Thread: learning more then one language at a time

Can it be done? It seems hard, but when i think about it, aslong as the languages aren't incredibly similar maybe you can get away with it?

What does everybody think?

You can learn 100 languages at a time if you're good enough.

I'm learning Russian and Polish, which are very similar, and I'm not having too hard of a time with it, other than mixing vocabulary at times. My Polish is better than my Russian, so it actually helps me when learning new grammar stuff, because it's familiar.

I would think it would be better to learn similar languages at the same time, you can make connections between the two.

The same argument goes for not learning two similar languages at the same time(for fear of mixing them up). In the end it comes down to personal ability.

My fear would be becoming incredibly interested in one and forgeting about the other.

Originally Posted by Darobat

My fear would be becoming incredibly interested in one and forgeting about the other.

That is what i did. I am studying Russian still. Last semester i had both French and Russian. I love Russian, so i spent all my time on it and forgot about French(it was so embarassing to struggle in class). But that is just me and i have absolutly NO talent in learning languages.

Last semester a guy in my class was learning Russian, Spanish(beginnner), French(intermediate) and Mandarin(beginner). Russian was the only language he dropped. I am amazed by that. People who can keep all the grammar and stuff straight. Because i am definatly not one of them.

Is he one of those guys who always shouts out the answers like a champion and informs everyone of how badly they're doing? Ignore him. One language that you can speak well is better than several that you can speak poorly.

BTW, I'll bet he ends up dropping Mandarin too. Leaving him with two languages that are both easy and similar to each other.

Pravit wrote:

Last semester a guy in my class was learning Russian, Spanish(beginnner), French(intermediate) and Mandarin(beginner). Russian was the only language he dropped. I am amazed by that.

have you tested him?
i often say i speak german and italian when my german is hidden somewhere in my memory and i only took two lessons of italian in my whole life (but it's so easy for a french speaking person to pretend he speaks italian when he has a good ear, both languages are extremely close).

spanish and french are really not that close. conjugations in spanish are pretty hard, and a lot of constructions don't exist in french (i'm comparing it with italian which is far easier).

don't worry, learning several languages simultanuously shouldn't be a problem. let's see what you can get muddled up with?
vocabulary: hell, no, even between spanish and portuguese, a lot of words look different and the look alikes are actually a great help.
grammar: how could anyone use declensions in italian and put the verb at the end of the subordonate in french? mixing up rules in various languages is highly improbable.
pronounciation: ever heard of an aussie (why an aussie, i don't know) speaking french with a japanese accent because he was learning both languages???

if my english, russian and spanish (languages i speak besides my mother tongue) are not good enough, i doubt it is because of some sort of tangle. it's actually proven thjat the more you learn, the faster.

Russian and Hungarian.