How to learn 5 foreign languages. Secrets of polyglots: truth and fiction

In this guest article, Alena Dudarets, a teacher of Spanish and English, a fan of self-learning languages and a novice polyglot, will tell you how she manages to learn 5 languages at the same time, why TV series are indispensable assistants in learning languages and, most importantly, why all this is needed.

Alena Dudarets

Teacher of Spanish and English, fan of self-learning languages and aspiring polyglot.

Hello, my name is Alena, I am 25 years old, and I want to become a polyglot. According to my calculations, I will soon speak well or very well in seven languages, not counting Russian and Ukrainian. If I don't screw it up. In this article I will talk about how I learn five languages at the same time, because in this moment I only have this experience.

1. Not all at once

Currently I am studying English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish.

Here it’s worth mentioning right away that all these languages did not appear in my life yesterday or at the same time. I suddenly learned English at school, after school I studied a little on my own to give myself a British accent and “clean up” my grammar.

I have been learning Spanish on my own from the age of 13 to this day. Until about 2010, I learned it somehow, sometimes I could not open the notebook for 5-6 months, but those days are gone, and last November I successfully passed the DELE C1 exam. I have been teaching both English and Spanish for almost seven years now. That is, even when I don’t do them, they are still here, with me, because I share them with others.

I made several attempts to learn Italian. The first was at the age of 14 and lasted about three weeks, during which, however, I managed to fill half of the notebook with 96 pages. Oddly enough, the knowledge gained in those few weeks was almost completely restored within a few hours 9 years later, when I started learning Italian again. However, the bulk of my studies took place in the summer of 2015, when I spent three months studying Italian quite intensively at the Language Heroes language marathon. By the end of the summer, I could already carry on an hour-long conversation with a native speaker, although, of course, I made mistakes and Spanishisms.

I know a little Turkish since childhood. Well, I “know”: I could always order food and orange juice and find my way around Turkey, I knew a lot of random words, but I didn’t know grammar at all. Last spring I began to correct this, finally learning the present tense, some cases and a few new words. But by the summer I gave up Turkish.

I started learning Brazilian Portuguese in January, at the same language marathon. It turned out to be even more difficult for me than Italian, because Portuguese is even more similar to Spanish and it is very difficult to control that Spanish does not interfere.

Accordingly, it cannot be said that I learn all these languages in the same way and with the same intensity. If I didn’t crave C2, then I could only maintain English and Spanish, and not study. Now I'm preparing for the English exam at level C1, so I had to sit down with my textbooks again. But, for example, in Spanish there are no exams hanging over me now, so in Lately I read a novel by Mario Vargas Llosa and wrote down everything new and interesting in a notebook, and also read rap along with Calle 13.

2. YouTube

You probably thought that I would recommend watching a lot of videos on YouTube. This goes without saying, but I want to say a little something else. My YouTube channel has become an integral part of my language acquisition. I started it in 2013, posting a video in which I speak Italian after a week of studying (more precisely, a week and another three weeks nine years before that). And at the end of the year I posted my first video in Spanish. Now it has more than 20 thousand views, and the channel has more than 700 subscribers, most of whom are Spanish speakers.

Now, as soon as I start learning a language, I almost immediately record a video in that language and post it on my channel. Even if native speakers don’t come and leave comments (this was and probably will be the case with Turkish), after a while I will make other videos, and then I will compare the results and enjoy the progress. I correspond with people in the comments, and then even communicate with some on Skype and Facebook. I recently sent a snow card to one such friend in Argentina and he couldn't be happier!

3. TV series

The role of TV series in my language learning cannot be overestimated. Thanks to Sex and the City for English, Wild Angel for my Argentine Spanish, Las Aparicio for Mexican Spanish, Avenida Brasil for helping me master Brazilian Portuguese just by watching one episode after another with Russian subtitles.

