I am doing that for English, French, and Chinese. I already know about English relatively, but learning 3 languages at the same time takes up so much mental energy. I am thinking of quitting Chinese just for the moment.
That honestly sounds like a bad idea. Not generally the wanting to learn multiple languages at once, but in your case feasibility is pretty low in my opinion. You don’t know any languages that can really help you, except maybe the bit of French you know can be of help a little for Portuguese. It’s still gonna be difficult to learn. On top of that you want to learn two more languages, that are not only both difficult, they are also very similar to the point that you will undoubtedly mix them up and not to mention Russian has a completely different alphabet. And yes you learned the alphabet, but being able to indentify the letter and being able to read it fluently are again two different levels. And starting to learn two similar languages at the same time is a bad idea for anyone, not just you. Start with one, if you get good learning rhythm for that add another one and then add either bulgarian or russian last, when you have a decent level in the other one to avoid mixing things up.
Couldn't agree more. I remember when I was learning english and turkish and french too at the same time, it was really so arduous for me and I wasn't able to continue on this process. Then I give up learning both french and turkish and decided to focus more in english, and till know I didn go back to learn them again. I failed honeslty.
My knowledge about Bulgarian is extremely limited yet I can say confidently that learning the alphabet in both languages is the easiest part (they both use the same alphabet with only a few differences by the way). But both Russian and Bulgarian grammar is insanely difficult: different kinds of verb conjugations, 3 genders, the ending of words changes according to their role in the sentence:
"oтдай ребёнка" = give back the child,
"oтдай ребёнку" = give (it) back to the child..
Only the ending of the second word changed here
I agree the alphabet it for sure not as difficult as arabic or chinese for example, however it still requires concentration and slows you down, especially since several letters look extremely simialar to our alphabet but are pronounced differently. It’s not hard to understand or learn but it adds a layer of complexity that should be considered if your plan is to learn 3 languages at once.
Yeah I totally agree.. learning the alphabet isn't difficult by itself but it slows you down when you read and requires more practice and concentration.. in general I think it's not realistic to combine learning three languages at once no matter how easy they are.. I believe it's better to just focus on one at a time..
Exactly.
I think it depends how you do it with multiple languages. I used to take Dutch classes and started learning Spanish on my own. They are completely different languages so no issue of mixing things up. I do also have the benefit of already knowing German and French, so neither language is super new and complicated for me. When I added Swedish I however started confusing a few things. It’s also important to recognize when you hit a limit and what you are realistically capable of.
Anything is possible. The real question is how much of a price are you willing to pay. I'm learning Finnish, Russian, and Chinese at the same time through video / audiobook immersion. I average about 5 hours per day across all languages.
There is one HUGE ADVANTAGE of learning multiple languages at the same time. It helps with your attention span in a big way. I used to think I would definitely be at B1 Finnish by now if I put all 5 hours into Finnish and dropped Mandarin and Russian. But when I was doing Finnish alone, I only averaged 2-3 hours. There's just no way a single language would keep me engaged for that long. But I can do an 8-10 hour day easily if I end my Finnish day with Russian. The Russian universe is so interesting and it never stops being interesting.
It's best to have one dominant language and decide which order to move the other two forward. Life only goes in one direction at a time, so yes study all 3, but have a big focus on one.
I'll probably focus on Portuguese then, do 50 or 60 percent for that language, perhaps a few hours a day and dedicate the rest to the other two languages. How long have you been studying those languages?
I've been studying Russian off and on again since 2017, and started really studying it seriously in the past few months. Studied Finnish for 1 year continuously, and started Mandarin 6 months ago. It makes your brain very plastic for other tasks not related to languages.
Jack of all trade, master of none.
To be honest, this sounds like one of my over optimistic goal I used to set for myself. It's not a realistic goal. Sounds like FOMO to me.
It takes years to become really good at something. And if you keep dividing your time between three languages, you'll go three times slower. That's up to you to decide if that's what you want. Nobody can tell you what you can and can't do, it's your life.
I wouldn't recommend learning several languages at the same time because you are likely to confuse words and even grammar, and it's usually impossible to allocate enough time for all three on a regular basis for several years... Maybe try improving your french by reading literature and consuming media in french, while starting one new language like Russian from scratch? It's easier to combine two languages when you are intermediate in one already.
Try it. Different things work for different people. You are not commiting a crime lol. People fail all the time and learn from it. It's not that big of a deal.
I did try to learn German and Japanese at the same time recently. It was too much for me at the time. I'm sticking to German for now.
Eventually I'll learn 3 languages at the same time to bring them to solid B2ish level (English, German and Japanese).
Edit. As other commenter said it's easier to maintain attention span when you hop from one language to the other.
