4 Out 5 Welsh Singles See Language Barriers In Dating As Potential Issue Or Dealbreaker 

When asked about their attitudes towards dating with language barriers, 64% of Welsh singletons replied they’d be open but would anticipate issues, whilst 14% say they would never even entertain the idea.

270 million adults reportedly used dating apps worldwide in 2020 – paired with the thousands of dating apps/websites available today, the journey to finding love sounds like an easy one. However, if you ask the average singleton, they’ll most likely disagree.

Of the 68 million people living in the UK, an estimated one third are single and with approximately 10 million of the UK population being foreign-born, singletons in the UK have the chance of finding love with people from all over the world. But what are Brits’ attitudes towards dating outside their first language? In an attempt to discover how love and language barriers mix (or don’t mix), language learning app and e-learning platform Preply have surveyed 2,000 Brits to find out.

The key reactions

Results have proved that dating with language barriers makes more of a difference than one would think, as almost two thirds of those in Wales admitted that they would be open to the possibility but would still see a language barrier as a potential issue.  As for those of opposing opinions, only 20% said they would not find a language barrier to be an issue (pink flag) or dealbreaker.

Of those remaining, 14% of Wales said they would dump someone because of a language barrier, expressing they’d never even make it to a first date – 17% of women would “call it quits” due to a language barrier, whereas only 10% of men would do the same.

35% of those who deemed a language barrier a dealbreaker, have revealed that this is because they’d most likely feel inadequate and/or patronised. 

The top challenges and the top highlights

Whilst all relationships face challenges, throwing two languages in the mix, can open things up to another kind of bump in the road. These include not sharing a similar sense of humour (something Brits presumably hold so dear) or overcoming cultural differences. 

When asked about which aspects of a relationship with language barriers would be the most challenging, “constantly having to translate things” came top (31%) with “meeting/socialising with partner’s family” following behind (27%). Cultural differences placed as the third top challenge (15%) and ‘not having the same humour’ placed fourth (9%).

 9% of the Welsh said they deem watching TV/movies with subtitles a problematic thing, whilst most of the 8% stated “lack of a strong connection” as their biggest worry.

Dating someone with a different native country can come with its challenges but best of all, it can also come with its advantages. Asking about what their top highlight would be, half of Wales (48%) say the top highlight of dating someone from a different country would be getting to learn about a new culture. The second best, with 18% agreeing, would be the prospect of raising multilingual children.

Whilst frequent holidays to their partner’s country (15%) and a stronger physical connection (8%) follow as third and fourth highlights respectively, only 7% of survey respondents chose a learning a new language as their highlight.

The prospect of moving country for love

With most dating apps offering singles the option to extend their ‘match’ location radius to practically cover anywhere in the world, this expands the dating pool opening up the chance of matching singles around the world. So what happens when cupid strikes from across the globe?

A resonating 78% of the country revealed that they would be open to the idea of moving country for love, however only one in five are sure they’d make the move without any doubts. Whilst the majority would be open to the idea of relocation, 16% the Welsh would refuse to move country and 5% even say they would rather make their partner move.

Other insights

• In asking which languages the Welsh found to be the hardest languages to understand, Arabic, Mandarin, French and Portuguese ranked top
• A 2020 Preply heart-rate driven study confirmed Italian, Portuguese, French and Greek as top most ‘sensual’ languages for Brits. Dutch, German and Japanese were the languages that got participants least excited.
• 3 out of 4 of those polled in Wales (76%) said that they would be willing to learn their partner’s native language or at least learn the basics
• The Welsh are the most adventurous of them all, being the most likely to move country for love 
• Singles in Scotland the least likely to move country for love, as one in five Scots admitted that they would never consider the idea of relocating for a romantic partner.
• Northern Ireland are the most likely to welcome the idea of dating with language barriers, as 23% say they’d have no issues with it

Overall, while the majority of singles in the UK are open to a relationship with language barriers, it seems the challenges and feelings of inadequateness that can come attached, may be holding singletons back. Ultimately though, if ever faced with the chance at true love, where language barriers would be a factor, British singletons would be ready to make an effort to make love work.