In general, my scheme is very simple: if the language is at a beginner level, then the series is worth watching with Russian subtitles. If the language is at an average level (about B2) - without subtitles, if possible. In any case, even with subtitles, their benefits are undeniable, because you endlessly listen to a huge amount of real spoken language. The movie is also great, but the problem is that before you know it, it’s over.

The main thing here, perhaps, is that Spanish sounded like Mandarin Chinese to me before I watched over 80 episodes of “Wild Angel” without translation or subtitles.

4. Extensive reading

Extensive reading is when you read a large volume of literature that interests you, in which there are no more than 5-10 unfamiliar words per page. Reading for pleasure. That is, I want to say that if you just started learning Spanish, then taking “One Hundred Years of Solitude” right away is most likely not the best idea. In most popular languages, you can easily find adapted books for any level, but in general, if you have A2 or B1, you can worry about finding some author who writes easily and interestingly.

My English and Spanish would be completely different if I hadn't read a ton of books on them.

This is despite the fact that I read very carelessly, I’m too lazy to dig into the dictionary: if the meaning is clear, then I move on. Although now, after reading so many books extensively, I am finally learning to read intensively and use a notepad, pen and marker. Often I write down not only words or phrases, but also a whole sentence or paragraph with these words and combinations, and also highlight them in the book with a marker. In the same way, I always work with articles - they are not as long as books, and I don’t have time to be lazy with them.

5. Culture and context

If you ask me why I study these particular languages, I will answer that it is because I like them. And I like not only them, but also many countries in which they are spoken. And in these countries I often like cuisine, literature, music - whatever. Therefore, I will always find a way to use the language, even if there is no opportunity to travel to the country. And any text, any podcast, any song will be many times more useful for me than poking at random words on Memrise. I mean, I don't really have anything against Memrise, and if it works for someone, then that's great. I even sometimes create sets for myself there from words that are difficult to remember. But for me, this approach, unfortunately, does not work. I hardly remember words out of context. I need dialogue, text, a situation, and even better, a couple of exercises after that.

6. Type of perception

It is very important. At one time I realized that I am not an auditory learner. My speaking skill is ahead of my listening comprehension skill. In order to memorize a new word by ear, I need to hear it ten times, and sometimes more. And it’s not a fact that I will remember it correctly. This is why learning Egyptian Arabic using the Pimsleur method absolutely did not work for me.

On the other hand, from the very beginning of learning a language, I try to listen to podcasts and watch TV series so that my ear gets used to the sound. And the most The best way memorization for me is seeing and writing down by hand.

Spanish is the language I spent the longest learning on my own and consciously. So, I now have a fifth notebook on it with 96 sheets, and this does not even take into account any notes on A4. But here you need to understand that if you are an auditory learner, then this method may be a waste of time for you. But if you for a long time If you are learning a language almost to no avail, without writing anything down by hand, then think about it - maybe this is the reason.

7. Language in three months

It is impossible to learn a language in three months unless you are some kind of genius. But you can create a very good base for yourself or even reach the B1 level (this depends on your initial data).

In general, returning to the topic of five languages at the same time. Since I've been on Language Heroes, I've been studying one language intensively for three months: going through one basic textbook pretty quickly, studying basic grammar, listening to a lot of podcasts, writing a lot on sites like italki.com and polyglotclub.com, trying multiple times talk for a long time with native speakers, watch adapted videos. If there is, then I read adapted books. And all this in large quantities.

At this time I study other languages in the background. If there is a textbook, I slowly go through it, watch movies, chat with native speakers on Skype from time to time (when I’m in the mood), listen to radio and podcasts. After three months I’m trying to “release” that main language into the fields, that is, to begin to absorb culture in it and simply communicate. Then, after some time, I can take up this language intensively again, but in general I try to learn at these intervals.

In general, learning five languages at the same time is very difficult psychologically.

