Duolingo saw a sharp rise in Spanish learners following Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, according to a post shared by the language-learning app on social media.
“Duolingo saw a 35 percent increase in Spanish learners last night. Better late than never,” the company wrote on Threads on February 9, under its official account, @duolingo. The post, which included a graph showing a clear spike in Spanish lessons, has been liked more than 7,500 times to date.
The surge followed Bad Bunny’s history‑making performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, where he became the first artist to sing primarily in Spanish during the most-watched sporting event in the U.S. Duolingo’s official Threads account shared the data shortly after the night ended, highlighting the immediate impact the performance appeared to have on language learning behavior.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl appearance came months after he used a Spanish-language monologue on Saturday Night Live (SNL) to tell audiences they had “four months to learn” Spanish ahead of the game. Despite online backlash from some commentators at the time, the data shared by Duolingo suggests many viewers embraced the message, with interest in learning Spanish rising sharply during the Halftime Show.
Bad Bunny, one of the world’s most-streamed artists, has long centered Spanish language and Puerto Rican culture in his music. His decision to perform in Spanish on one of America’s biggest television stages was widely seen as a cultural milestone, given the Super Bowl’s enormous reach across English-speaking audiences.
The Halftime Show marked a first not only for the artist but for the event itself, which has historically featured English-language performances aimed at the broadest possible U.S. audience. By contrast, Bad Bunny’s set leaned into Latin musical styles, reflecting the growing influence of Latin pop culture in the U.S.
The response documented by Duolingo offers a measurable indication of that influence. The company, which has approximately 116.7 million users worldwide, said Spanish learning activity on its platform jumped by more than a third in the immediate aftermath of the performance.
The accompanying graph shared on Threads, in the company’s signature green, showed a sudden and steep increase in Spanish lessons compared with typical usage patterns.
The timing also underscored the lingering impact of Bad Bunny’s earlier SNL appearance. In that segment, the artist challenged viewers to learn Spanish before the Super Bowl. At the time, the monologue sparked online debate and political backlash, particularly from MAGA-aligned commentators who objected to the prominence of Spanish at a U.S. cultural event.