Should you learn two languages at the same time? I'm going to share some of my thoughts
and experiences. Hi guys and welcome back to the channel! If you're new here my name is Connor and I
make videos about everything travel and languages. Over the past few years I've studied 5+
languages and taught English to dozens of students. If you've already seen a video or two, then you'll
notice that this one marks a big milestone for this channel--arguably bigger than hitting 80 subs.
That's right I got a big boy camera! Now this thing was supposed to be here last month but thanks to a
company that remained unnamed, it only got here this week. But enough talk about that, because
today I wanted to focus on a question that comes up fairly often in the language learning world.
That is, can you learn two languages at the same time? And if you can should you? Let's explore!
Assuming you're someone who'd like to eventually know 2+ foreign languages, which describes
most people studying a foreign language, then it makes sense why you'd want to study two at
the same time--since it conceivably speed up the whole process. And there's definitely arguments
to be made for each side. On one hand, learning two languages at the same time can be a quicker way
to get to an intermediate level in both of them, even if concentrating on one at a time would be
faster overall. And while intuition may lead you to believe that learning a 2nd and 3rd language
at the same time will hinder your progress overall, this might actually not be true--provided
you have enough time to dedicate to each of them. Researchers in China compared a group of college
students studying English with another group studying both English and Russian at the same time.
Their results found no significant differences between the English abilities of either group,
but did indicate a higher working memory capacity in the group that studied two languages.
On the other hand you're likely to experience one or more drawbacks if you study 2 languages at
the same time. First of all, learning one language, let alone two, requires a huge time commitment.
Since most people are not college language majors, it can be hard to find enough time to set aside
to learn two languages. This could lead to an inconsistent study schedule, a lack of motivation,
or even burnout. Inevitably, this means failing to make progress in either language. Furthermore, if
you're learning two closely related languages, like Spanish and Portuguese, then you'll likely mix them
up at one point or another. That said, learning two languages at the same time is something that can
be done. It might be harder for some people, for example, someone who's never studied a foreign
language before. But if you're committed to learning two languages at the same time,
I've found it best to use this method. After you've decided which two languages you want to learn,
pick the one you're most excited about and start studying it. Then, commit to that language until
you reach a low intermediate level. In other words, once you've graduated past introductory workbooks,
can work your way through a basic conversation, and can understand most of what you read and hear--
provided there's not too many difficult accents or advanced vocab words thrown in. Once you've gotten
to this point, then add the 2nd language into your routine. Staggering the start times of the
language as you study so you're only a beginner in one language at a time can be really beneficial
in the long term. It ensures that you're never studying the same concept or set of vocab words
at the same time in two different languages-- meaning that you're less likely to confuse them.
It also means that you'll use different resources for each language. This is important because it's a
lot easier to spend 30 minutes studying a German textbook and then go spend another 30 minutes
watching a Spanish tv show, compared to spending 30 minutes on a Spanish textbook after you've already
spent 30 minutes on a German one. Personally, I find the beginning stages of a language to be the most
demanding, since you see little reward for the effort that you're putting in. To illustrate this
point, you just need to think back to the example of reading a textbook versus watching a tv show.
Both will improve your language skills, but you'll have a lot more fun doing it by watching the tv
show compared to reading the textbook. However, obviously, you can't reach the point where you can
understand tv shows in a foreign language without first going over the basic concepts in a textbook.
If you're at this beginner stage in not one but both of the languages you're studying, then
it's going to be a lot harder to stay motivated and avoid burnout compared to concentrating on
clearing that beginner hurdle in one language first. Ultimately, if you're just learning a
language for fun, then I think it's most important to focus on whatever gives you the most enjoyment
and makes you happiest. You get no benefit from adding a second language to your routine
unless adding that second language actually makes the process more enjoyable. If you've enjoyed this
video, please hit that like button and let me know in the comments if you've ever tried studying two
languages at the same time. If you want to stay updated about future videos on travel languages,
go ahead and hit that subscribe button and click on the notification bell. Thanks for watching!