Therefore, by the summer I am going to take Portuguese and Italian out of active study to make room for energy-consuming French. I actively studied French for several months in 2012, on my own, being not so experienced in learning languages (Spanish doesn’t count - it’s really the most rewarding language I’ve ever encountered; even Slavic languages weren’t that good for me), so at first I’ll work on reading and pronunciation.

In the fall I will add German, which I studied at school for seven years and in which I have something like an A1 level. In general, the trick is that this year I decided to polish up all the languages that I have already dealt with and with which I will not need to spend time learning the rules of reading, conjugation of the verb “to be” and the topic “My family”. Of course, by the end of the year I will not be able to read Madame Bovary in the original, but there is a chance that my main goal - to speak German - will be achieved.

Why is all this?

Well, first of all, it's beautiful. But seriously, I have a million reasons. For example, I recently read a cool detective novel by two Catalan writers, which has not been translated into English or Russian and, most likely, will not be translated. And I can't describe how happy I was with my Spanish while reading.

I will also never forget how, in a hostel in Vilnius, I went into the kitchen to make tea, saw three Mexicans there and decided to talk to them. It was hard to decide, because I only heard that they spoke Spanish, but it was impossible to hear what exactly they were saying. However, my fears turned out to be in vain. At first they were surprised and asked why I was studying Spanish. Considering that in those days I had practice about once or twice a year, it was not very easy for me to speak, but I quickly got up to speed, and they tried to speak to me more slowly and did not use slang.

Can you imagine a native English speaker being surprised and delighted that you speak their language? What do you tell him that you love Kasabian, and he’s like: “Wow, you know Kasabian, who would have thought!” And with Latin America This happens to me all the time. I’m still just immersing myself in Italian and Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) cultures, but in general everything is the same there.

But the coolest thing in Turkey is watching the reaction of the canteen or restaurant workers when you walk in and order everything in Turkish.

LILYA LEDNEVA

Like all exemplary schoolchildren, as a child I wrote out “Pioneer Truth.” Somewhere on the last page there was a popular section, something like “questions and answers.” One day an unusual question comes across: “Dear editors, please tell me, are there any textbooks that can be used to learn several foreign languages at once?” This question remained in my head...
I was already interested in the German language back then. I was 8-10 years old when, during the summer holidays, I accidentally found a German language textbook. I even remember the year of publication - 54th. The book was lying on the neighbors' heap. No cover, some pages torn out. I had never seen foreign letters before. It seemed so interesting. I grabbed this book and took it home. It's good that one of the first pages survived. It said "Deutsch". My father, who once served in Germany, translated the name for me. He didn't know any other words. And the textbook was for 7th grade, that is, for advanced students. But I was just incredibly lucky. My father is a simple man. He worked as a driver on a milk truck and transported milk to the neighboring village of Yelykaevo. It was a large village (it still exists), there was even a bookstore there. My father stopped by that small bookstore, bought and brought me a German textbook for the 5th grade. And I didn’t even ask him! And I haven’t started fifth grade yet. I still don’t understand how he came up with this idea! In this textbook for beginners, everything was already clear, how to pronounce letters, words, and how to construct a sentence... I could not tear myself away from the book. I carried it with me everywhere like a bible. We're going to mow - she's with me. Into the forest - with me... I read every minute... Why? Don't know. Over the summer I learned the textbook almost by heart.

Excerpts from the message and from an article on the topic:

“Teaching several languages at the same time: myth or reality?”

1. Is it necessary to know several languages if you already study or know English?

The new century is characterized by the rapid development of information technologies, which provide modern people with the broadest access to information and unprecedented opportunities for direct communication with people from different parts of our planet without the need to leave home. These opportunities will become more significant if people speak not just one, usually English, but several languages. Humanity is entering an era of plurilingualism, an era when knowledge of one foreign language, which most often is English, becomes insufficient.
In Europe, EU officials are also concerned about the increasing costs of translation services (23 languages), as well as the recent trend towards learning only mainly English, which is not in the best possible way is reflected in the process of communication between residents individual states Europe. English as a means of international communication does not always help to establish effective intercultural communication between representatives of other, non-English-speaking language communities.

