Learning a foreign language may seem daunting at first, but if you’re motivated enough it can be done.
But what about learning two or more languages at once?
While undertaking a new language, you may have discovered an interesting language that caught your attention. And you couldn’t wait until you’ve mastered the first and just want to begin with the new one.
The question is, should you bother juggling them all at once?
Yes, you can learn languages simultaneously especially if you’re motivated to learn and are having fun. However, it’s not recommended if your goal is to become fluent faster in one language because you only end up dividing your attention. Ultimately, it depends on your learning goals for your target languages.
There are pros and cons to multitasking several foreign languages, which are based on what I’ve observed for myself and through other language learners, plus I got a little help from the books and experts I’ve read and listened to so far.
If you’re planning to take on multiple languages (or you’re already doing it), this post can help guide you through the process.
Why You Can Learn Multiple Languages at Once
If you ask me what I think, I’d be slightly inclined to favor multiple language learning instead of focusing one at a time.
While some of you may argue how terrible this strategy is, here are reasons why it might make sense to you:
Reason #1: You’re Learning Languages to Have Fun
While dabbling in seven languages might not help you achieve fluency, if you enjoy learning all of them then just keep doing it.
You might want to say I love you in Mandarin, count 1 to 10 in Spanish, or learn the Korean alphabet within 2 hours. But if you have no reason to double down on any of these languages, then juggling them is definitely possible.
If you treat language learning as a hobby, then it shouldn’t feel like work or some serious sport you have to win because hey – it’s a hobby!
And besides, no matter how little of a progress you make, the fact that you learned them already guarantees knowledge in your brain. If you ever find an interesting language in the process, you can go beyond just dabbling and deeply focus on it.
But if nothing interests you, then it’s easier to quit and move on to the next hobby.
Reason #2: You Have a Great and Supportive Environment
Environment plays a huge role in whatever you do in life, and that includes language learning.
While focusing may be hard if you have several languages to learn, it could be less difficult if you have friends speaking in your target languages.
If you have a French neighbor and a Japanese-loving friend whom you meet regularly, they could help inspire you in your language learning journey. They don’t even have to support you literally, you just need to have them around because subconsciously, they can already influence your thinking.
But if your foreign speaking friends are willing to help out, then you could accumulate exposure just by practicing with them. What you lack in focus on one language, you make up through the effectiveness of your learning method (direct experience).
Reason #3: Your Target Languages Are Related to One Another
Languages are not islands. They often interact with one another.
A lot of Chinese characters are present in both Japanese and Korean. Furthermore, both Japanese and Korean follow the same grammar structure (Subject-Object-Verb).
For those who are native or fluent in English, you’re lucky since a lot of foreign languages borrow words from English (and vice versa). You can get a head start on two or more languages if you start with these loan words.
The key to multitasking your chosen languages is for them not to veer off too much from each other. It starts by first researching your target languages and identifying their key characteristics so that you avoid conflict when learning them all.
Reason #4: You Just Want to Maintain Languages You Already Know
When starting out on an unfamiliar language, it takes a lot of cognitive effort to process information and get through the initial struggle.
It’s called the learning curve, and it’s an exponential curve that feels linear at first. When you stick through it, there will come a point where it takes less effort to maintain the language in your head.
When your plan is simply to maintain current languages that you know, then it’s possible to accommodate more than one of these languages at a time.
You might also introduce a new language provided the other languages are already at a sufficient level so you can just maintain them regularly.
The key here is that your brain and working memory are limited at any given time, and you should accommodate only what’s humanely possible at the moment.
Reason #5: You’re Burnt Out And Want to Take a Break
There are times when you just want to remove something off your mind for a while and take a breather. If focusing too much on a single language becomes a struggle, then you can always entertain an extra language or two to add into the mix.
Sometimes, the breaks you take from studying your target language can be beneficial and it’s not always about staying focused all the time. This “focusing and resting cycle” is essential if you wish to reap the full rewards of learning a language.
Our brain employs two modes of thinking to tackle any large task: the focused and the diffused mode. When I first learned about this, I realized how important it is to take breaks in between and one shouldn’t underestimate the benefits that resting provides.
That said, you may want to tone down your language study for your main language by way of either passive listening, studying vocabulary, or a light dose of grammar study, all while engaging in several new languages. You might find it a fun experience.
Why Learning Multiple Languages Will Not Work
That being said, the case is strong against simultaneous language learning and it’s usually recommended to focus on languages one at a time, especially by the top language learning influencers on the Web.
Reason #1: Focus Works Wonders On ONE Thing
In order to get the most out of life, you need to focus on one goal at a time, which includes achieving your language learning goals.
Having multiple languages at a time dilutes your focus in all of them. You receive a context switching penalty whenever you switch between languages, which consumes a lot of precious time from your sessions.
You could be building momentum on a single language to achieve great progress. But it requires making sacrifices and being willing to delay other target languages until you’ve mastered the first one.
