How many languages can you realistically study at once?

[Kamlari]

Should you happen to know Polish,

you might have a look at this:
http://users.bestweb.net/~siom/martian_ ... glotka.pdf
More on the subject here:
http://users.bestweb.net/~siom/martian_ ... Staszek.7z

[warsofstars]

I think one language is the limit. I have never seen a person learn more than one language anonymously.

[tarvos]

I think one language is the limit. I have never seen a person learn more than one language anonymously.

Anonymously? Wait, what?

[SamT]

I'm currently learning two, Korean, my strong one, and Mandarin, my new one. Despite efforts at just maintaining my Korean in the past, it has gotten quite rusty, so I'm trying to reactivate it and expand it a little more. This is working well, but it does take many hours out of the day.

I'm also dabbling in Arabic, just learning the abjad and pronunciation for now, building a platform to expand from later. I hear the siren's call to dive in deeply -- I really wanna learn all the wonderful template style grammar -- but looking at the sheer volume of hours the other two are taking, i'm absolutely certain I will burn out on everything if I start.

So, what's all this blathering and rambling mean? My answer is 2.

[tvakrinos@fcc.net]

In principle you can study as many as you want, but the items studied at the same period will be consolidated together. Later you will confuse them. It's far better to study one at a time, review and consolidate, then leave a few days and start the other.

After you have consolidated certain languages, it is useful to compare and contrast new ones in declensions and vocabulary. For example, comparing Malagasy and Malay creates mnemonics that are valid. (You really need to know why, most Malagasy words are maanjan and Javanese rather than Malay). But to automatize two sets will forever create confusion.

I had the experience of learning Bengali and Nepali at the same time for work needs. (I already knew HIndi.) Both are ardha-magadhi, so they share similarities and differences. 30 years later, trying to retrieve one retrieves unwanted bits of the other.

Being a polyglot aged 69, I go through periodic reviews of languages I once learned. I envisage them as parallel streams that should only be connected when one wants them, for intellectual purposes. If you try to speak without thinking too much, you will end up in the wrong stream.