2. Why study languages at the same time, if you can study them sequentially, having mastered one language well, then move on to another?

The question of the possibility of learning several languages has been raised for a long time. The idea itself is interesting. In almost the same time, not one, but two or three languages are comprehended.
Here the proverb “If you chase two hares, you won’t catch either” comes to mind. You can often hear that there will be confusion in the head, languages will overlap each other. Of course, a special teaching methodology is needed, based on comparing languages, with exercises to prevent interference.

3. What languages and how many languages can you learn at the same time?

Theoretically, any languages can be studied at the same time, even Chinese and, say, German, although let us immediately say that this combination resembles “a mixture of a bulldog and a rhinoceros.” It's not just a matter of different types languages, but even in the writing system.
Of course, this technique will be most effective using material from related languages.
Since Russia has the closest economic, social and cultural ties primarily with European countries, it is necessary to focus primarily on European languages.
The main European languages in terms of the number of speakers, in addition to Russian, include English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Dutch.
The traditional set of the most studied European languages in Russia and Europe includes 5 languages: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. However, only three of them - English, French and Spanish - are among the so-called world languages. As is known, the number of speakers outside Europe is several times greater than the number of speakers in the Old World.
Of the 5 languages listed, French, Italian and Spanish are suitable for simultaneous teaching. One could also consider options such as “German - Dutch - Swedish or Danish”, “Polish - Czech - Slovak” or “Finnish - Estonian - Hungarian”. Yes, the simultaneous teaching technique is possible with these language combinations. But you need to take into account the pragmatic aspect in learning languages, that is, study not all languages in a row, but first of all the most popular ones. In the group of listed Germanic languages, for example, only German is such. English is quite widely spoken in Scandinavian countries.
Romance languages, more precisely, French, Italian and Spanish, are in a privileged position. The choice of simultaneous study of French, Italian and Spanish as a subject is explained by their role in the international arena and the special interest of Russians in France, Italy and Spain. The flow of tourists and the number of business trips from Russia to these countries is constantly growing. Experience shows that hopes for the possibility of communicating with the French, Italians and Spaniards on English language are not always justified.
All three languages belong to the group of Romance languages, formed from Latin. It is the common origin from one language that determines the closeness of the Romance languages to such an extent that it suggests the possibility of their parallel study. Identifying discrepancies against the general background of coincidences contributes to more effective assimilation of the material, because everything is learned in comparison...
The languages we have chosen are traditionally considered beautiful. Also M.V. Lomonosov spoke about the splendor of Spanish, the liveliness of French, the tenderness of Italian. The beauty of Romance languages is directly related to their sound. This fact determines the importance of establishing correct pronunciation at the initial stage of learning languages.

4. Can anyone learn multiple languages at the same time?

This question arises because knowledge of several foreign languages is considered by many as a sign of special abilities, as something supernatural, and seems to be a labor-intensive task. It all depends on the degree of desire: Vouloir c’est pouvoir/ Volere è potere/ Querer es poder. The simultaneous study/teaching of several languages is based on a special methodology, designed primarily for people who are passionate about languages, for curious people who find pleasure in learning languages. Simultaneous mastery of three languages means studying them in three dimensions. That is why, for greater volume, a third language is included - Italian, that is, a language not as widespread as French and Spanish.
The method of simultaneous teaching can captivate even people who are initially critical of it or doubtful or unsure of themselves. You just have to start...

