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Studying many languages simultaneously?

January 28, 2012
10:37

mallory

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Forum Posts: 1

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January 27, 2012

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Thanks Benny for all the inspiration!

For my career, I really (REALLY) need to be fluent in more than just English. Years (YEARS) ago, I began studying Spanish, French, German, and Arabic. I even tried Portuguese for a bit. I'm working on a plan with a more focused approach.

Immersion isn't possible so I'm glad that it's not necessary.

However, I wonder about the wisdom of studying multiple languages at the same time. It's really a time issue. Here's my exact situation. Can you tell me if it's a good approach?

0. I have 10 years experience with studying Spanish; it's my strongest of all of them. I'd like to get to the level of fluency so that I can translate documents and even begin editing Spanish texts. I will study and practice with a tutor to achieve this in the next year.

1. I also live in Montreal as of November. My French is pretty basic, but I'm at the stage of accumulating vocabulary and feel that I'm progressing pretty quickly with comprehension, reading, and writing. I will study and practice with a tutor to advance my speaking ability in this next year. I'm also hiring a French-speaking nanny for my young child; my partner and I hope to study as a family to achieve fluency together.

Is that too much? Do you think the simultaneous studies will be beneficial or detrimental?

Thanks!!

January 28, 2012
20:23

melski44

Ottawa, Canada

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January 25, 2012

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You have the chance of living in Montreal, therefore it's very easy for you to speak french there ! The Québécois will really appreciate it, by the way.

Then if you really want to learn other languages, find some native speaker (which in Montreal shouldn't be an issue).

I'm not Benny but I know he rather advises to learn one language at a time. But if your Spanish is already good, I would say it's a achievable goal to study Spanish and French. Bon courage

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January 31, 2012
21:22

Reve

Chicago, IL

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January 10, 2012

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I'm also trying to learn Spanish and French simultaneously, though I live in Spain so I do have the immersion advantage. In my opinion, since your Spanish is far more advanced than your French, I think it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I think the problem arises if you speak more than one language at a rather low level. With my situation, for instance, I tried to learn Spanish, French, and Italian more-or-less simultaneously last year, and since my knowledge of French and Italian are both pretty limited I confused them (plus they're both from the same language family).

Speaks:

Learning: (A2) (A2) On Hiatus, although maintaining: On Wishlist:

February 16, 2012
13:49

João Cordeiro

Porto, Portugal

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February 16, 2012

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I've been learning French and English (FLUENT) for 4 years… well It's very (VERY) hard. It's really hard to learn 2 languages at the same time, my teacher rates my french (1-5) = 3.

I don't really recommend that…

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