998. And they are only slightly higher than those of 1970 鈥� even though more than now attend college.

In addition to the , other factors have in college language enrollments. As of 2017, only about study a foreign language, and only have foreign language requirements for high school graduation.

Meanwhile, according to the Pew Research Center, just believe that knowing a foreign language is very important for workers to be successful. In contrast, 85% believe that the ability to work with people from different backgrounds, training in writing and communication, and understanding how to use computers are each very important.

National security initiatives

In 2006, President George W. Bush launched the to increase the number of speakers and teachers of critical languages.

Since then, government agencies have developed additional language programs. The National Security Agency鈥檚 , for example, organizes summer programs to teach critical languages to students in kindergarten through college and provides resources and opportunities for teachers. The program served almost between 2007 and 2021.

The , in turn, is run by the State Department and offers summer and academic-year programs for high school students. Over have participated since 2006.

Despite the important role these programs play, the MLA report observes that college-level language enrollments continue to decline 鈥� even at a time of growing need for knowledge of languages other than English . As history has shown us, these declines will likely have negative effects on national security, diplomacy and U.S. strategic interests.

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