What can podcasts teach us?

By 2023, one billion people will be listening to them at least once a month: podcasts (a loose combination of the words “iPod” and “broadcasting”) are carving out an increasingly important space in the average daily routine.

And it’s not only light topics that are covered – in fact, edutainment (education + entertainment) podcasts are becoming more and more popular. That’s why Babbel (the world’s first language-learning app) created the infographic “What can a Podcast Teach You?” to explain this global phenomenon through lots of fun facts and data, while also offering a series of useful tips for learning languages… by listening to podcasts.

As the infographic explains, in 2021, Brits listened to almost 60 million hours of podcasts every week (+50% compared to 2019 and 17 times more than in 2015). This might have something to do with the pandemic, during which people had to learn to find ways to stay entertained and engaged at home. In 2022, even more growth is predicted: +2.9 million listeners are expected in the UK. From Today in Focus (a podcast by The Guardian that covers a crucial fact in 20 minutes) to Eat Sleep Work Repeat by Bruce Daisley (Vice President of Twitter), there are many podcasts loved by the British.

Babbel has also launched numerous podcasts to help language learning. In fact, there are many educational benefits to listening to the platform’s podcasts: they present and introduce relevant cultural elements, they help improve pronunciation and conversation and they also explain new linguistic forms of speech.

So, what’s stopping anyone from putting on those headphones and pressing play?

The editorial unit