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Is it wise to learn 2 languages at 1 time | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| DevonAero Newbie United States Joined 3963 days ago 34 posts - 38 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 19 18 June 2013 at 5:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Alright guys I need some opinions. I'm planning a trip to Brazil next year for the World
Cup and want to be conversational in Brazilian Portuguese. Now, from what I know. Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish are quite similar. However, I don't want to pause my Spanish studies, because I'll fall too far behind. Also I'm a complete beginner if it helps. So would it be counter-productive to learn both at the same time? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4730 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 2 of 19 18 June 2013 at 7:07am | IP Logged | ||
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In this case yes, I'm afraid to say. But then if you are really really good at compartmentalizing perhaps not.
But usually being a beginner in Spanish AND Portuguese is not a good mix. Your brain will not be able to separate the two because it has no frame of reference to do so (that being, either one language or the other is so ingrained in you that your mind can tell the difference mostly automatically). Remember starting to speak a new language consumes more than enough brain power: learning and using the grammar correctly, getting the pronunciation right, using the Germane vocabulary, the correct preposition, the appropriate articles, the pertinent verb endings, the suitable tenses... Your mind will be spinning just on all that, now add a very closely related language and to be honest you are asking for failure. ALL THAT SAID... YOU HAVE TIME! You can learn either language to a good enough level in a year that this interference won't conspire anymore against you. What I would do is learn Spanish now and HARD, give it you all, for about 6-8 months. If you really really work hard, you can be at a B1 level and that's the point where learning a related language starts to become not so dangerous anymore. Focus on Spanish from now till early next year... then hit Portuguese next year and ride it all the way to your trip to Brazil, which will set you up nicely for some great immersion which will consolidate your fresh new language. You won't need as much time learning Portuguese because you will get a huge discount from your Spanish grammar and vocabulary knowledge (it would be the same the other way around), so you won't need to study nearly as much, it will seem just like reviewing Spanish except for a few but important differences which you can focus on. The other thing you would focus on then is pronunciation. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6378 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 3 of 19 18 June 2013 at 9:10am | IP Logged | ||
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Passive skills don't cause interference, in my experience. Start Portuguese now, but don't try to speak it, just learn to understand. Watch football online in Portuguese, that's how I learned most of my Spanish ;) Listen to music, on youtube and lyricstraining. Don't think of your trip just yet. Do A LOT of listening. When your Spanish is better, start learning to speak and write in Portuguese.
Alternatively, take a break from Spanish. Portuguese will keep it alive in your brain so it won't be that hard to pick back up what you've learned by now. It makes a huge difference whether you stop language learning altogether or focus on a different language. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4488 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 4 of 19 18 June 2013 at 9:59am | IP Logged | ||
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The only way to know is to find out.
It never bothers me personally. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Fasulye Heptaglot Winner TAC 2012 Moderator Germany fasulyespolyglotblog Joined 5628 days ago 5460 posts - 6006 votes 1 sounds Speaks: German*, DutchC1, EnglishB2, French, Italian, Spanish, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Danish, Norwegian, Turkish Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 19 18 June 2013 at 10:15am | IP Logged | ||
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It depends on which level your Spanish already is. If you have an intermediate level in Spanish, you could start with Portuguese as well. But if your Spanish is still on some kind of beginner level, there is a big risk that will mix up both languages.
Fasulye Edited by Fasulye on 18 June 2013 at 10:16am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| anime Triglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6141 days ago 161 posts - 207 votes Speaks: Spanish, Swedish*, English Studies: German, Portuguese, French, Russian | Message 6 of 19 18 June 2013 at 1:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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Even if you mix them up though it probably isn't a big deal since it's my understanding brazilian people are
used to "portuñol" 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5043 days ago 2237 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 7 of 19 18 June 2013 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Is it a good idea to learn both Spanish and Portuguese at the same time, as a complete beginner? In a word, no. The World Cup is a year from now! In that time your Spanish could be at a high level that would be quite useful for you. Then, you could get a really good phrasebook and start studying it a month or so before you go to Brazil. You could leverage your knowledge of Spanish to advance quite quickly in Portuguese and be able to communicate on a basic level. I'd recommend the book "Como dizer tudo em espanhol".
Of course this is dependent upon you reaching a high level of Spanish in the next 11 months. Which is totally doable. DevonAero, didn't you just ask about reaching B-1 in Spanish in three months? That is a majorly ambitious plan in itself for your first second language. It's not impossible but it would take all of your concentration and effort. You can forget that if you're going to try to learn Portuguese at the same time. Kiss it goodbye. So why not just stick to your original plan? Ratchet down your excitement over learning both. Portuguese isn't going anywhere. Portuguese will still be there after you reach a high level in Spanish, provided that you really give Spanish your best shot with no digressions and focus on achieving your goal. Either that or just quit Spanish and switch to Portuguese right now. You can pick back up on Spanish later. My best advice is to buckle down on one language and leverage that one towards the other. Edited by iguanamon on 18 June 2013 at 3:33pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4730 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 8 of 19 18 June 2013 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | ||
That is true, but I guess the question is does the OP just want to have conversations or learn the languages properly? If it's the former fine, if it's the latter, there is no language called "portuñol". That's why in my response I didn't say it was impossible, since some people swear that they can learn two very close languages from zero and not have interference. I never have had interference in any of my languages except for some odd "oui" when speaking German or "ja" when speaking French :o, but never actually mixed words. And since I natively speak Spanish, I never have interference with Portuguese. The only "interference" is not overt but that which is typical to all learners: native language "calque" of phrases or patterns into the language you are learning instead of using patterns of the target language. That is technically interference, not at the vocabulary level. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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