Learning 2 new languages (Advice Center) Language Learning Forum

Learning 2 new languages
Tags: Confusion/mixing up languages
Share with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
Language Learning Forum : Advice Center

16 messages over 2 pages: 1 2

FuroraCeltica
Triglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 6863 days ago
1187 posts - 1427 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish, French

Message 9 of 16

18 September 2008 at 8:20am | IP Logged

The main issues with learning two languages at once are

a) confusing the two: unlikely with Chinese/Polish
b) finding time for both: all languages need time, and hard languages need more time still, so two hard languages at once is a tough ask
1 person has voted this message useful

awake
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6634 days ago
406 posts - 438 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Esperanto, Spanish

Message 10 of 16

18 September 2008 at 8:32am | IP Logged

mick33 wrote:

Yes, I suppose it's possible to study two languages simultaneously, but almost everyone on this
forum whose posts I've read says this wouldn't be the best choice. Even though Polish and Cantonese are very
different languages, it's far too time-consuming to attempt both languages at once and expect to achieve fluency in
either one. Decide which language you think is most interesting to you and focus on that one first.

I think that for a beginner, it's probably an inefficient way to go. Though for SOME learners, it might help prevent
boredom, in which case it might produce a net benefit by helping to keep motivation high. However, for
experienced language learners it's probably a perfectly reasonable thing to do provided that they have the
discipline to keep studying both languages regularly.

2 persons have voted this message useful

Ogien
Diglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 5913 days ago
8 posts - 9 votes
Speaks: Polish, English*

Message 11 of 16

18 September 2008 at 4:16pm | IP Logged

teddo wrote:

May I know why you want to learn Polish???

It'll be a waste of time, if you aren't going to live in Poland for more than a year or two....

There are many people who speak Polish in New England, Michigan, and Illinoise. It's also pretty popular in Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries. If you learn Polish then you can understand a lot of Belorussian.
2 persons have voted this message useful

rkunz
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
learnthatlanguagenow
Joined 6823 days ago
103 posts - 101 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Japanese

Message 12 of 16

19 September 2008 at 4:26am | IP Logged

I believe it's possible to learn two languages although you may want to consider learning one language first for a while and reaching a more advanced level before starting the second. In my experience, this will reduce the amount of confusion you have between the two languages.

In any case, as long as you have the time to devote to learning two languages and you have the motivation to do so, then by all means, go for it!

Also, if you're interested, I've written an article about learning two languages at the same time which may help you a bit.

-Robbie
Learn That Language Now
1 person has voted this message useful

Stephen
Groupie
Australia
Joined 6409 days ago
61 posts - 63 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Latin, Ancient Greek

Message 13 of 16

04 March 2009 at 6:31am | IP Logged

teddo wrote:

May I know why you want to learn Polish???

It'll be a waste of time, if you aren't going to live in Poland for more than a year or two....

I think that is a rather strange thing to say: nevertheless we all are entitled to our opinions.

If you live in the UK or Ireland at the moment you would do quite well with a knowledge of Polish as there are literally hundreds of thousands of Polish workers in the British Isles.
2 persons have voted this message useful

sprachefin
Triglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5744 days ago
300 posts - 317 votes

Speaks: German*, English, Spanish
Studies: French, Turkish, Mandarin, Bulgarian, Persian, Dutch

Message 14 of 16

05 March 2009 at 5:24am | IP Logged

I would highly consider not doing this. Those are both very hard languages and if they are your first, I suggest you
take a step back. As for myself, Finnish is a hard language, but Esperanto is very easy. It is a good balance and
since Finnish is so isolated, it is unlikely for confusion. Good luck, and if you are up to the challenge and have a lot
of time on your hands, go for it.

1 person has voted this message useful

icing_death
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5859 days ago
296 posts - 302 votes

Speaks: English*

Message 15 of 16

05 March 2009 at 4:03pm | IP Logged

The last 2 posts may have actually been useful 6 months ago.
1 person has voted this message useful

Juan M.
Senior Member
Colombia
Joined 5897 days ago
460 posts - 597 votes

Message 16 of 16

05 March 2009 at 5:46pm | IP Logged

teddo wrote:

I know, that lots of people often consider usefulness of language which they are going to learn. According to that, studying polish language isn't practical.

It is extremely practical in order to read Polish literature.

3 persons have voted this message useful

This discussion contains 16 messages over 2 pages: << Prev 1 2

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register

Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum

This page was generated in 0.5000 seconds.