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Order of adding new languages | ||
Tags: Study Plan | Choosing a Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Maximus Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6566 days ago 417 posts - 427 votes  Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Thai | Message 1 of 12 09 May 2007 at 1:33pm | IP Logged |
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I would like to question the users of this forum regarding the order of new languages which are added to ones study time. Recently I have arrived to favor the study of only one language at a time, although I contradict myself when I admit that I study two. I just find it difficult to maintain equal amounts of dedication to both languages.
Back to the original point, with the assumption that one takes an approach of one intense dedication to a language before moving to the next pending language, in which order should one arrange their pending languages regarding difficulty? This is something that has occupied my mind recently. Should one first tackle the easy languages like those within the language families of their first foriegn language or mother tongue (Eg/Romance languages)? This may serve to get a few "quick kills" and consequently gain more languages as rapidly as possible. Moreover, this may be good for the learner, allowing him/her to feel more secure and to feel powerful due to the quantity of "quick kills" acquired. Or on the other hand, should a learner tackle difficult and "exotic" languages early in their language learning period of life? Although the wait until the achievement of fluency is much longer and the effort is much more arduous, should a person learn these early? To summerize, should a person acquire knowledge of "easier" languages or "safe options" first, or inversely? I just want to know your thoughts on this matter Thanks beforehand Luke 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Topsiderunner Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6735 days ago 215 posts - 218 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Italian, Arabic (Written) | Message 2 of 12 09 May 2007 at 2:35pm | IP Logged |
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I don't have any first hand experience, but many polyglots say that once
you learn roughly 5 languages, the process of learning new ones becomes much easier. Also, by learning an easier language(s) first, you have greater experience with various grammatical constructions, exotic sounds, and perhaps different scripts, so a completely different language will not seem so foreign. Obviously if a Western language speaker really wants to learn Arabic or Chinese they could start with that, but reaching a certain degree of fluency will probably take (much) longer than if they had already learned an easier language or two. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6726 days ago 4250 posts - 5710 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 12 09 May 2007 at 2:43pm | IP Logged |
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Romance language learning sequence might be to some help. Ardaschir has some good ideas (as usual). Page 2.
At the top of page 3 in Similarities romance languages I wrote this: Perhaps it would be a good idea to start with any language you find "difficult", knowing that everything will become much easier later on. I think there is a progression with better "discount". <side note> I don't follow this idea myself when studying languages, but when playing music (or rather practicing) I sometimes choose a challenging piece or even a "difficult" instrument. By practicing fiddle (a relatively "new" instrument for me), I don't "have to" practice mandolin or tenor banjo. You put the fingers in the same places, and on the fretted instruments you get the positions "for free". So, I prefer challenge. :) </side note> There are people who learn Latin in order to get other Romance languages "for free" (or at least at a discount) while others choose to learn Esperanto for the same reason. Edited by jeff_lindqvist on 09 May 2007 at 2:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| OneEye Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6667 days ago 518 posts - 784 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French | Message 4 of 12 09 May 2007 at 7:35pm | IP Logged |
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If your end goal is simply to know a lot of languages, then there may be
some merit to asking this question. But if you're learning languages for the purpose of using them at some point, learn them in whichever order makes the most functional sense. I'm going to China either next summer or the following summer, so I'm now devoting my study time to Mandarin because it makes more sense for me right now. It would probably be easier to "finish" Spanish first, but I'll have more use for Mandarin in the near future. It doesn't make sense to me to "program" your language learning like this unless you're simply learning for the sake of being able to say you can speak X languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6519 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 5 of 12 09 May 2007 at 10:08pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, I think it first depends on whether you're learning languages just to learn them or if you have a practical reason for learning them. If it's the latter, then you have time constraints based on your needs, and that's not worth discussing here.