5. How realistic is it and to what level can you learn several languages at the same time?

Projects for the simultaneous study of several languages are also being developed in Europe. They are based on the genetic kinship of Romance, Germanic and Slavic languages. Their goal is to teach native speakers of one of the related languages relatively short term read texts and perceive oral speech of speakers of other related languages. Training in conversation skills is not provided, since it is assumed that everyone will speak their native language when communicating. The main goal is mainly to teach only mutual understanding (intercompréhension réciproque) of written and spoken language by instilling receptive skills.
The goal of our methodology is the comprehensive mastery of foreign languages in a relatively short period (within 200 hours) with the acquisition of basic skills and abilities of speech activity in everyday, socio-cultural spheres of communication.
The task is to teach fluently and correctly, in compliance with phonetic and grammatical norms and on the basis of possession of a sufficient vocabulary, to speak and write in three foreign languages, to understand speech by ear, to read, to translate from one foreign language into Russian or another foreign language, communicate orally and in writing via the Internet (electronic messages, chats), etc.
Foreign languages, and the same ones, can be studied throughout your life. The main thing is to get a solid foundation for further improvement of knowledge. There are plenty of opportunities to improve these days, and in the future there will be more and more of them. Internet resources provide them in huge quantities. Let us also hope that over time a visa-free travel regime throughout Europe will be established, which will contribute to active language practice directly in the countries of the languages being studied.

6. What is the method of simultaneous language learning?

The methodology is based on a comparison of French, Italian and Spanish languages. Two fundamental principles its principles are “from the known to the new” and “from similarities to differences.” Since this method is aimed at a Russian-speaking audience, comparisons should also be made with the Russian language. By the way, it is very important to also make references to both English and German languages. We can say that the methodology in the full sense of the word is aimed at the formation of multilingual personalities, polyglots.
Russian and Romance languages, belonging to the Indo-European family, show similarities in genetic terms (French maternité motherhood, French fraternité brotherhood, Italian vedere see, Italian sedere sit, Italian stare stand, Italian il mio, il tuo , il suo mine, yours, yours). In the course of its development, the Russian language has absorbed a huge layer of international vocabulary, most of which is Romance. It is known that in order to speak a foreign language at a good level, about two and a half to three thousand words are enough. This is the so-called frequency or common vocabulary. One third of these three thousand words are already known to Russian speakers:
tradition, profession, construction, illusion, university, faculty, mentality, laboratory, audience, trend, distance, document, moment, organism, tourism, optimism, energy, geography, photography, continent, president, director, professor, lawyer, classical, fantastic, political, theoretical, climatic, normal, special, active, reactive, propagandize, rehearse, organize and others. Many Italian-Spanish words differ from Russian words only in the writing system: luna, forma, natura, poema, biblioteca, opera, problema, sistema, tema, rosa, figura, temperatura, foto, industria, corona, bar, metro, pantera, Asia , America, Africa, propaganda, politics.
Pre-selected well-known international and borrowed vocabulary of Romance origin can be used while teaching Romance languages at all levels, starting with phonetics.
Thus, the main thing in this methodology, so to speak, know-how, is the careful selection of lexical and grammatical material and the sequence of their presentation, taking into account the results of a typological comparison of the Russian and Roman languages at all stages of teaching.
The basis and impetus for the development of this method is the author’s own experience, accumulated in the course of studying and teaching three languages over two decades. Teaching them separately, you catch yourself thinking that you have to repeat the same material. These languages resemble three similar pictures in which you need to find the difference. Why can’t we explain the material once for three languages and point out only the differences revealed against the background of similarities?
In addition, this method is based on the research of domestic and foreign researchers in the field of comparative typological study of Romance languages, work on comparing Russian and Romance languages, as well as existing educational literature on teaching Romance languages.
Simultaneous learning begins traditionally with phonetics. Created by the author teaching aids on the comparative study of the phonetics of three languages with audio accompaniment, practical comparative grammar, vocabulary, a manual for the development of speaking skills with exercises to overcome the interference of languages, etc. The first two groups are attended by students of different ages, from 9th grade students to people 45 years old.

Anastasia Kay is a popular video blogger who already speaks five languages and has no plans to stop. We interviewed her to understand how she achieved such an impressive result.