Many famous online polyglots achieved their status by learning a language one at a time instead of simultaneously. They took the time to get one language to a high level, then when they’re done that’s the only time they’d move on to the next.
Reason #2: Time Spent On Your Languages is Lessened
No matter what learning hack you’ve discovered in order to learn a language fast, fact remains that you have to receive massive input to achieve fluency.
If you had 100 hours to study two target languages, the tendency is to allocate 50-50 on both to learn them at the same time. However, you’d be better off putting everything in just one language and learning the other at a later time.
Simply put, it’s a numbers game.
You can’t cheat the number of hours spent immersing on a language because in essence, you are learning a skill. You use parts of your body (i.e. your ears, mouth, brain) to develop that skill just like you would when learning to ride a bicycle or play the piano. You practice and practice until one day it becomes automatic and effortless.
That depth of mastery will take longer to achieve if you split your time between several languages, unless you’re in it for the long run.
Reason #3: Your Target Languages Can Interfere With One Another
Juggling languages is challenging because you have to organize the knowledge from every language you’re learning. Or else you end up conflicting them.
What if you come across a foreign word but can’t remember where you learned it from? What if that word sounds similar to a previous language you know and you made a connection in your brain, but realize that what you’ve connected is wrong?
What if you simultaneously learn languages where one follows a Subject-Verb-Object format and another follows a Subject-Object-Verb format? You now have to switch between the two more frequently, which can be a hassle.
While it’s normal for multilinguals to confuse words or sentences from different languages, I don’t recommend going through that struggle early on in a new language. I’d rather strengthen one new connection in my brain first instead of trying to fit in two connections at the same time.
I’d rather chew something small than gobble up something large but end up choking from it.
Reason #4: Breakthroughs Are Made One At A Time
Any form of learning requires some struggle in the beginning, which eventually gets easier over time with persistence and focus.
Same goes for acquiring languages. Progress usually comes as a result of early struggles that one commits to braving through. No one – not even your favorite polyglots – could get away with this fact of life.
Therefore, if your focus is scattered across several target languages, overcoming struggles becomes much harder because some aspects of language require a large push in order to make breakthroughs – just like pushing a snowball towards the cliff and letting it fall from there.
I often have a hard time when it comes to immersive listening in Korean, especially since the conversations in the podcasts are fast and fluid and I couldn’t dissect them easily into parts.
It’s not like I can predict when I would get a breakthrough. But because I stayed in the language for a while, it gradually became easier to hear since I partnered it with some vocabulary and grammar study.
All these efforts focused on a specific struggle in my target language (listening in Korean), which is why I think I was able to make progress.
Reason #5: If You Have a Serious Goal, Juggling Languages is a Distraction
For practical reasons, if you want to accomplish fluency with a language in less time because you might need to use the language (such as working abroad or taking a test), then obviously you need to prioritize that language.
You want to use the most effective learning tools, techniques, and teachers teaching that language to get you to your goal in less time.
With this in mind, any other language you’re learning would just take you away from your goal. This is where it’s a bad idea to multitask languages.
Because you see, focus is not just about fixing your eyes on the prize. It’s also about saying no to things that don’t contribute to your goal.
What Can You Do to Juggle Languages Successfully?
Studying more than one language at a time is doable. You shouldn’t let this article get in the way of pursuing your favorite languages because no rule is set in stone.
That said, you want to set lower expectations depending on how much time and effort you’re willing to spend on a target language. Don’t pretend like you’re a superhuman who can juggle 10 new languages at once.
It helps to do upfront research before starting on your chosen languages. You want to learn:
- The nature of the languages
- Their similarities and differences
- The most frequent vocabulary and grammar
- The best tools, resources, and experts in every language
For this, the Internet is your friend. Search for articles, videos, and podcasts just like you would when deciding to learn a new skill or hobby.
Once you’ve started in your language learning journey, make sure to take it easy and pace yourself well. In a typical session, you should focus only on one language because you can always switch to another in a different session.
And when you start confusing between languages, realize that it’s totally fine. Polyglots often struggle with managing their known languages to the extent that they sometimes mix them up. It’s more of a good sign because that means you have a lot going on in your mind.
The Final Choice: To Multitask or Laser Focus?
Most people are concerned about optimizing everything in life. In language learning, that might mean finding the best productivity or study hack in order to get the most from their learning time.
However, the way I see it, it’s not always the way forward that you should go for the most effective techniques in life. More like, it has to be “specific” and “suitable” to your lifestyle.
If you can’t laser focus on one language, it doesn’t mean you won’t progress. Simultaneous language learning fits well for those people who aren’t ready yet to commit to one thing or are just testing the waters.
Many factors influence which method would work best for you. For myself, I find that my preference changes with time. At times I want to just focus on one language (Korean) but sometimes I let my mind wander in Mandarin Chinese and practice noticing Chinese characters.
The key is to become experimental – try things out and see whichever works best for you.
Which do you prefer, multitasking or laser focusing languages? Let me know in the comments.
