Hey, it’s Luca! In today’s video I’m going to talk about
a question I’ve been asked by many MosaLingua users:
is it possible to learn two languages at the same time?
My answer? Coming up...
First things first, let’s get an answer to this question:
yes, it is possible to learn two languages at the same time.
But, in my opinion, the most important question is:
Is it a good idea? Is it effective?
The short answer: it really depends!
I won’t discourage you from learning two languages at the same time
I think it is absolutely possible
but if, and only if, you have three key factors:
First of all: TIME.
If you’re anything like me, you have a pretty packed schedule
and your life can sometimes be hectic.
Learning a language takes time. So if you want to learn 2 languages
you need to double your efforts.
Second: MOTIVATION.
I really believe that the fact that you’re even wondering
if it’s possible to learn two languages at the same time
is a good indicator that you do have what it takes.
But be careful.
It’s great to have tons of motivation right now,
but to reach your goals, you’ll need to keep it throughout the entire learning process.
If you don’t see the fast results you envisioned,
because your time and motivation are being split between two languages,
you may be tempted to give up on one
or both languages, and that would be a shame!
Third factor: ORGANIZATION
That’s right, good organizational
and time-management skills are really important
if you want to learn two languages at the same time!
Even if you have a lot of time on your hands,
you’ll need to be smart about how you split up your days and weeks
to include practice for both languages
and make small steps toward your goals.
If you have these three important cornerstones in place
let’s move on to the next step.
I want to share my tips for learning two languages at the same time with you.
First: Choose two languages which are not too similar
Learning two languages of the same family is not a good idea,
because you will inevitably mix up their vocabulary and grammar,
especially during the first 3 months of learning
and trust me, this period is really important for the learning process.
However, if you’ve mastered one language,
it will be much easier for you to learn a second language from the same family.
For this reason, I don’t recommend to learn these combinations of languages at the same time:
- Italian/Spanish/Portuguese/French and Romanian
- German/Dutch - Chinese/Korean
I was in a situation when I was learning Spanish and Romanian at the same time,
and let me tell you, I was constantly confusing the two,
especially when speaking and during the initial three-month period.
This was frustrating, and didn’t help my motivation.
My second tip: Ideally, learn one language which is
more difficult for you and another one which is easier for you.
This will make it easier to have progress in both languages
and we will explain you in a second why.
This is related to my third tip which is: Apply the Pareto principle
and dedicate 80% of your time to one language,
and 20% to the other language.
This way you could dedicate 80% of your time
to the more difficult language
and 20% to the easier language.
And then my 4th and final tip:
Plan your days and weeks to include practice for both languages
For instance, you could say that on Monday and on Wednesday
you work on one language
and on Tuesday and Thursday you work on the other language, and so one.
Like I've already said, solid time management skills are really key for successful language learning
So there you have it.
In any case, I hope you’ll consider learning one or 2 languages.
And before you go, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel
for more language learning advice. See you soon! Bye.