Anastasia has been learning languages since childhood. At the age of 6, she began to learn Spanish at school, and at 8, after moving to Belgium, she began to learn French (not forgetting Spanish). When Nastya was 13, her parents moved again, this time to Hungary, and to enter school she had to master English from scratch to the level of a ninth-grader over the summer. At the age of 17, Nastya entered the university in the English-language department and improved her English for several more years. During my studies, I decided to learn Hungarian in order to understand what the locals were saying (before that I only managed in Russian). In 2010 - a new country, this time Slovenia, and intensive Slovenian courses.

As a result, Nastya speaks five languages at least at level C1, and speaks English perfectly. In addition, she teaches German and also practices Russian in her video blog. In total there are 7 languages.

How is this possible?

Approach to language learning

To be honest, I don't use unified system, since approaches vary depending on the purpose of language learning. When I learn something “for the soul,” I first of all use tools for immersion in the environment. If the goal is a language certificate, I improve my grammar knowledge. If a language is needed for work, I try to focus on developing the mastery of professional vocabulary.

The hardest thing for me is noun gender, mainly because I speak many languages. In different languages the same word has different kind, so I often get confused.

It’s difficult to say which language is easier, since I learned them in very different, incomparable periods of my life (as a six-year-old child, teenager, adult). I think the most important thing is immersion in the language. And it, undoubtedly, comes easiest when you are in the environment itself and not only “consume the language,” but also actively use it.

Problems of bilinguals

Russian is my native language, but as my viewers know, very often the words in English come first to my mind, and for some reason this problem is much more acute in spoken speech than in written speech. Researchers even say that constantly being forced to suppress words in the “wrong” language is an excellent exercise for the brain. This is good, but to be honest, sometimes I want to be able to speak pure Russian and English without mixing them. I started a channel to practice the Russian language.

It seems to me that anyone is allowed to speak as they please. I always give an example for my viewers: “If you are embarrassed to speak French poorly, then complete ignorance of Spanish, Italian, Chinese, etc. should just kill you! As I already said, priorities depend on your goals - the best thing to know is what solves your problems most effectively.

From cognitive science, I learned about the power of visualization and association when learning new words. That is, a word will be remembered much better if you learn it from a picture or image (rather than a translation into your native language), and also if you associate this image with something personal. For example, when you say the word car, you will always think of your dad's green car!

I also tried studying with children's books. Although they were suitable for my level, I was not interested in the content and therefore did not want to continue reading them. So now I only take interesting books and magazines. It’s great if there are adapted magazines in the language you are studying.

Self-paced learning is usually much more effective than group learning if—and this is important—you are the type of person who can organize your own learning process and stick to it. That's why it's important to develop a curriculum from the beginning, perhaps even hiring a teacher to help you develop it if you're not sure you can do it yourself.

A month of intensive training (2-3 hours a day) is usually enough to start speaking a little on the street (provided that you are already familiar with the ABCs of the language you are learning). The work usually requires level B1-B2, that is, level 3-4, and each level usually requires 160 hours of study.

The interview was conducted by experts from the Puzzle English online service. You can learn more about Anastasia’s experience in learning foreign languages at

Alena Dudarets

Teacher of Spanish and English, fan of self-learning languages and aspiring polyglot.

Hello, my name is Alena, I am 25 years old, and I want to become a polyglot. According to my calculations, I will soon speak well or very well in seven languages, not counting Russian and Ukrainian. If I don't screw it up. In this article I will talk about how I learn five languages at the same time, since at the moment this is the only experience I have.

1. Not all at once

Currently I am studying English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish.

I have been learning Spanish on my own from the age of 13 to this day. Until about 2010, I learned it somehow, sometimes I could not open the notebook for 5-6 months, but those days are gone, and in November last year I successfully passed the DELE C1 exam. I have been teaching both English and Spanish for almost seven years now. That is, even when I don’t do them, they are still here, with me, because I share them with others.

