In this article, the authors report that almost one in three adults in the UK have experience of learning a language as an adult, but only four percent are currently doing so--one percent less that in 1999, equivalent to a drop of half a million adults learning languages. Figures of speech, NIACE's UK-wide survey of language learning, also found a significant increase in the proportion of adults now learning English. Currently, one percent of adults are learning English, whereas the proportion of adults learning English was barely visible in 1999, when NIACE published its last language survey, "Tongue-tied but trying". Language learning in the UK is complicated, and the new survey shows that the complexity is increasing. More languages are spoken, more people have more than one language and different groups have different motivations and patterns of learning. Since the first language survey in 1999, there has been an increase in the proportion of people within the UK who have a first language other than English and who are currently learning English. Currently, 11 percent have a first language other than English, which is almost double the amount reported in 1999 (six percent). There is a strong link between ethnicity and first language learnt: 73 percent of adults from minority ethnic groups have a first language that is not English, compared to four percent of adults from white groups.