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Advice for first attempt at two languages | ||
Tags: Simultaneous study | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5500 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 25 of 33 21 September 2011 at 11:21am | IP Logged | |||||
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What advice would people give for activities to maintain the language not being studied?
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| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4944 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 26 of 33 21 September 2011 at 11:52am | IP Logged | |||||
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Anything you can get your hands on and ideally consider fun, Elexi.
Depends on your level as well. If you are maintaining a language at at least basic fluency, it is easy to find a novel or tv series or something like this to enjoy. For an intermediate or higher-beginner it is quite hard to find something which would be neither too high above the level nor a textbook. But it is not hopeless, there are news podcasts for learners, graded readers and such things which can be used both for learning and maintenence. Of course best maintanence would be speaking, as I am sure someone would probably point out and be completely right, but it is not always possible. Just do what you like and enjoy what you have learnt. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4824 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 27 of 33 21 September 2011 at 10:52pm | IP Logged | |||||
My original goal was to push my French to a high enough level where I could maintain it, and then start Arabic and Spanish. It took a lot longer to get my French to that level than I thought it would - and I still don't know if I'm there. I figured it was better to focus on French alone for a few more months. In another two weeks I think I'll be ready to move the French to the background (i.e. watch French movies, read French graphic novels, but don't actually study it) and re-start Spanish. I'm taking more the long view of Arabic. I'm not going to learn it in six weeks, so I'll just steadily plug away at improving my reading. Edited by kanewai on 21 September 2011 at 10:56pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| VityaCo Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 7016 days ago 79 posts - 86 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, Ukrainian*, English Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French | Message 28 of 33 27 September 2011 at 5:14am | IP Logged | |||||
appreciate it. I totally understand you. I am still working on my English, especially - pronunciation and spelling. Also, I am learning French and I have Spanish, Modern/old Greek, Hebrew/Arabic in a line. I am going to study 3 hours a day 7 days a week for about 6 months a language and an hour of English a day and a little longer for Hebrew/Arabic, maybe 8 - 10 moths each. I was needed to publicize this commitment somewhere and I was moved by your response. Let see how it will go in three years from now. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| VityaCo Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 7016 days ago 79 posts - 86 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, Ukrainian*, English Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French | Message 29 of 33 27 September 2011 at 5:20am | IP Logged | |||||
I would strongly recommend to make a calendar go over your study materials irregular over and over again to put it in your deep memory. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4824 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 30 of 33 07 November 2011 at 10:15am | IP Logged | |||||
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Six weeks on, and my advice re: my own question would be: Don't Do It!
Of course, I'm still going to bang my head against the wall and attempt it again. But there were challenges beyond the ones that I was expecting. From the top: 1. Two 20" sessions does not equal 40". That twenty minutes you think you're studying doesn't include prep time, and cool down time, and stare off into space time. You also need a gap between the two languages, you can't just switch on a dime. And that 20" session you think you are doing with Assimil is probably a bit longer. Those two 20" sessions probably takes 90"! 2. You miss out on processing time - those times when you're not studying, but when your target language is still bouncing around in your head. Maybe you recall the latest drill or conversation, maybe you have a couple thoughts in the target language. This is an important part of learning. It doesn't seem to happen much when you are studying two languages. 3. You get stuck on the humps. You reach a hard lesson or concept, and know that you are going to have to spend a bit more time or brain power on it to get over it. With two languages, the odds are that you'll hit these humps simultaneously quite often. And then you'll have to put one language aside while you struggle with the other. 4. Or, you might end up putting both of them aside. I can always find time for a twenty-minute half-assed lesson. I can come home dead tired, and rally to read just a little bit. But when I have two lessons waiting for me? It's harder to rally, and quite often I ended up doing neither. I lost momentum. I thought doing two languages meant that I would halve my progress in each, but still make progress. Not true. I did make progress, but at a frustratingly slow snail's pace. I'm still going to attempt multiple languages, now ... I'm hard headed that way. But when I do I might try and alternate them: a month of one, a month of the other, and see how that goes. Edited by kanewai on 07 November 2011 at 5:55pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6485 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 31 of 33 07 November 2011 at 4:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
Dead men wear plaid.
The most common advice on this forum, regardless of some posts in this thread, is to stagger them. I recommend against your alternation plan. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| fomalhaut Groupie United States Joined 4838 days ago 80 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 32 of 33 07 November 2011 at 5:21pm | IP Logged | |||||
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what about one primary language and another to familiarise yourself with?
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