Practicing one language improving other languages

[sporedandroid]

I remember that back when I was studying Icelandic it seemed like I found it easier to understand other dialects in Spanish. Before studying Icelandic I had trouble with dialects that were too foreign to me.

[Iversen]

This is actually a quite clever observation, and I think you are right. Studying one language is like training a mental 'language awareness muscle', and the strength of that power can in principle be applied to other languages and dialects. Sometimes you can also learn things in one language that can be directly applied to another language - like a sound from language A which reminds you of something that is found in some, but not all dialects of language B. Or recurring sentence patterns. But the general 'muscle training' is probably more important if the languages aren't very closely related -as with Icelandic versus Spanish.

Here in the Nordic countries it is generally assumed that the Norwegians are better at understanding Danish and Swedish than the other two nationalities are at understanding each other. Part of the explanation could be the Norwegians proudly speak a bewildering array of dialects, and that makes them more flexible in understanding the vagaries of other languages.

Another slightly related observation is that it sometimes helps to take a short pause with a language - and then return to it. I have observed that when I do this then I feel like I'm coming home when I return to language B, and my bad conscience is immediately relieved of an embarassing burden. And when you feel happy you are more likely to learn.

[golyplot]

Sometimes I suspect the pause effect is just because after a break you go from being disappointed at the things you don't understand to being amazed at the things you still do understand.

[sporedandroid]

This is actually a quite clever observation, and I think you are right. Studying one language is like training a mental 'language awareness muscle', and the strength of that power can in principle be applied to other languages and dialects. Sometimes you can also learn things in one language that can be directly applied to another language - like a sound from language A which reminds you of something that is found in some, but not all dialects of language B. Or recurring sentence patterns. But the general 'muscle training' is probably more important if the languages aren't very closely related -as with Icelandic versus Spanish.

Here in the Nordic countries it is generally assumed that the Norwegians are better at understanding Danish and Swedish than the other two nationalities are at understanding each other. Part of the explanation could be the Norwegians proudly speak a bewildering array of dialects, and that makes them more flexible in understanding the vagaries of other languages.

Another slightly related observation is that it sometimes helps to take a short pause with a language - and then return to it. I have observed that when I do this then I feel like I'm coming home when I return to language B, and my bad conscience is immediately relieved of an embarassing burden. And when you feel happy you are more likely to learn.

Yeah. It seems like ever since I started learning languages on my own I’ve had a better ear for languages. I’ve noticed the pausing effect with music as well. If I take a few days off, I’ll end up playing better.

[MorkTheFiddle]

Yeah. It seems like ever since I started learning languages on my own I’ve had a better ear for languages. I’ve noticed the pausing effect with music as well. If I take a few days off, I’ll end up playing better.

Agreed. Recently I listened extensively to 100 hours of dubbed French American TV programming. My listening comprehension improved a lot in French, but it also improved some in Spanish, too. And although I play very little music, I find something similar occurs in that area, soo.

[Jean-Luc]

Yes! Similarities, brain plasticity... help but improving each time our "language strategies" has a strong effect too!

[lavengro]

I remember that back when I was studying Icelandic it seemed like I found it easier to understand other dialects in Spanish. Before studying Icelandic I had trouble with dialects that were too foreign to me.

I am pretty sure this is just the result of a protective function on the part of your brain: absolutely desperate to do anything to avoid having to deal with more unpleasant study sessions of unfathomable Icelandic, your brain is highly motivated to knock Spanish into shape and make it easier for you than it was before, in an defensive manoeuvre to tempt you back to Spanish and away from the incomprehensible land of fire and ice.

The brain is, after all, the smartest part of your body....

[sporedandroid]

I remember that back when I was studying Icelandic it seemed like I found it easier to understand other dialects in Spanish. Before studying Icelandic I had trouble with dialects that were too foreign to me.

I am pretty sure this is just the result of a protective function on the part of your brain: absolutely desperate to do anything to avoid having to deal with more unpleasant study sessions of unfathomable Icelandic, your brain is highly motivated to knock Spanish into shape and make it easier for you than it was before, in an defensive manoeuvre to tempt you back to Spanish and away from the incomprehensible land of fire and ice.

The brain is, after all, the smartest part of your body....

Why does everyone think Icelandic is so hard? The only reason I quit was because I lacked resources and study habits.

[lavengro]

I remember that back when I was studying Icelandic it seemed like I found it easier to understand other dialects in Spanish. Before studying Icelandic I had trouble with dialects that were too foreign to me.

I am pretty sure this is just the result of a protective function on the part of your brain: absolutely desperate to do anything to avoid having to deal with more unpleasant study sessions of unfathomable Icelandic, your brain is highly motivated to knock Spanish into shape and make it easier for you than it was before, in an defensive manoeuvre to tempt you back to Spanish and away from the incomprehensible land of fire and ice.

The brain is, after all, the smartest part of your body....

Why does everyone think Icelandic is so hard? The only reason I quit was because I lacked resources and study habits.

Fair enough - now that I think about it, I have encountered hundreds of people, including children, who seemed to have had no problem at all picking up the language fluently. Though now that I think about it some more, they were all without exception Íslendingar.

However, I stand by my other statement: I've done the math on this, and the brain definitely is the smartest part of one's body.