If you're learning just to learn, I would suggest starting off with a relatively easy one. You're starting to learn not only a foreign language, but also how to study a foreign language efficiently, which is a separate skill. You're can experiment with different methods to see which ones work for you. Also, it will quickly give you a sense of accomplishment, a sense that you really can learn a foreign language, while more difficult ones might discourage you. After that, though, I would next try to do a more difficult language. Here, you're putting what you learned about studying languages to the test. You'll find that some of the things that worked with the first language don't work the same with the second, or perhaps you'll run into a new way of organizing your material or time. When you're done with that, you'll really feel a sense of accomplishment, since you'll know that you've done something difficult, something most of your countrymen probably have not. If the language you study is particularly difficult, you get the side benefit of easy languages feeling even easier because your study skills are much more efficient. After that, you can choose languages based on interest, but I would suggest leaving some easy language undone so you can have quick kills after you've struggled through a particularly difficult language. Studying an easier language, it's easier to have fun while doing it. This is actually the path that I followed. While I've played around with a lot of language, the first one I focused on was French, which I took for five years in high school. During college I wanted something more exotic, and got involved with Chinese, eventually coming to Taiwan for five years to study it. In the past year, I've been studying German, Russian and Indonesian, the first two of which I had studied briefly before. When I first encountered German, I thought it was quite difficult because of the grammar. After studying Chinese (and Russian), though, and getting a better sense of how I learn languages, German is a relative snap. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6520 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 12 10 May 2007 at 6:43am | IP Logged |
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The original question is only relevant if you choose to learn a lot of languages instead of focusing on a select few. Not all language learners know from the beginning that that is their goal. Besides, external factors will often play a part in the decision making process, - for instance you are forced to learn certain languages in school, and even if you can choose more freely later your surroundings will often make certain choices easier (and cheaper) than others. Even I haven't always followed my own advice.
But in general terms I would say: Learn English first, if it isn't your maternal language. It is the dominant international language whether you like it or not. Your first few languages will probably be dictated by the school system, but otherways learn a related language or two from your geographical neighbourhood, - in other words choose easy languages. Try to use self study even if you have a course to follow, because your further success as a polyglot in spe can't be based on courses alone, and you can use the first couple of easy languages to learn good study habits. Postpone unrelated exotic languages with weird writing systems until you have thoroughly learnt how to learn a language on your own. If standard classroom teaching is insufficient with easy languages, it will be even less useful with difficult languages. After the first 4-5 languages: start an easy language, then a 'difficult', after that another easy language and so forth. Don't start two difficult languages at the same time, but wait until the first has 'settled' in your mind. Always keep one one language on the work bench to remind you how it is to start learning a new language. Disclaimer: if your only goal in life is to learn Japanese or Arabic or Warlpiri then by all means start now, - the advice above is not meant for people who really want to learn a certain language, it's meant for people who want to cover a large number of languages without specializing in any one of them. Edited by Iversen on 10 May 2007 at 1:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6476 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 7 of 12 10 May 2007 at 12:13pm | IP Logged |
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I think it's best to start with a language you really want to learn. When I was very young, I had the opportunity to learn French--but no other language--so I picked it up again when I started high school. I didn't really remember much of the language, but it came back to me very quickly. I learned a great deal and the class was easy.
After I had a year of high school French, I added Spanish (in addition to French) because I heard it was easy and because I was able to find more to read and listen to in Spanish than French. I suspect the age when you learn a language matters at least as much as whether it's your first foreign language. If nobody has told you that Russian or Chinese or Arabic is difficult, you might not be as likely to be intimidated by it. When I got to college, I tried Russian. It was much more difficult and I dropped the class within a few weeks. It wasn't the writing system that was the problem, but difficult pronunciation and grammar. I think that if you study a few easier languages, you need to change gears when you are faced with a more challenging language. Edited by SamD on 11 May 2007 at 7:24am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Jerrod Senior Member United States Joined 6320 days ago 168 posts - 176 votes Studies: Russian, Spanish | Message 8 of 12 15 May 2007 at 2:12am | IP Logged |
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If ones language goals are to learn 2 or 3 entire families, how is it best to proceed? Do you first tackle one family and then move on? Do you choose the easiest from each or one easy then one hard?
The post above points to an Ardaschir thread on the Romance learning sequence and there is also another on the Slavic learning sequence (is there one on the Germanic languages?), in which he lays out the best course for learning the family. In another post he states that German and French should be first because of their wealth of learning materials. So for a native speaker of a Germanic, Romance, or Slavic language, the general consensus is to start with something very close to your native language. The question is, where do you go from there with the goal in mind of learning say 5 languages in each group? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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