Every now and then we may think if is it a good idea to learn two foreign languages (or even more) at the same time and there are diverse opinions regarding this issue. Sure, you can even try learning 20 languages at once. The past documents many hyperpolyglots who claimed to know even 200 languages like John Bowring (a British translator, diplomat and politician). But to be really honest with you how fluent can one be in all those languages? Personally, in all honesty I would opt for learning two languages at one go. I guess this way one could manage to take care of full development of the desired skills set in both languages at the same time. But maybe I am simply wrong. Obviously, also the reasons why you wish to learn are different. Maybe your goal is to learn the basic phrases to survive in 10-20 foreign languages while abroad and there is nothing wrong about that.
The Question of Language Fluency
We all know learning a foreign language is somewhat time-consuming. Then I simply ask myself: When will I find enough time to learn so many languages and be able to gain a decent level of fluency and of course what’s more important devote the equal amount of time to each of these languages? Maybe I could if I retired and had nothing else to do apart from learning. By ‘decent fluency’ I understand having conversations with other users of the language and manage in daily-life situations on a regular basis, read newspapers with good understanding of the presented articles, writing different forms of short and longer pieces of text e.g. short notes, informal letters, etc., use the language skills in professional and business contacts, watch a movie without subtitles and so on and so forth. Only when mastering such a level of advancement I will consider learning another new language. Needless to say that many people will have a different understanding of fluency in a foreign language and that is justified.
So is it a good idea to learn two foreign languages (or even more) at the same time? Yes, provided they do not come from the same language family, e.g. Portuguese and Spanish. I don’t know maybe you have different experiences in this respect. I know many native Spanish speakers who managed to learn Portuguese pretty fast, but for me having Portuguese and Spanish at the same time resulted confusing. The languages appeared too similar for me.
Maybe it was because neither of them was my native language and the mutual interference of those linguistic systems was too great overall. I guess if you are a native speaker of the language that comes from the same family of languages it is relatively easier to learn this other language. This happened to me when I tried to learn Russian, then actually Polish as my native language helped me acquire another language from the Slavic family. For this instance, the similarity of some vocabulary units was beneficial for remembering them:
English word: mountain Polish word: góra Russian word: гора [gɔ̝̌ra]
You can compare the pronunciation here:
Polish
Russian
My Personal Experiences
As for Romance languages, learning Spanish and Italian at the same time, I think for me it would cause too much confusion as for the grammar rules and vocabulary. Beware also the false friends that exist in those languages but obviously may have different meanings. Once I read a comment that it is actually wise to wait at least 2 years before learning the language from the same language family. And to me there is some grain of truth in it. I mean I couldn’t start learning Italian until my knowledge of Spanish grammar and vocabulary determined.
It was not after almost four years of learning Spanish until I began learning Italian. And now I feel as if my brain could differentiate properly what word and grammar rules or verbal conjugation belongs to either Italian or Spanish. Moreover, I can find some similarities between the grammar systems of those languages that help me learn a bit quicker. I just wonder if you had similar experiences when learning two or more foreign languages at once. If so, do not hesitate to share them in the Comments section in the blog.
The Question of Language Fluency
We all know learning a foreign language is somewhat time-consuming. Then I simply ask myself: When will I find enough time to learn so many languages and be able to gain a decent level of fluency and of course what’s more important devote the equal amount of time to each of these languages? Maybe I could if I retired and had nothing else to do apart from learning. By ‘decent fluency’ I understand having conversations with other users of the language and manage in daily-life situations on a regular basis, read newspapers with good understanding of the presented articles, writing different forms of short and longer pieces of text e.g. short notes, informal letters, etc., use the language skills in professional and business contacts, watch a movie without subtitles and so on and so forth. Only when mastering such a level of advancement I will consider learning another new language. Needless to say that many people will have a different understanding of fluency in a foreign language and that is justified.
So is it a good idea to learn two foreign languages (or even more) at the same time? Yes, provided they do not come from the same language family, e.g. Portuguese and Spanish. I don’t know maybe you have different experiences in this respect. I know many native Spanish speakers who managed to learn Portuguese pretty fast, but for me having Portuguese and Spanish at the same time resulted confusing. The languages appeared too similar for me.
Maybe it was because neither of them was my native language and the mutual interference of those linguistic systems was too great overall. I guess if you are a native speaker of the language that comes from the same family of languages it is relatively easier to learn this other language. This happened to me when I tried to learn Russian, then actually Polish as my native language helped me acquire another language from the Slavic family. For this instance, the similarity of some vocabulary units was beneficial for remembering them:
English word: mountain Polish word: góra Russian word: гора [gɔ̝̌ra]
You can compare the pronunciation here:
Polish
Russian
My Personal Experiences
As for Romance languages, learning Spanish and Italian at the same time, I think for me it would cause too much confusion as for the grammar rules and vocabulary. Beware also the false friends that exist in those languages but obviously may have different meanings. Once I read a comment that it is actually wise to wait at least 2 years before learning the language from the same language family. And to me there is some grain of truth in it. I mean I couldn’t start learning Italian until my knowledge of Spanish grammar and vocabulary determined.
It was not after almost four years of learning Spanish until I began learning Italian. And now I feel as if my brain could differentiate properly what word and grammar rules or verbal conjugation belongs to either Italian or Spanish. Moreover, I can find some similarities between the grammar systems of those languages that help me learn a bit quicker. I just wonder if you had similar experiences when learning two or more foreign languages at once. If so, do not hesitate to share them in the Comments section in the blog.
