Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

General discussion about learning languages
acorngalaxy
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Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby acorngalaxy » Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:11 pm

Hey!

I’m having fun with all 3 of my target languages- Spanish (C1) Italian and Portuguese (Both B1 speaking, B1-B2 writing), especially ever since I’ve made some considerable in the 2 weaker ones over the past few days.

However, I’ve been wondering for the past few days- when (should I) do I stop learning a language and move on to the next one?

I’ve been thinking of some long-term plans in mind- I would like to start on another language- French or Russian perhaps? Or perhaps something more exotic like Greek or Catalan.

The thing is, I’m not sure if I’m ready to drop any one of my languages. I’m learning and thriving through immersing myself in native-level material the entire day in all 3 languages; and having fun learning a little more about the respective cultures, as well as what’s currently going on in their countries (That’s my “learning”- I have never used a textbook.)

However, with limited time and so much to explore in this world, I’m starting to feel a little FOMO, and I could use some advice.

Thanks! :)
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einzelne
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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby einzelne » Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:31 pm

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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby 白田龍 » Thu Sep 02, 2021 8:50 pm

After a spurt of wanderlust, two outcomes are possible: Most often, I will abandon the project after a few weeks and go back to the language I was working before, but sometimes I may find the new language more appealing, and stop working on the previous one.
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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby bolaobo » Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:38 pm

I don't think it's possible to stop learning. Even in my native language, I come across words I don't know. I'm constantly maintaining and improving my languages.

But obviously one only has limited amounts of time in a day, so we have to choose where to dedicate our time. I learn languages for fun, so I just study based on my current interest and enjoy media when I have free time.
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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby Le Baron » Fri Sep 03, 2021 2:20 pm

If you are C1 in Spanish it is likely already cemented into place. You just maintain it by using it and bits of learning accrue via that usage. The other two, well that's up to you. If you don't have a lot of opportunity to use them and you leave them fallow there may be some minor loss, which you'll need to refresh.
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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby Iversen » Fri Sep 03, 2021 9:09 pm

I never finish a language. I just switch the main emphasis from intensive studies to extensive activities. So the idea of stopping to learn a certain language and then moving onwards to the next one is utterly alien to me.

OK, to be honest: I have in a few cases let a language languish in the background for some time (with Irish as the prime example), but I never give any language up forever - except maybe in the dire case where I might give up language learning entirely for a period (as I did in the period 1981-2006), but even then I will return to the whole lot under the right circumstances.

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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby Cavesa » Fri Sep 03, 2021 9:40 pm

When I need a new one. And I never really stop learning a language, I'll return to it at some point. It's not about moving on.
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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Sat Sep 04, 2021 7:06 am

I once wrote:
I have reasons for studying every single language I've spent some time with, and I also have reasons for leaving them (or taking long breaks).

Sometimes the reason is linguistic, often it's related to culture (e.g. literature, movies, music), sometimes it's because I know people who speak the language, sometimes it's just a cool language.


(Why do you have wanderlust?)
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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby lusan » Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:46 am

My 2 cents:

Maybe learning a language (B1+ level) resembles the act of opening a door into another people reality.
Then it is when the real fun starts. Before that it is just hard work.
Why to open a door into a different cultural reality and then denying ourselves the opportunity to enter?
This I don't understand.
Quindi, the dilemma is 'to enter or not to enter.'
I wonder the sense of doing all this heavy work just to open
a door and never crossing el umbral.
I really really don't understand.

Of course, some might what to have many doors open.
Then they can say they know so many languages. But do they really?
What is knowing a language really means? I don't now.
Or maybe it is the agony of learning the another passato perfetto in another language
or the perfectivo/imperfectivo and cases koszmarow found in Polish.
-No fun for me!-

To each his own.

Back to reading Io No Ho Paura of Niccolò Palombini.
I have way too many books in my reading list.
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einzelne
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Re: Learners of multiple languages, when do you decide to stop learning a language(s) and move on to the next one?

Postby einzelne » Sun Sep 05, 2021 2:44 am

lusan wrote:Maybe learning a language (B1+ level) resembles the act of opening a door into another people reality.
Then it is when the real fun starts. Before that it is just hard work.
Why to open a door into a different cultural reality and then denying ourselves the opportunity to enter?
This I don't understand.


My 2 cents.

For me, B1 (and even B2) is not hard work. The real hard work starts when you open the door, only to see a long corridor without ending which leads you to C1.
For me, the real fun starts there. B1 is like a nice easy run during a chilly morning (Hurray! 2 miles done, I feel refreshed, time to enjoy my coffee and a croissant!), while C1 is a marathon. C2 should be an Ironman, I guess...
This explains why so many people enjoy opening the doors (finishing a Duolingo, or an Assimil) but not eager to enter and slog through the corridor to reach the other side — quite honestly, this reality of other people quite often feels like a myth.

From the practical perspective, I would caution to mindlessly jump into another language, even if you have a strong desire and interest in the culture. Consider first wether you will have enough time not only for learning a new language but at the same time to maintain the old ones.
Also, be aware that if you want to try a harder language, there's a very high chance that it'll easily colonize all your free time, while enjoyment won't happen in the forceable future (and I'm talking about years, if not decades here).

Ex: I had been entertaining the idea of learning Greek for a while and even dabbled with it. But then I realized that in 1000h I need to invest to read, say, Aristotle in the original (it's a very optimistic estimate btw), I can read 100 books about him in all the languages I know (it's a very pessimistic estimate, because when it comes to secondary literature, I read it quite fast). What would make me a better connoisseur of Ancient Greek culture? 1000h of cramming Greek morphology and vocabulary, or 1000h of reading books on Ancient Greece in the languages I already know (which, incidentally, would improve them significantly) and investing my cognitive faculties in pondering about philosophical ideas of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics in the translation while consulting the comments by the brightest minds in the field (which you have to do anyways, if you want to understand them)?
(But then, don't hesitate to satisfy your wanderlust and dabble with a language a little.)
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