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Learning Languages Simultaneously | ||
Tags: Simultaneous study | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Kronos Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5047 days ago 186 posts - 452 votes  Speaks: German*, English | Message 41 of 77 22 May 2013 at 12:33am | IP Logged | ||
I think the questions raised in the original post were sensible, sooner or later someone had to raise them, and also very precise and well-formulated. These are vital points, and one of the great advantages of this forum is that such threads can be reactived even after years and new posters can come up sharing their experience or sometimes old posters who have meanwhile revised their earlier opinions. There will never be a consensus, because people, their goals and learning strategies are too different. There are those who focus on only one language, others who like to study 3-5 simultaneously, and quite a number of cases where people deal with about twenty languages, more or less at the same time, and with remarkable success. So we are speaking not only of moderate differences in learning styles, but sometimes these are of the scope of different dimensions altogether. Much depends on individual goals and where we are coming from. I am sitting here at my desk in the outskirts of some unremarkable town in Germany and haven't been really abroad for almost a decade. Most of the people around me don't even know that I am interested in foreign languages, nor would they care to know, so I better don't bother them. But if for some reason I would have to move to Spain or Mexico, my approach to languages would probably undergo some change. I love Spanish, and in that situation I would take every opportunity to live Spanish, breathe Spanish, and practice Spanish. I would also partake in the local culture, of which language is just one part. I guess that would divert me also from most of my bookish studies; maybe I would keep one language at a time as a balance, like French or Russian. It would be similar to what kujichagulia does right now. But since this is not the case and in the present phase of my life language learning is more of a desktop occupation and at best virtual interaction my priorities and my overall approach are different. This can always change, one never knows what the future will bring. In my present situation I find it more motivating to expose myself to a varied spectrum of languages and build the foundation in at least some of them. It is obvious that I will not reach an advanced level in any of them for many years to come, but I can always adjust and focus on just one if I want or need to. Another factor, and I see that this is a frequent potential source of mutual misunderstanding, is that here where I (and a lot of other posters) live people usually have to deal with several languages already in school and become more or less proficient in one, usually English, sometimes also either French or Spanish, at a relatively young age. This is so in many countries. Learning 2, 3 or 4 languages, even at the same time, is not deemed out-of-the-way at all, nor considered a feat. It is pretty normal and part of the school curriculum, so people are used to it if they still care about languages later on. Of course there are bad students and good students, but as with Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry they are just treated like entirely different subjects and don't get in the way of each other. As for me I agree with Iversen who once wrote that studying languages simultaneously is not that much a problem of mixing them up, but of time and focus. Either 1, 2 or 3 languages at a time are manageable, but beyond that it becomes increasingly difficult to organize them and your progress in each of them will be slowed down considerably. But then again, it depends on your capability and goals. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6383 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 42 of 77 22 May 2013 at 1:39am | IP Logged | ||
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Excellent post!!! Can it be quoted in a wikia article? :)
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4633 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 43 of 77 22 May 2013 at 2:07am | IP Logged | ||
This is a bit off topic, but I second this. It has come to the point where I look forward to what Serpent is going to tweet next! I don't know if that makes me a bit weird or not, but it is what it is. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4633 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 44 of 77 22 May 2013 at 2:12am | IP Logged | ||
It seems pretty clear on this Wikipedia page. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6383 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 45 of 77 22 May 2013 at 2:18am | IP Logged | ||
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Aw, thank you *__________*
Many of my tweets shouldn't even make sense to you two? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4633 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 46 of 77 22 May 2013 at 2:23am | IP Logged | ||
The football ones do. :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5318 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 47 of 77 22 May 2013 at 3:04am | IP Logged | ||
Oh, I admit I usually have no idea what you're talking about. :-) But your enthusiasm for the game and the players is obvious, and I sometimes imagine you following football games in 6 languages and possibly even yelling at the television in either frustration or glee. Or at least that's image in my head after following your Twitter account! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6383 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 48 of 77 22 May 2013 at 3:24am | IP Logged | ||
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hehe :) i normally watch things online, even when something's on tv i find a foreign stream on my laptop :)
and that's an important way to make room for more language learning. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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