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Anyone learned 5+ new languages? | ||
Tags: Simultaneous study | Beginner | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Kronos Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5261 days ago 186 posts - 452 votes  Speaks: German*, English | Message 25 of 38 17 July 2012 at 3:36am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I'm no multitasking genius, but I have been intending just that - learning 10 languages, Assimil-based. Since these are still only intentions and have not become reality yet, I didn't want to post about it, but now there is this thread. Here is my lab report. After taking stock of all the languages I am interested in I decided to cut out all non-European languages for many years to come. And in the European list I kept only those that are most important to me as well as some others that I want to know at least to an intermediate level. Thus the remaining list consists of ten languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese; Swedish, Dutch; Russian, Polish; Greek; Turkish. Several of them are interrelated, and I am mainly learning for passive knowledge in the first place, which makes things easier. So how to go about it? I am a language learning material hoarder, and taking stock of my collection I realised that I have Assimil courses, including the quirky old ones, for almost all of these languages. I love Assimil, and I guess it's the only system I would dare to start multiple languages with right from scratch simultaneously. So I first sifted through the courses, organised the audio and put it all into my mp3 player. Then I read a lot in this forum regarding pro and con learning languages simultaneously; I also retrieved Prof. Arguelles' old postings on favorable language learning sequences, time management and how to make optimal use of Assimil. I also found a lot of other useful posts, like those of fanatic (Bill Handley) and other posters. Finally I decided to simply attempt all ten languages at once, just give it a try, it won't hurt, and if it didn't work, cut as many as necessary from the set and go on with the rest, rather than the other way round. These are the results: I realised at once that such a heavy schedule is overtaxing my brain considerably. What is more important, some of the languages interfered with others to such a degree that I found the experience rather confusing than helpful. I had to stop Italian and Portuguese right at once because they interfered with Spanish and French, and Polish because for a newbie it almost sounds like Russian. Seven languages remaining, but I had an uneasy feeling with Dutch since it remotely sounds like Swedish, and I had to cancel Greek too, because it does not go along well with Russian, and starting the Greek and Cyrillic alphabets simultaneously is nothing I would wish for. Five languages remaining, but with those five there is hardly any interference, at least not for me, and I may try to learn those simultaneously. Spanish, French and Russian is a wonderful combination if done with Assimil, this should be feasible at any rate, and Swedish and Turkish I could do too, provided that I have sufficient time and energy left for several hours of study each day. So my projected route would be as follows: Starting with Sp, Fr, Ru, and if possible also Sw and Tu. Adding Dutch and Greek only after I got a sound foothold in Sw and Ru. Adding Italian only after at least a year of studying Sp and Fr. Adding Portuguese and Polish only after 'completing' Spanish and Russian, respectively. This is about the best sequence I can think of and which also takes into account my individual preferences (except Italian I can include all the languages that matter most to me already in the first set, and I get Turkish as a sort of bonus - which doesn't hurt since next to German and English it is possibly the one most often heard in the area where I live). Time factor: I did only the front matter and first couple of lessons with each course, but I would say that working at 3-5 languages at once in this manner would take about two hours a day at least, though preferably 3-4 hours, but at least one hour of reviewing on 'bad' days. After finishing a course (takes at least half a year) it might be wise to go over it once again and do additional exercises and work with other textbooks, and afterwards work through at least one more Assimil course for the same language, either one from a different generation or preferably their 'Using X' courses wherever these exist. Theoretically, the learning phase of those 10 languages would be 'finished' after about 3-5 years, depending on how much effort one puts into it. This is already express train speed, and I'm not sure if one could or should condense this schedule even further. Again, I am learning for passive use in the first place, though active command would be desirable for some of the languages at least. I don't have any 'practical' reasons for learning at the present time, which can be a boon but may at times also be somewhat demotivating. I also have dabbled in French and Spanish repeatedly in the past and sometimes get the gist when I hear someone talking in those languages. I can't judge the quality of the Assimil courses before using them extensively, but I can confirm that the 1971 Russian course is absolutely fascinating and chock-full of content. I find the Turkish course (a recent one) also outstanding, and I have an old 1949 course 'La Pratique d'Espagnol', prepared for Assimil by a noted linguist, which is massive and the forerunner to 'Using Spanish'. The old courses btw are REALLY old; no matter what the copyright notes say, several of these courses (like the ones for Spanish and Italian) are actually from the 1930s, some are from the 1940s, and a few (Russian and Portuguese) from the early 50s. Some of them remained in print until 1990 or so. The old one for Greek is from the 60s. So for some of these courses