New Year’s Eve, spar­k­ling wine and foreign languages

New Year’s Eve, spar­k­ling wine and foreign languages

Were you hosting inter­na­tional guests at the turn of the year? If so, you may have noticed how many peop­le’s school English suddenly improves after the first or second glass of spar­k­ling wine. People who would normally intern­ally correct every English sentence several times suddenly speak fluently, confi­dently and audibly more relaxed.

What sounds like a party anec­dote is actually a well-docu­mented pheno­menon – and in 2025, the topic even caught the atten­tion of the Ig Nobel Prize Committee: The Ig Nobel Prize, which honours rese­arch that ‘first makes people laugh and then makes them think,’ last year reco­g­nised a study on precisely this effect, inte­res­t­ingly in the ‘Peace’ cate­gory . The Dutch study shows that acute alcohol consump­tion can, under certain condi­tions, improve the ability to speak a foreign language. Not just a feeling, not anec­dotal, but measurable.

Unin­hi­bited by alcohol

This is expli­citly not about more voca­bu­lary or better grammar. The study, published in the Journal of Psycho­phar­ma­co­logy in 2018, examined speech inhi­bi­tion. In other words, that inner control mecha­nism that perma­nently slows down many foreign language lear­ners because they check every sentence for mistakes in advance.

After mode­rate alcohol consump­tion, Dutch test subjects spoke – from the outside perspec­tive – more fluently and compre­hen­sibly in English in an expe­ri­ment, without conside­ring them­selves to be better. It was not about conceit, but about effect.

The reason: alcohol lowers inhi­bi­tions, dampens perfec­tionism and suppresses the fear of making mistakes. Conver­sa­tion gains space – and the obli­ga­tory ‘Sorry for my bad English’ that some people use simply disappears.

However, be careful: what improves foreign language use does not apply to the native language. As another Dutch study shows, pronun­cia­tion dete­rio­rates measur­ably with incre­asing blood alcohol content. Native language expres­sion is usually not influenced by lingu­i­stic uncertainties.

So if you happen to meet someone whose English clearly improves after a few drinks, it’s not a New Year’s miracle or any other kind of miracle. It’s evidence-based.

The 2025 IG Nobel Prize winners

Renner F et al. Dutch courage? Effects of acute alcohol consump­tion on self-ratings and observer ratings of foreign language skills. J Psycho­phar­macol. 2018

Offrede TF et al. The Impact of Alcohol on L1 versus L2. Lang Speech. 2021