Hi everyone, this is my first time attending. I am very much looking forward to reading about everyone’s connection to this conference and passions for language learning.
I am a grad student from the US who has loved taking languages at school. However, I would really like to delve into the polyglot community by learning more about self-instructed language learning and ways I can simultaneously enjoy learning several languages (not in necessarily rigorous ways) instead of focusing on only one at a time with deep focuses on technicalities.
Any thoughts? Anyone else interested in too many languages at once?
I’m definitely studying “too many” languages at once. I try to expose myself daily to the 3 I am actively learning, español, deutsch, limba română. Sometimes that’s just doing little app based lessons or watching videos in the target languages. The other 3, nihongo, Latin, sanskrit, are what I consider my hobby languages and I just study them casually when I feel like it. I find that it’s fun for me to learn about each language, see the similarities and differences, and learn about each culture. My plan is to be conversationally fluent in my top 3 and to a modest level of listening/reading comprehension in the others. I also don’t spend enough time focused on just one, so my goals are a little difficult to achieve.
Best of luck in your learning endeavors.
I always try to learn three or four languages at once, but usually can’t get beyond two at at a time. Currently, I’m learning Indonesian as a beginner and very slowly advancing my upper-intermediate-level French slowly through “maintenance activities” (reading and listening). I’m trying to squeeze in some German and get back to reading Japanese, but I find it hard to make the time while working full-time, especially since I’m also starting to learn computer programming on the side.
I tried doing Arabic and Hebrew at the same time in 2015 (my Arabic level in 2015 was around B1). As my country doesn’t have any diplomatic relations with Israel it was particularly difficult to get resources for Hebrew that I had to learn in using Arabic as the base language.
It was difficult, probably learning two languages at once won’t work for me. I do best when I’m focused on one language at a time despite being interested in learning 2-3 languages.
I never practiced the languages I used to know well (B2ish) - Spanish, French and German. A few years ago I decided I wanted to resurrect them. So of course, I took up Italian and Russian.
My plan is to take my B1 Spanish and get it to a solid B2 by the end of the year. I found a few vloggers to watch, and I have maintained a pace of 1 hour a day of watching and absorbing (this part I can actually do very faithfully). I am trying to incorporate technical reading (accounting in Spanish), but cannot say I’m hugely successful at that. I joined an online class with other intermediate learners, and I enjoy it tremendously. Soon I will start with a one-on-one tutor.
My thinking is that what inhibits my learning is lack of confidence, which is a result of lack of competence. By learning to do 1 thing well, I will gain the confidence to do other things well.
As for the other languages, I still watch videos in Italian or Russian a couple times a week, or speak French at a meetup once a month. I don’t consider it active learning. Just maintenance.
Here are my general thoughts. If something really interests you, you won’t have to force time to do it. In fact, the opposite will be true. You have to force yourself to stop because you won’t do anything else. Secondly, highlight the things you CAN do, not the things you CAN’T do. Lastly, I’m a big believer in trying something out for yourself, and measuring your progress and desire to continue it. If you try to learn 20 new words a day through flash cards, and after a few days you quit. That’s not good. Maybe you pick up words better through reading or conversation. You won’t know what works for you unless you try it.
In regards to starting any language, I ask myself, “If I could do anything but I did not have to do it perfectly, what would I do?”
