Learning Two Languages at Once

[Decidida]

I know the advice is not to learn two languages at a time. Sometimes life requires it. I am spoken to in both languages every day. I need one more for school. The other I am spoken to the most.

Is it best to alternate days of study, or try and study both every day? It is the switching back and forth that is the hardest for me. When I stick to one even for a few hours, it feels easier. Easier is not always better though.

[Ani]

I'm not sure there is an official answer. Every other day seems fine to me. You are having contact most days in both languages so that in itself is something. I'm really no expert, but I've been switching back and forth with my two beginner languages, sometimes hitting both in the same day, some times favoring or exclusively studying one or the other. I really don't notice any losses like that.

[Decidida]

Thanks!

My brain seems to switch into a language after awhile. I respond more automatically, and become faster and more accurate. It is hard to abandon that automaticy to work on the other language.

But if people are going to text and babble at me in both on the same day, maybe I need to learn to handle the switching back and forth. I see some kids at school handle so many languages; they impress me. It is so funny to see which words they struggle with, when they know so many. Beach words in English were tripping up one girl and she just kept giggling at each and every new word she didn't know, like English is just crazy. I was trying to see the words through her eyes. Bathing suit: maybe she was picturing a man taking a bath in a business suit.

[Ani]

But if people are going to text and babble at me in both on the same day, maybe I need to learn to handle the switching back and forth.

This I have experience with. I can tell you that speed of switching back and forth will come with time and practice. You don't need to particularly train it or give up your study flow to get there. I speak French to two of my kids, a mix to two others, and all English to one. Doesn't matter if they've woken me up at 3 in the morning, doesn't matter where, when or what I've been doing, the right language appears on my tongue for that child. Language switching speed is thankfully one of those learning aspects that you can leave entirely up to your brain to figure out, and it will take care of the job

[Systematiker]

If you’re getting exposure to both languages daily, and they’re not too similar, both daily or switching work fine.

Switching is possibly more a function of each discrete language rather that a separate skill, and it comes with facility, but that’s just my opinion.

I understand the desire to stay “on” in a particular language once it’s flowing; maybe try to flex your active study to leverage periods when you know you’re going to be doing that (and remember to encourage yourself by thinking that it will eventually all get effortless like that!)

[IronMike]

Based on your profile, I assume the languages are Spanish and Haitian Creole? Those are related, which could introduce issues, but maybe not. If your proficiency is different in them, then there might not be too much interference.

Plenty of people learning two languages at once. You're not alone.

[iguanamon]

Based on your profile, I assume the languages are Spanish and Haitian Creole? Those are related, which could introduce issues, but maybe not.

The two languages are not that closely related. HC derives most of its vocabulary from French and, to me, French is the Western European Romance language least like Spanish. Kreyòl grammar is much simpler with conjugations being taken care of by particles and an almost complete lack of gender. I had/have no interference problems with HC, except with the closely related Lesser Antilles French Creole.

The OP's main issue will be trying to learn two languages at the same time when she hasn't learned one second language yet to a high-level. Can it be done? Yes. I just don't see it done successfully here very often by self-learning monolingual adult beginners. It's amazing to me the benefit that learning one second language to a high level has for learning the second one. I wish the OP success and stand ready to help if asked.

[Decidida]

Thank you all so much.

Even before I tried to learn both languages, I knew the statistics and recommendations and I truly do not take the general advice lightly. I can totally understand the advice. I'm living why it is good advice not to do what I am doing.

My Creole is still behind my Spanish, but I am progressing faster in Creole. Peer Creole speakers are pushing me WAY harder. Without a classroom teacher with expectations, Spanish peer pressure doesn't compete with Creole peer pressure right now. So I signed up for 2 Spanish courses with Gale through my library, so that I have Spanish deadlines. The courses are mostly review, but I am getting faster, and some of the content is new.

I am totally swapping some vocabulary of the two languages, even though I keep the grammar straight most of the time.

I have some background in Latin and Ancient Greek. Spanish is more like a classical language, both in grammar, and the fact that I am using books more than real life to learn it right now.

Creole is a whole new experience for me in the grammar, and that so much of my instruction is from people. I love Creole and I get mad that it is such an ignored language when so many people speak it. The fact that the language is so dismissed by foreign language resource makers ... just makes me try harder.

Yesterday, I studied for many hours, and managed to get in 2 hours of each language. I think maybe doing one language in the morning and taking a break to study law and run errands and then picking the other language up later in the day seems to work almost as well as swapping days.

I think I should study the languages in the time of the day that I am most likely to get babbled at in that language. Texts and phone calls are falling into a summer pattern, and I should maybe take advantage of that.