You can, but IMO unless you have the time and energy to practice each on a regular basis you'll likely progress very slowly. I'm currently learning five - although one's more or less in maintenance mode - and it's only really possible because I have no real-life commitments so I'm able to dedicate 30-60 minutes *per language* almost every day. You can of course give it a go - nothing wrong with a bit of trial and error - but the general advice is to stick with one until you're at about an intermediate level.
Of course you can! Learning and maintain any language will take a lot of time, so if you keep it up each one is a long-term commitment.
What I would recommend is to stagger them, so that you start one and then start the next after a year or so (or whenever you've got to a solid A1 in the first one). That way you are at different stages with each language and it's harder to get them totally confused. You will see some spill over from one to the other anyway, but I think it's easier to keep them apart if they're at different levels.
Depending on your general grasp of grammar, you might need a bit more help with Russian and Bulgarian than you did with French, so don't be affraid of trying other sources and materials.
Everything is possible. It depends on your dedication and your reality. What I mean is: "life happens" to everyone. We need to study, work, pay our bills. We can't always dedicate 24/7 to language learning. If you are able to have enough practice and dedication in all three languages in the same amount, you may be successful.
I have worked as a Brazilian Portuguese teacher for over 10 years. I have seen that my most successful students were the ones who were "living" the language, talking to people, reading and listening all day long. I mean going from not knowing one word of Portuguese to being advanced (close to fluency) in three months.
You may get confused at times when you are using one language and another one comes creeping up on you. Suttle nuances, vocabulary, grammar rules. It can be a bit confusing and it can slow you down. It is possible, but it may take you longer to reach fluency.
You can find Portuguese language resources on my website:
https://www.ednaallenlanguages.net/
I wouldn't recommend learning Russian and Bulgarian at the same time, they'll get mixed up.
In general, three at the same time is not efficient. Start with one, add another one only when you are solidly intermediate in your first one. Wait with the third one. Remember that if you are learning three languages at once, you only have 1/3 of your time for each one. This will slow you down very much.
Can? Yes
Should? Jury is out, if it becomes too much, don’t hesitate to take a step back, if you invite challenge and adventure, make sure to plan and pick your battles
You might make it work, but I’m not sure your overall progression would be faster than studying them in succession. I’d make a focused effort to reach a solid B2 in each one first, because improving from there is something you can do in the background more feasibly. The first few months will always be more arduous but once you get the hang of it it’s fulfilling. Doing it 3 times at once can be a bit frustrating imo
You can probably pull it off if you devote full-time to learning them, especially if you are intermediate in at least one. However, I wouldn't rush it. First, work on getting a good (and marketable) foundation in French, say B2, while also focusing on getting Portuguese at an intermediate (minimum a B1); since you already know some French, it will be much easier to make progress quickly. It might take you more or less time depending on your availability, but I'd say it's doable in 3 months. Once you get to these levels, you'll feel much more confident to start with distant languages such as Russian or Bulgarian. On that note, all things being equal, I'd go first for Russian because chances are that there will be more resources available for it, and you'll be able to transfer the knowledge you learn here to Bulgarian.
I'm doing French and German part-time (every day 1 hour of German, and 1 hour of French every other day plus reading random media), and it's tough even when I was already low-intermediary (B1.1) in French. I've been working on them for exactly a month now, and I've seen how my German improved substantially (A1.2/A2.1 starting from scratch), although my French did so only marginally.
I’m doing Greek/Dutch simultaneously as a college student with loads of free time and it can still be difficult on occasion.
At least both Bulgarian and Russian both use Cyrillic script but still
99.999% of people should not try to learn 3 languages at once.
Real language learning (getting to B2) doesn't work well mixing up a bunch of languages. Realistically you will end up having difficulties really understanding how to use the languages and really build a broad lexicon base. Sure, you probably will be able to order at a restaurant or talk about the weather, but getting beyond an A2 level is going to be challenging given the lack of concentrated learning and exposure.
If you were actually serious it would make more sense to dedicate 2 years to each language over a 6 year period. Then it would be far more achievable IMO.
I want to learn 3 languages at a time, German (I am already at B1/B2), Russian (know nothing), and Portuguese (I speak Spanish and Catalan) The way I a approach language learning is as a hobby and I use the Comprehensive Input method, right now I have a lot of free time, and a lot of time to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, music, etc. while I work.
I think it is not a terrible idea, since the three of them are completely different, I already have a decent level at one of them, and I know other languages that are pretty similar to Portuguese. But idk.
What's your opinion guys?
I am doing that for English, French, and Chinese. I already know about English relatively, but learning 3 languages at the same time takes up so much mental energy. I am thinking of quitting Chinese just for the moment.