it will make sense to complement them with newer material, but still I don't think that the language presented even in the earliest courses is outdated (I don't learn them for the latest slang) except appearing a bit old-fashioned, but that's rather funny. For almost all of these courses there have been German editions, and I have them. So that's my admittedly utopian schedule for going about learning these ten languages. I have plenty of other material apart from the Assimil, or will get hold of it as I need it. Relying on too much material though, no matter how excellent it is, can also be slowing down and frustrating, therefore I rather go through the Assimil courses as thoroughly as possible and use other materials as a supplement. When I have a foothold in those languages I will switch to reading native materials or do other things. Learning French, Spanish and Russian simultaneously in this manner should be possible at any rate, but whether I really manage to be successful with the larger schedule as outlined above depends on my future employment situation and the extent I get over my chaotic sleeping habits. Both time-intensive daily working for a living and at the other end of the spectrum financial pressure and all kinds of stress due to being unemployed or not earning sufficiently is not conducive to regular intensive language learning. And I don't think going through new Assimil lessons in overcrowded trains during rush hours is all that satisfying and successful. What I simply need is at least two hours a day, preferably more, of being fully awake and focused which I can devote to learning, getting immersed in the courses, and also the stamina and composure to stick with a routine. Just now, as a preparation, I am content with doing basic writing exercises in Cyrillic script (there are a lot of useful Youtube videos out there) and getting a good introduction into the Swedish pronunciation. As for the rest I will see what the future will bring. Edited by Kronos on 17 July 2012 at 4:43am 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Kronos Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5261 days ago 186 posts - 452 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 26 of 38 17 July 2012 at 4:30am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I have been quite easygoing about life and the future until about the age of thirty when I gradually realised that for most people daily job life, frequent moves, relationship troubles, family etc. constantly put so much pressure on them that only a strong motivation and determination would enable them to eke out at least an hour or two for something like language study. It's not only the time limits but the fact that many people have become irredeemable nervous wrecks by then, or their available energy exhausted each day, for some reason or other. 2 or 3 languages for the average, middle-aged person? Possibly, but that's the upper limit and only few will really do it or stay with it. As you indicate, they may have to let go of most TV hours or make use of their train rides. Moreover, family or other people may also consider them outright crazy or try to talk them out of it. I absolutely support your decision to have selected a relatively fixed assortment of languages and started studying them so early. If you go on learning for a couple more years, and making some of these languages really come alive, eventually no one can take them from you anymore, even if you should have only limited time in the future. They can always be resuscitated. I am always surprised when I see how many people have a general idea what to do with their lives even before they are twenty. At that age I was nothing but a daydreamer. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| ZombieKing Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4527 days ago 247 posts - 324 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* | Message 27 of 38 17 July 2012 at 7:14am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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My father :)
He speaks many languages at basic fluency, and about four or five at advanced fluency. English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and French are his five strongest languages. English is his native language, but his Mandarin is almost native I'd say. He used to speak Hebrew fluently, but not anymore. When I asked him about his Hebrew he says that because he hasn't used it in so long, he'd have to brush up on it quite a bit to do anything more than casual conversation and reading/writing. He speaks Taiwanese quite well actually too, I'm not sure if he has advanced fluency in it or not. I'll have to ask him how good he is in it. There are some other languages which he has studied before, but none I'd say are beyond a high intermediate level from what he's told me. He learned all his languages over the course many many years. And he studied linguistics in university, so I guess that could be one of the reasons for his success. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5334 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 28 of 38 17 July 2012 at 8:44am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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@ Kronos: Of all the 0 to 10 stories I have seen so far on the forum, you seem the most likely to succeed,