Accordingly, it cannot be said that I learn all these languages in the same way and with the same intensity. If I didn’t crave C2, then I could only maintain English and Spanish, and not study. Now I'm preparing for the English exam at level C1, so I had to sit down with my textbooks again. But, for example, I don’t have any exams hanging over me in Spanish right now, so lately I’ve been reading a novel by Mario Vargas Llosa and writing down everything new and interesting in a notebook, and also reading rap along with Calle 13.

2. YouTube

You probably thought that I would recommend watching a lot of videos on YouTube. This goes without saying, but I want to say a little something else. An integral part of my language acquisition was my YouTube channel. I started it in 2013, posting a video in which I speak Italian after a week of studying (more precisely, a week and another three weeks nine years before that). And at the end of the year I posted my first video in Spanish. Now it has more than 20 thousand views, and the channel has more than 700 subscribers, most of whom are Spanish speakers.

3. TV series

The role of TV series in my language learning cannot be overestimated. Thanks to Sex and the City for English, Wild Angel for my Argentine Spanish, Las Aparicio for Mexican Spanish, Avenida Brasil for helping me master Brazilian Portuguese by simply watching one episode after another with Russian subtitles.

The main thing here, perhaps, is that Spanish sounded like Mandarin Chinese to me before I watched over 80 episodes of “Wild Angel” without translation or subtitles.

4. Extensive reading

My English and Spanish would be completely different if I hadn't read a ton of books on them.

5. Culture and context

If you ask me why I study these particular languages, I will answer that it is because I like them. And I like not only them, but also many countries in which they are spoken. And in these countries I often like cuisine, literature, music - whatever. Therefore, I will always find a way to use the language, even if there is no opportunity to travel to the country. And any text, any podcast, any song will be many times more useful for me than poking at random words on Memrise. I mean, I don't really have anything against Memrise, and if it works for someone, then that's great. I even sometimes create sets for myself there from words that are difficult to remember. But for me, this approach, unfortunately, does not work. I hardly remember words out of context. I need dialogue, text, situation, and even better - a couple of exercises after that.

6. Type of perception

On the other hand, from the very beginning of learning a language, I try to listen to podcasts and watch TV series so that my ear gets used to the sound. And the best way for me to remember is to see and write it down by hand.

Spanish is the language I spent the longest learning on my own and consciously. So, I now have a fifth notebook on it with 96 sheets, and this does not even take into account any notes on A4. But here you need to understand that if you are an auditory learner, then this method may be a waste of time for you. But if you have been learning a language for a long time with almost no results, without writing anything down by hand, then think about it - maybe this is the reason.

7. Language in three months

At this time I study other languages in the background. If there is a textbook, I slowly go through it, watch movies, chat with native speakers on Skype from time to time (when I’m in the mood), listen to radio and podcasts. After three months, I try to “release” that main language into the fields, that is, to begin to absorb the culture in it and simply communicate. Then, after some time, I can take up this language intensively again, but in general I try to learn at these intervals.

In general, learning five languages at the same time is very difficult psychologically.

Therefore, by the summer I am going to take Portuguese and Italian out of active study to make room for energy-consuming French. I actively studied French for several months in 2012, on my own, being not so experienced in learning languages (Spanish doesn’t count - it’s really the most rewarding language I’ve ever encountered, even Slavic languages weren’t that good for me), so at first I’ll work on reading and pronunciation.

Why is all this?

Can you imagine a native English speaker being surprised and delighted that you speak their language? What do you tell him that you love Kasabian, and he’s like: “Wow, you know Kasabian, who would have thought!” And this happens to me all the time in Latin America. I’m still just immersing myself in Italian and Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) cultures, but in general everything is the same there.

But the coolest thing in Turkey is watching the reaction of the canteen or restaurant workers when you walk in and order everything in Turkish.

