American’s Top Travel Destinations and Language Anxiety Impacts

Around 80% of Americans believe that learning a few words of the local language matters before they travel abroad. Only 58% of those Americans actually go so far as to learn some words. That twenty-two-point gap is the basis of Preply’s report on language anxiety and travel, supplemented by visuals to support the data on this anxiety.

The report opens on this contradiction between belief and action and sharpens the data. It shows that 40% of travelers admit to cramming language lessons at the airport or on the plane. Only 25% begin practicing the language of their destination months ahead of time. 32% side-step the problem entirely by choosing destinations where English is the dominant language or prevalent enough to carry travelers through.

Two ranked charts are the center of the report and comparing their results offers eye-opening details. The first chart shows that in 2026, Italy topped the wish list of American travel destinations. Australia, Ireland, the UK, and France followed.

Click below to zoom.

The second chart ranked where Americans would consider living. Australia and the UK tie at 20% of the answers, and Canada follows closely at 19%. Three of the top five travel destinations are largely English-speaking, and the relocation list you’ll note was entirely English-speaking.

Japan demonstrates this split dramatically. 18% of Americans would like to visit Japan, but only 10% would consider living there. Comfort clearly wins out over desire when it comes to relocation.

The demographic section shows even more interesting trends. Gen Z is nearly three times as likely as Boomers to want to visit Japan (24.4% versus 8.6%). They’re also more than twice as likely to consider living there (13.4% versus 5.3%). Ireland runs the opposite direction, with 26.2% of Boomers wishing to visit and only 9.8% of Gen Z. This is the biggest generational gap in the survey.

The pattern suggests that Boomers gravitate toward English-speaking destinations, while Gen Z showed stronger interest in places like Japan, Korea, Brazil, Colombia, and Thailand. Gender splits emerged too, with women favoring Italy, Ireland, and Greece, and men dreaming of Japan at 24% versus women’s 14%.

A horizontal bar graph ranks the barriers to visiting non-English-speaking destinations. 37% of Americans assume the native language is too difficult to learn. 35% believe English is understood well enough to get by without learning. 33% of respondents said they’re bad at learning languages, 32% cite lacking the time to learn, and 31% fear offending a native speaker by mistake. When ranking language intimidation by country, China led at 37%, Japan followed at 34%, then Korea at 24%, and Thailand at 13%.

A graphic on language faux pas showed that 35% of Americans point to menu items rather than attempting pronunciation, 23% speak louder and slower, and 17% buy American fast food for familiarity—only 15% attempt to mimic the local accent, which the Preply team gently discouraged.

The big takeaway seems to be that 45% of Americans would travel more if they spoke another language.