Can I learn 2 new languages at the same time?

[zenmonkey]

Op didn’t come back to clarify their specifics. I think it’s difficult to address these questions without that.

[iguanamon]

Op didn’t come back to clarify their specifics. I think it’s difficult to address these questions without that.

I may be incorrect, but based on the OP's language profile, The combination of English, Tamil and Mandarin may indicate that the OP is from Singapore. Of course, without further elaboration from the OP it is useless to speculate.

[golyplot]

Everyone's thankfully different and motivated by different things, so why not give both scenarios a short tryout (e.g., 3 days with 1 language, then 3 days with 2 languages), and see how you personally feel about it. By the end of a week, you'll have a better idea what to do next.

You'd need more like three months than three days to see the difference. Language learning is a marathon, not a sprint, and three days will still land you in the initial burst of enthusiasm stage before you get disillusioned by the lack of progress.

[s_allard]

Let’s try to be a bit more specific and hypothesize that someone wants to prepare for the B2 exam in two languages.

Why would someone do that? I mean 'normal' people.

The title of the thread is : Can I learn two new languages at the same time ? Since I know nothing about the language learning abilities of the OP, I certainly cannot answer that question. But I am trying to structure the discussion somewhat by suggesting a framework that we can agree on. One can certainly study multiple languages simultaneously. Learning these languages to some level of proficiency– whatever that means – is another question. Just trying to help.

[Adrianslont]

Op didn’t come back to clarify their specifics. I think it’s difficult to address these questions without that.

I may be incorrect, but based on the OP's language profile, The combination of English, Tamil and Mandarin may indicate that the OP is from Singapore. Of course, without further elaboration from the OP it is useless to speculate.

I think zenmonkey is absolutely right - without specifics, it’s hard to give good advice. You end up with a very general discussion that is probably not helpful for OP.

I “hate” when people don’t even tell you which two languages, what languages they already speak and where they live. And if they are talking about self study or as part of a school or degree course.

All of those factors are so relevant to giving helpful advice.

I think iguanamon is onto something - I think OP is either from Singapore or contemplating going to live there. Or perhaps Malaysia.

If Singaporean and having grown up there, OP is in a very different situation to someone who is studying two foreign languages that they haven’t had surrounding them for their whole lives. And they will have easier access to immersion and face to face practice.

So, OP, can you give us more details?

[firewheel]

Thank you for your replies to all friends who have posted in this thread.

Which two languages are you tried to learn?

Op didn’t come back to clarify their specifics. I think it’s difficult to address these questions without that.

I may be incorrect, but based on the OP's language profile, The combination of English, Tamil and Mandarin may indicate that the OP is from Singapore. Of course, without further elaboration from the OP it is useless to speculate.

I think zenmonkey is absolutely right - without specifics, it’s hard to give good advice. You end up with a very general discussion that is probably not helpful for OP.

I “hate” when people don’t even tell you which two languages, what languages they already speak and where they live. And if they are talking about self study or as part of a school or degree course.

All of those factors are so relevant to giving helpful advice.

I think iguanamon is onto something - I think OP is either from Singapore or contemplating going to live there. Or perhaps Malaysia.

If Singaporean and having grown up there, OP is in a very different situation to someone who is studying two foreign languages that they haven’t had surrounding them for their whole lives. And they will have easier access to immersion and face to face practice.

So, OP, can you give us more details?

Sorry for my late reply. Language A is Spanish and Language B is Korean.

I intend to learn Spanish from an online self-study program. And I intend to study Korean through group classes in a language school.

iguanamon is right. I am from Singapore. I'm quite surprised that iguanamon guessed my country correctly.

[Xenops]

Thank you for your replies to all friends who have posted in this thread.

Sorry for my late reply. Language A is Spanish and Language B is Korean.

I intend to learn Spanish from an online self-study program. And I intend to study Korean through group classes in a language school.

iguanamon is right. I am from Singapore. I'm quite surprised that iguanamon guessed my country correctly.

Yay! Details!

I guess my next question would be: how fast do you want to be fluent in Korean? 2 years, 5, 10? If time and brain power are limited resources, the more various things you spend time on, the slower your progress. It's really a matter of priorities for you, specifically.

[Adrianslont]

Thank you for your replies to all friends who have posted in this thread.

Sorry for my late reply. Language A is Spanish and Language B is Korean.

I intend to learn Spanish from an online self-study program. And I intend to study Korean through group classes in a language school.

iguanamon is right. I am from Singapore. I'm quite surprised that iguanamon guessed my country correctly.

Yay! Details!

I guess my next question would be: how fast do you want to be fluent in Korean? 2 years, 5, 10? If time and brain power are limited resources, the more various things you spend time on, the slower your progress. It's really a matter of priorities for you, specifically.

Yes, some details. That helps. I will continue you grill you!

So, OP which is the language that you want to learn to a conversational level and which to a professional level?

If one is for career and one for fun travel only, I would drop the fun travel one or give it much lower priority.

And Xenops time scale question is important.

What is your native language? There are so many to choose from in Singapore! I’m guessing Tamil or another Indian language but I’m only guessing. If it’s Mandarin, I believe there is some advaantage in learning Korean vocabulary. (That is just something I have been told - I don’t have first hand experience of the Korean and barely any experience of mandarin)

Regardless to the answers to those questions, I will say that you need to put in an effort outside your classes and online program to really advance quickly enough for professional use.

[zenmonkey]

Spanish and Korean are two very different languages so you shouldn't see much interference. Then it is a question of a) spending enough time b) using material effectively and c) (most important) staying motivated.

I like working on multiple languages to stay motivated, but I've got serious consistency problems and a lot going on in my life that language learning often passes for second fiddle. So I'm not the best model

With two languages at an early stage, to get it done, you actually need to stick to it! Somewhere along the way you are going to need to supplement the online module you are using for Spanish. Luckily there is a lot of content for Spanish. Create smallish goals - finish module, learn 300 words. Celebrate, Repeat. Identify weakness, work on that. repeat. Have fun while doing it!!

[firewheel]

Thank you for your reply Xenops

Yay! Details!

I guess my next question would be: how fast do you want to be fluent in Korean? 2 years, 5, 10? If time and brain power are limited resources, the more various things you spend time on, the slower your progress. It's really a matter of priorities for you, specifically.

I think 5 years will be more ideal for me based on my learning speed.