Learning Multiple Languages at the Same Time

Have you tried learning more than line one language at the same time? What was your experience? 10 Secrets of Language Learning ⇢ www.thelinguist.com/ LingQ Grammar Guides ⇢ www.lingq.com/en/grammar-resource/ My blog ⇢ blog.thelinguist.com/ The LingQ blog ⇢ www.lingq.com/blog/ My Podcast ⇢ soundcloud.com/lingostevehttps://podcasts.apple.co… --- Social Media Instagram ⇢ www.instagram.com/lingosteve_/ TikTok ⇢ www.tiktok.com/@lingosteve Facebook ⇢ www.facebook.com/lingosteve Twitter ⇢ twitter.com/lingosteve LingQ Discord ⇢ discord.gg/ShPTjyhwTN

I started learning German a few months ago, and although I was feeling the progress the daily grind was definitely wearing me down. I then started Spanish and I must say, while my brain sometimes has difficulty switching from one to the other, my motivation is way up! When I get bored of one language, I just switch to the other.

I miss Laoshu. He proved that there is great value in learning a language even at a basic level. You don't need to become "fluent" in order to communicate and connect with people who speak a different language.

Like you, I love learning languages so much that I cannot keep myself from learning several at a time. My goal is polyliteracy (not speaking), and my tools are pretty much just a ton of extensive reading (with an English translation at hand) and a bit of intensive reading. In reference to your video, I know (mostly Classical) Persian very well, can have fun reading (Medieval ) Arabic (as in the original 1001 Nights), and have made some minor forays into Turkish. And I am a long-time juggler! I now spend about 15-30 minutes per day each reading Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, Polish, and Norwegian. I do Classical Persian twice a week with a friend (we've been at it for 17 years), and now we're going through Rumi's quatrains. Of those languages, only Polish is hard for me, since it's my first Slavic language. I think it's best to do only one "hard" language at a time, but I'd probably violate that rule in a heartbeat. However, it would be better to get Polish to a higher level before adding another hard (for me) language. My favored reading material is almost always fiction, usually novels, and usually novels written for adults. I rarely use graded readers or children's materials, though I've used a few young adult novels. Mostly it's classics, mysteries, best-selling literary fiction, swashbuckling adventures, and the like; the books have to be interesting so that I keep coming back to find out what happens. My theory is that the biggest obstacle to language learning is a failure to grasp how hard it is. I've learned patience with myself and the process, knowing that it will take a few years to get good at learning a language that is hard for me. But I also know that progress is always happening, improvement is guaranteed, and that the only requirement is that I remain excited every time I open a book and glimpse all of the words I don't know...and how many ever I do know!

I've run into a lot of problems doing German and Latin at the same time. I don't regret it, but I wouldn't do it again. I have found you can make progress in a lot of languages solely by studying a language with a lot of relatives. I can read the news in French now, partly due to my Latin study.

this is where I find myself today wanting to learn French or German but wanting to get really good at my Portuguese and Russian. Thank you for this video, I realized that in the end I just have to enjoy what I'm doing and the fact that time spent with a language is the only way I could continuously improve

Personally, I prefer to know extremely well two or at most three foreign languages. But let's tell the truth, if we actually master two foreign languages to the level that they can be used to get to know the world around us with ease, it's already "unbelievable". The effort required is big and overwhelming. I can't see any advantage learning multiple languages at the same time. Focus is key! I think we should speak about passing the time in that respect, not studying. The brain needs variety, so while you seriously study the language A four hours per day, you're allowed to jazz up your time playing twenty minutes with the language B. Or you can just go out for a walk if it isn't too cold. Let's be honest, the egotistical trend wants us to be the best of all and learn 10 languages at the same time. But like every ego-related thing, it just turns out to be a silly show-off and a fraud which leads to nothing but mediocrity. When we reach a level around C1/C2 in whatever language, we can really begin to leverage that new skill for jobs. It's the pay-off of focus.

My brother studied languages at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in California. The pace of study was intense. Students had to master the language course in 36-64 weeks. Psychologically it was very difficult, but fortunately he was helped by Yuriy Ivantsiv's book "Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign languages”. The book " Polyglot Notes" became a desk book for my brother, because it has answers to all the problems that any student of a foreign language has to face. Thanks to the author of the channel for this interesting video! Good luck to everyone who studies a foreign language and wants to realize their full potential!

Thanks a lot Mr. kaufmann for sharing with us those advices.

This came at the perfect time Steve. Thanks.

Steve🤩 another video! Thanks a lot, I love listening to your videos. You are just Great!

Thank you for your "ponderings" here on You Tube--they reflect what many others of us are thinking about--you help to clarify some of the issues.

Thanks for your honesty Steve!

Have your main language you want to learn and have a secondary language to dabble in on the side. A few hrs a WK on secondary language and the rest of the time on your main language. It helps

Thank you so much, Mr.Steve !! ❤❤You're such a huge inspiration. 😇🙏🏻🙏🏻 Wishing you good health.😇😇

I’d like daughter to learn at least 4 languages😊 this video is helpful

Thank you! That's the video that I needed hahaha just in time! I'm learning Japanese, French and trying to become fluent in english at the "same time" and it is difficult. That's why I'm focusing most of my time in japanese and english and letting French to the last occasion.

Thank you. Your ideas and insights are very useful to others. And thank you for "telling it like it is". It takes time and effort, to learn a language, even for Steve. People have different levels of fluency in different languages. even Steve. When students see a world-famous polyglot being imperfect, that helps.

Thank you Steve, I loved this perspective. It include both ways' advantages and disadvantages and has no 'solution', you dont tell what to do. I deal with that problem: i love languages and enjoy study a lot (i get boring studying only one at the same time), but i cant really manage all of them, and the progress is so, so poor.... So i dont know what to do yet but i like how you put things clearly on the table and also give slower progress as an option too.

Bravo Steve Excelente video