Many times I was going to write a huge article on the topic of learning several languages at once. Time passed, and my opinion on this matter changed. Now I have determined a certain balance for myself, and I think it’s time to talk about it.

My main takeaway is to read, apply and always listen to yourself. You need to honestly evaluate your time, goals, opportunities, approach... There is no consensus on what is correct. Therefore, I will talk specifically about my experience.

As a child, I studied only English for several years. But one day during the summer holidays I saw a friend’s French textbook and tried to read the dialogues. It was interesting, but not serious, and there was nothing left in my memory except basic phrases. I continued my more conscious study of several languages at once at the institute. In addition to English, French and Chinese appeared.

How did I manage to do everything efficiently at once?

Clear schedule. I didn’t have to manage my time myself: every day I had classes at the institute and homework. So the training was regular. Plus, I didn’t waste time creating programs, because all this was already in the ready-made curriculum. You just had to come to class, do the assignment and practice. Therefore, it was not difficult for me to periodically teach another one at home on my own, choosing it simply based on my interests.

After university, I tried to learn several languages at once on my own and in courses. Even 4 at the same time! And here are the conclusions I came to.

Ask yourself WHY. Is it just idle curiosity and a race for the number of languages, or do you really need to learn several during this period of time? If there is no need, it is better to spend quality time on one language.
Take your time to learn many languages. It is not advisable to simultaneously learn several languages from scratch. Alternatively: start one new language, and support those that you already know at an intermediate level and above. It will be much easier this way: you will put first the language that is your priority. That is, you will focus on one thing, and you will keep the rest afloat, using them as often as possible in different life situations (read articles, watch YouTube, visit conversation clubs or chat with a native speaker).
Apply the principle of "lightness". If it doesn’t matter to you what language you learn, then remember that languages of one group are easier to learn. For example, I immediately noticed that Italian came easily to me after French, when it was at the intermediate stage. But this is provided that one of the languages is already familiar to you. Let's return to point number 2.)) When I started learning Italian and Spanish at a language school from scratch at the same time, it was difficult. I had to decide.
Learn the basics. The language base can be mastered with a series of lessons by Dmitry Petrov “language in 16 hours”. You will get an excellent base in a short time. I had an idea to conduct a small experiment with those lessons in the series that have not yet been completed. This is a secret for now, but I will definitely tell you the details later and put it into articles!
Choose the right schedule. At the initial stage, it is advisable to study every day or at least 4-5 times a week, and at the same time maintain the language that is already at the proper level. For example, I studied Swedish from scratch 4 times a week, while at the same time I tried to watch films/series in the original and read not in Russian, but immediately in English. This saves time too! I maintain Hebrew by communicating with an Israeli friend once or twice a week, and in general I encounter it in everyday life almost every day. I don't read textbooks.
If you have no experience learning languages at all, then it is better to start with one.

If you approach the process efficiently and competently, you will master several languages at a basic level, develop your memory, increase your ability to communicate and work, and broaden your horizons. In the future, you can continue in-depth study of the language that you will need at a specific stage of life.

Action plan

Write down specific goals. It will immediately become clear whether there is a need to learn several languages at once. For example, if the goal is immigration, then it is reasonable to focus on the one that is required in new country. If you just love learning languages and want to get by with basic knowledge while traveling without moving to higher levels, then you can regularly learn different languages at the basic stage.
Put things into perspective. Decide how you see your proficiency in each language in a week, month, six months. Keep a special language diary in which it is convenient to plan the study of several languages for any period of time. This online diary is kept by our participants. For 30 days of practice, a whole journal of records is collected.
Write down the route to your destination. Make an appropriate plan of action both for the language you are learning from scratch (for example, lessons with a teacher at school on Mondays and Wednesdays) and for those who are already at an advanced level (communication with a native speaker once a week, reading professional literature only at this language, attending webinars once every 2 weeks, and so on).
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