Why boomers enjoy learning new skills

This story version has been formatted as an on-air script for broadcast outlets. See the original research story here.

NEW RESEARCH IS OUT THAT QUESTIONS WHETHER YOU CAN TEACH OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS.

A SURVEY OF 2,000 AMERICANS SPLIT EVENLY BY GENERATION FOUND THAT THE MAJORITY OF BABY BOOMERS LOVE TO LEARN NEW THINGS, BUT THEY THINK THEY’RE TOO OLD TO ACTUALLY DO SO.

WHILE SIX IN 10 BOOMERS FIND THAT LEARNING SOMETHING NEW IS MORE REWARDING NOW THAN WHEN THEY WERE YOUNGER, THEY STILL THINK THEY ARE TOO OLD TO ACTUALLY LEARN NEW SKILLS. 

CONDUCTED BY TALKER RESEARCH ON BEHALF OF DUOLINGO, THE SURVEY FOUND THAT THE SENTIMENT OF BEING ‘TOO OLD TO LEARN’ WAS REINFORCED ACROSS GENERATIONS, WITH 26 YEARS OLD PINPOINTED AS THE BEST AGE TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW.

IN CONTRAST, THE SURVEY FOUND THAT 43 PERCENT  BELIEVE THEY’RE MORE SUCCESSFUL IN LEARNING NEW THINGS AT THEIR CURRENT AGE, VERSUS WHEN THEY WERE YOUNGER.

WHY ARE RESPONDENTS WORKING TO LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE?

• I have an interest in other cultures — 31%
• I want to keep my brain sharp as I age — 27%
• I want to visit the country where this language is spoken — 27%
• I want to better communicate with those around me (neighbors, community members, co-workers, clients, etc.) — 27%
• It’ll be beneficial for me professionally to speak this language — 24%
• I want to understand foreign media (movies, TV shows, sports, music, etc.) — 21%
• I learn languages as a hobby — 21%

RESPONDENTS WHO ARE ONLY CONFIDENT IN ONE LANGUAGE SAID . . .

• I feel limited in the places I can travel to/am comfortable traveling to — 21%
• I feel left out of conversations with multilingual friends and family — 18%
• I worry I’m not as smart as other people who can speak multiple languages — 16%
• I’ve had a funny misunderstanding with someone who speaks another language — 16%
• I feel limited in the media I can consume — 16%
• I feel like a “dumb American” — 12%
• I feel excluded or detached from my culture and heritage — 9%

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans (split evenly by generation); the survey was commissioned by Duolingo and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Oct. 8–14, 2024.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.