though I still think it is an almost impossible feat. I see however that you have learned English to a high level, so that you know what learning a foreign language entails. I have two questions for you: What time frame are you foreseeing, and how can we here on the forum help you? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4889 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 29 of 38 17 July 2012 at 9:01am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Close! I've thought it would be fun to have an "Assimil from Scratch" challenge, where people pick one (not ten!) brand new language & see how it goes. But maybe next year. As for ten at once: I haven't seen it. In college I had friends take Latin, Ancient Greek, and Russian at once; I think that's the most I've seen. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5395 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 30 of 38 20 July 2012 at 3:04am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Wow, I read that and just laughed. Is that a challenge, emk? :-) Kronos, you have almost the exact same list of languages as I do. German instead of Dutch, but. . . Hey, wait. Those are all the languages I signed up for the Super Challenge. Times seven, so far. I love Assimil. I am an Assimil weirdo. I kid you not, I have Spanish x2, French x2, Italian, German, Russian, Croatian, and Turkish on my desk right now. And I have Perfectionnement Italien, Czech, Hungarian, Greek, Polish, Bulgarian and Japanese sitting on the shelf behind me. I started out six strong at the beginning of the year. I finished French with Ease and Spanish with Ease, and I'm working on the Advanced ones now. I'm working on Italian with Ease and German with Ease. I usually do three of the four every day. (Well, I try to, anyways!) My Portuguese course should be coming in the mail soon (Swedish, too). By the end of the summer, I want to be done with the Spanish and French, and be finished with Italian with Ease and start Perfectionnement Italien. I plan to start Portuguese sometime in the next month or two, if it shows up soon (damn back orders!). I will either start Russian or restart Croatian once I have finished the Spanish. I might try both, if my brain can handle it. I find it helpful with the Romance languages to compare them. It helps me learn. I have made a lot of progress the past six months in the four languages I have focused on. Being a single mom and working full-time, there is no way I could focus on more than three or four a day. If I didn't have anything other than languages to do in life, I might be able to do five or six, but my brain couldn't handle any more than that. That all being said, as to Cristina's original inquiry - I was not a complete beginner in all of them at the same time. My Spanish was at about a B1 level to start, and I had studied (to varying degrees) some French and Italian, too. My French might have been a A2 at the beginning of the year. My Spanish is good enough to read easy books (Harry Potter, etc) and understand most of it, but it is nowhere near fluent. And I'm not a success story yet. :-) Besides which, I'm only working on four, and three of them are cousins! Another thing worth mentioning is that I am learning all of my languages primarily for passive understanding and for reading. Eventually I would like to be able to speak and produce them all, but that is not my primary goal. I have found with Spanish and French that the more I understand, the more I can produce. Perhaps I am misguided, but I think that will come later - at least in the way I approach learning. And one final thought: You have to be highly motivated to get to any type of proficiency in a foreign language. (Um, I think most of you know that, right?) To make that commitment to more than one mistress, and keep that commitment, requires a lot of dedication and motivation. I honestly don't know if I would be as dedicated to all of my languages if I didn't have the Super Challenge as a long-term goal in mind. In all reality, it's unlikely I will finish all seven (well, eight, once I start Portuguese) by the end of next year, but I will finish them. That goal gives me something very specific to work towards, something I can see how far I've come, how far I need to go yet, and what I need to work on. Now, someone who is reading this is 2014, bump the thread and ask me how far I got. And Kronos, too. :-)
Oh Cristina, you wound me. :-)
If you pick Catalan, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Czech, Bulgarian, Greek, Hungarian, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish or Japanese, I'm in for next year. :-) But only one of them! Edited by Kerrie on 20 July 2012 at 3:11am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 31 of 38 20 July 2012 at 3:45am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I thought the idea was that you can choose any language as long as you're starting from scratch? :D
I might do Swedish... or is it only available via French? (oh no....... oh no.) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Kronos Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5261 days ago 186 posts - 452 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 32 of 38 20 July 2012 at 5:25am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Hei Cristina! Thank you for being so kind of offering help and nudging me forward. :) I can offer no definite time frame, since it depends on whether I have 1-2 hours a day at my disposal, or twice the amount. In the latter case I would say 3-5 years, otherwise longer. How can the forum help me? I had a look at the TAC concept, but this is organised by calendar year and language(s), my project doesn't really fit in just now. But maybe this would be something for the future. As kanewai and emk suggested, a challenge for say, people learning multiple languages with Assimil, or one from scratch. As a "team" this challenge could become part of the TAC in future years. Having several Assimil learners posting within the same group would be just great for collective interchange and sharing experience on using the same learning method and line of materials. I think for now I will just start my own log and see if I will really be able to do what I intend in the first place. If by the end of the year a TAC Assimil team should materialise and I am still on my insane project, I could possibly join with my own log without disrupting the challenge concept. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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