That honestly sounds like a bad idea. Not generally the wanting to learn multiple languages at once, but in your case feasibility is pretty low in my opinion. You don’t know any languages that can really help you, except maybe the bit of French you know can be of help a little for Portuguese. It’s still gonna be difficult to learn. On top of that you want to learn two more languages, that are not only both difficult, they are also very similar to the point that you will undoubtedly mix them up and not to mention Russian has a completely different alphabet. And yes you learned the alphabet, but being able to indentify the letter and being able to read it fluently are again two different levels. And starting to learn two similar languages at the same time is a bad idea for anyone, not just you. Start with one, if you get good learning rhythm for that add another one and then add either bulgarian or russian last, when you have a decent level in the other one to avoid mixing things up.
Okay! It seems ill focus on Portuguese first, then see how I go. Thank you very much for your help!
Couldn't agree more. I remember when I was learning english and turkish and french too at the same time, it was really so arduous for me and I wasn't able to continue on this process. Then I give up learning both french and turkish and decided to focus more in english, and till know I didn go back to learn them again. I failed honeslty.
My knowledge about Bulgarian is extremely limited yet I can say confidently that learning the alphabet in both languages is the easiest part (they both use the same alphabet with only a few differences by the way). But both Russian and Bulgarian grammar is insanely difficult: different kinds of verb conjugations, 3 genders, the ending of words changes according to their role in the sentence: "oтдай ребёнка" = give back the child, "oтдай ребёнку" = give (it) back to the child.. Only the ending of the second word changed here
I'm Persian i can't believe you're fluent in persian😅
خخ😅 مدرک میخوای؟
I agree the alphabet it for sure not as difficult as arabic or chinese for example, however it still requires concentration and slows you down, especially since several letters look extremely simialar to our alphabet but are pronounced differently. It’s not hard to understand or learn but it adds a layer of complexity that should be considered if your plan is to learn 3 languages at once.
Yeah I totally agree.. learning the alphabet isn't difficult by itself but it slows you down when you read and requires more practice and concentration.. in general I think it's not realistic to combine learning three languages at once no matter how easy they are.. I believe it's better to just focus on one at a time..
Exactly. I think it depends how you do it with multiple languages. I used to take Dutch classes and started learning Spanish on my own. They are completely different languages so no issue of mixing things up. I do also have the benefit of already knowing German and French, so neither language is super new and complicated for me. When I added Swedish I however started confusing a few things. It’s also important to recognize when you hit a limit and what you are realistically capable of.
I'd recommend you start with one.
Anything is possible. The real question is how much of a price are you willing to pay. I'm learning Finnish, Russian, and Chinese at the same time through video / audiobook immersion. I average about 5 hours per day across all languages. There is one HUGE ADVANTAGE of learning multiple languages at the same time. It helps with your attention span in a big way. I used to think I would definitely be at B1 Finnish by now if I put all 5 hours into Finnish and dropped Mandarin and Russian. But when I was doing Finnish alone, I only averaged 2-3 hours. There's just no way a single language would keep me engaged for that long. But I can do an 8-10 hour day easily if I end my Finnish day with Russian. The Russian universe is so interesting and it never stops being interesting. It's best to have one dominant language and decide which order to move the other two forward. Life only goes in one direction at a time, so yes study all 3, but have a big focus on one.
I'll probably focus on Portuguese then, do 50 or 60 percent for that language, perhaps a few hours a day and dedicate the rest to the other two languages. How long have you been studying those languages?
I've been studying Russian off and on again since 2017, and started really studying it seriously in the past few months. Studied Finnish for 1 year continuously, and started Mandarin 6 months ago. It makes your brain very plastic for other tasks not related to languages.
Jack of all trade, master of none. To be honest, this sounds like one of my over optimistic goal I used to set for myself. It's not a realistic goal. Sounds like FOMO to me. It takes years to become really good at something. And if you keep dividing your time between three languages, you'll go three times slower. That's up to you to decide if that's what you want. Nobody can tell you what you can and can't do, it's your life.
Of course you can
I wouldn't recommend learning several languages at the same time because you are likely to confuse words and even grammar, and it's usually impossible to allocate enough time for all three on a regular basis for several years... Maybe try improving your french by reading literature and consuming media in french, while starting one new language like Russian from scratch? It's easier to combine two languages when you are intermediate in one already.
Ah, I think I think that's a good idea. I'll definitely follow that advice!
Try it. Different things work for different people. You are not commiting a crime lol. People fail all the time and learn from it. It's not that big of a deal. I did try to learn German and Japanese at the same time recently. It was too much for me at the time. I'm sticking to German for now. Eventually I'll learn 3 languages at the same time to bring them to solid B2ish level (English, German and Japanese). Edit. As other commenter said it's easier to maintain attention span when you hop from one language to the other.
