Learning several languages at the same time

Every language student comes across this question sooner or later: Is it possible to learn more than one language at the same time ? I'm going to talk about my own experience.

In a certain moment of my life I had to juggle with 4 different languages at the same time. I was 21 years old, if I am not mistaken, and I had a lot of free time that year. I already spoke quite good English and I wanted to continue improving so I signed up for B2 English lessons in the school of languages and I took a look at the other languages that one could study in that school: French, Italian, and German. The problem now was, which one should I choose?

I could already speak a little French since I had studied it in primary and secondary school and I really enjoyed it, therefore it would be easy for me to do English and French at the same time. Italian is well-known for being an easy language for Spanish-speaking people so it was another good candidate. German was the most exotic and difficult language that you could learn in my city back then. So which one did I choose? All of them! Did I mix them? Go on reading.

The answer is yes but not all of them and it wasn´t so confusing as to regret it. I just got confused with the two roman languages (French and Italian). I remember that in the oral exam of French I wanted t say that I had two sisters (J'ai deux soeurs) and what I did is saying the word "sisters" in italian (sorelle) but in a French accent so I ended up saying "J'ai deux oreilles", quite funny. On the other hand, I didn't have much trouble with the grammar, I would even say that it helped me even to undertand my native language.

So, should you start adding a second or third target language? My answer is yes, definitely. As long as you have time and motivation there is no problem in studying as many languages as you want. Remember that every different language is stored in a different area of the brain so this will help you differentiate one from the others.

Have you already tried? Please let me know your own experiences!

See you soon!
July 8, 2019
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$17
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Juan Rico

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$17
USD/h
Flag
Spanish
globe
Spain
time
17
Speaks:
Spanish
Native
,
English
C2
,
German
C1
,
French
B1
,
Italian
B1
,
Mandarin
A2
,
Dutch
A2
,
Portuguese
A2
Hi! My name's Juan! I have a passion about languages (learning and teaching them). I´ve been learning languages for more than twenty years and among them there are languages so different like German, Italian or Chinese. I´ve also taught and coached students from different backgrounds and in different languages, besides I am certificated for Spanish teaching. I base my teaching on active conversation, doubt solving and a very flexible coaching process. ¡Hola! Me llamo Juan y soy un apasionado de los idiomas. Soy profesor nativo de español y tengo más de tres años de experiencia impartiendo clases de manera online y también presencial. Me adapto fácilmente a mis alumnos e intento sumergirlos en el idioma tanto lingüísticamente como de manera cultural. Además hablo varios idiomas, lo que me permite entender mejor a mis alumnos y comprender las dificultades del proceso de aprendizaje.
Flag
Spanish
globe
Spain
time
17
Speaks:
Spanish
Native
,
English
C2
,
German
C1
,
French
B1
,
Italian
B1
,
Mandarin
A2
,
Dutch
A2
,
Portuguese
A2
Hi! My name's Juan! I have a passion about languages (learning and teaching them). I´ve been learning languages for more than twenty years and among them there are languages so different like German, Italian or Chinese. I´ve also taught and coached students from different backgrounds and in different languages, besides I am certificated for Spanish teaching. I base my teaching on active conversation, doubt solving and a very flexible coaching process. ¡Hola! Me llamo Juan y soy un apasionado de los idiomas. Soy profesor nativo de español y tengo más de tres años de experiencia impartiendo clases de manera online y también presencial. Me adapto fácilmente a mis alumnos e intento sumergirlos en el idioma tanto lingüísticamente como de manera cultural. Además hablo varios idiomas, lo que me permite entender mejor a mis alumnos y comprender las dificultades del proceso de aprendizaje.
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