Rihanna is the most popular musician for inspiring people to learn the English language, according to a new study.
Rihanna. image by Ros O'Gorman.
Research by Kaplan International Colleges, a leading provider of English language courses, revealed that more people learn English to understand Rihanna than any other musician in the pop music industry.
Kaplan surveyed 1,213 people who speak English as a foreign language (EFL) and discovered that more than half (52%) learned the language to comprehend a celebrity.
From those EFL speakers who said they learned English to understand a celebrity, the Bajan beauty, who is famous for hit singles such as Diamonds and Rude Boi, was the most inspirational musician with 10% saying the singer inspired them to pick up the language.
RiRi triumphed over chart rivals and fellow pop princesses Katy Perry and Beyonce who inspired 8% and 7% of EFL speakers respectively. Eminem was the top male musician with 7% claiming that they learned English to understand the controversial rapper.
Rodrigo Alencar, of RihannaDaily.com, said: ‘Rihanna is one of the most successful singers worldwide these days, her songs are all over the charts, so it’s just natural that people who do not speak English want to understand what she’s singing.
‘Since 2005 she’s releasing new great music every year, so people just can’t “get away” from her. Also, the lyrics are usually super catchy and many fans relate to them.’
Barack Obama was the most popular person for inspiring others to learn English. The study found that 22% of EFL speakers who said they learned English to understand a celebrity did so to follow what the US President was saying.