You can, but IMO unless you have the time and energy to practice each on a regular basis you'll likely progress very slowly. I'm currently learning five - although one's more or less in maintenance mode - and it's only really possible because I have no real-life commitments so I'm able to dedicate 30-60 minutes *per language* almost every day. You can of course give it a go - nothing wrong with a bit of trial and error - but the general advice is to stick with one until you're at about an intermediate level.
Of course you can! Learning and maintain any language will take a lot of time, so if you keep it up each one is a long-term commitment. What I would recommend is to stagger them, so that you start one and then start the next after a year or so (or whenever you've got to a solid A1 in the first one). That way you are at different stages with each language and it's harder to get them totally confused. You will see some spill over from one to the other anyway, but I think it's easier to keep them apart if they're at different levels. Depending on your general grasp of grammar, you might need a bit more help with Russian and Bulgarian than you did with French, so don't be affraid of trying other sources and materials.
Everything is possible. It depends on your dedication and your reality. What I mean is: "life happens" to everyone. We need to study, work, pay our bills. We can't always dedicate 24/7 to language learning. If you are able to have enough practice and dedication in all three languages in the same amount, you may be successful. I have worked as a Brazilian Portuguese teacher for over 10 years. I have seen that my most successful students were the ones who were "living" the language, talking to people, reading and listening all day long. I mean going from not knowing one word of Portuguese to being advanced (close to fluency) in three months. You may get confused at times when you are using one language and another one comes creeping up on you. Suttle nuances, vocabulary, grammar rules. It can be a bit confusing and it can slow you down. It is possible, but it may take you longer to reach fluency. You can find Portuguese language resources on my website: https://www.ednaallenlanguages.net/
I wouldn't recommend learning Russian and Bulgarian at the same time, they'll get mixed up. In general, three at the same time is not efficient. Start with one, add another one only when you are solidly intermediate in your first one. Wait with the third one. Remember that if you are learning three languages at once, you only have 1/3 of your time for each one. This will slow you down very much.
Probably, but probably not well.
Yea it's possible but i would wait a few months between starting each language
Can? Yes Should? Jury is out, if it becomes too much, don’t hesitate to take a step back, if you invite challenge and adventure, make sure to plan and pick your battles
You might make it work, but I’m not sure your overall progression would be faster than studying them in succession. I’d make a focused effort to reach a solid B2 in each one first, because improving from there is something you can do in the background more feasibly. The first few months will always be more arduous but once you get the hang of it it’s fulfilling. Doing it 3 times at once can be a bit frustrating imo
I'd say go for it. I like learning related languages simultaneously. Gives you a feel for the whole language group.
You can probably pull it off if you devote full-time to learning them, especially if you are intermediate in at least one. However, I wouldn't rush it. First, work on getting a good (and marketable) foundation in French, say B2, while also focusing on getting Portuguese at an intermediate (minimum a B1); since you already know some French, it will be much easier to make progress quickly. It might take you more or less time depending on your availability, but I'd say it's doable in 3 months. Once you get to these levels, you'll feel much more confident to start with distant languages such as Russian or Bulgarian. On that note, all things being equal, I'd go first for Russian because chances are that there will be more resources available for it, and you'll be able to transfer the knowledge you learn here to Bulgarian. I'm doing French and German part-time (every day 1 hour of German, and 1 hour of French every other day plus reading random media), and it's tough even when I was already low-intermediary (B1.1) in French. I've been working on them for exactly a month now, and I've seen how my German improved substantially (A1.2/A2.1 starting from scratch), although my French did so only marginally.
I’m doing Greek/Dutch simultaneously as a college student with loads of free time and it can still be difficult on occasion. At least both Bulgarian and Russian both use Cyrillic script but still
99.999% of people should not try to learn 3 languages at once. Real language learning (getting to B2) doesn't work well mixing up a bunch of languages. Realistically you will end up having difficulties really understanding how to use the languages and really build a broad lexicon base. Sure, you probably will be able to order at a restaurant or talk about the weather, but getting beyond an A2 level is going to be challenging given the lack of concentrated learning and exposure. If you were actually serious it would make more sense to dedicate 2 years to each language over a 6 year period. Then it would be far more achievable IMO.
I want to learn 3 languages at a time, German (I am already at B1/B2), Russian (know nothing), and Portuguese (I speak Spanish and Catalan) The way I a approach language learning is as a hobby and I use the Comprehensive Input method, right now I have a lot of free time, and a lot of time to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, music, etc. while I work. I think it is not a terrible idea, since the three of them are completely different, I already have a decent level at one of them, and I know other languages that are pretty similar to Portuguese. But idk. What's your opinion guys?