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Want to learn 6 languages...

katz91

New member
So, I have interest in several languages: Japanese, Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, Spanish, and French....but I feel like it is impossible to learn all of them. I am 33 and have a full time job. Do you have any tips? I know that ultimately, I will probably just have to choose, but, I want to learn them all for different reasons (most of them literature related).
 

Edzky_18

Member
Hi!
I think you really need to learn and focus one at a time at least until you got a B+ status in one language. I'm also full-time working mom of two but I see to it that I was able to open duolingo and browse through my spanish vocabulary notebook in a day. I've seen others who do the flash cards and podcast, and i think I might also do that in the future if time permits. I'm a beginner self-learner of Spanish and as of now I'm on the process of enriching my Spanish vocabularies so my partners are my vocab notebook, duolingo, english-spanish dictionary app, and I joined a language learning community site where I could personally chat or talk with native Spanish members.
 

nature_boy

New member
As much as I'd like to learn ALL the languages right now, I'm going to agree with Edzky_18 on this one. Perhaps some people can take on multiple languages at once and be able to absorb everything in no time. I'm sure these people exist, but I am not one of them. I can say that I've had way more success when I pick one language and stick to it (using duolingo, mango, community education classes). Learning a new language is just memorization. If you can carve out 15 minutes at the beginning or end of your day (for me, it's the beginning because my brain is fresh and more alert) then I'm sure you'll notice significant progress.
 

katz91

New member
Thanks for the responses. I think you two are right. I will pick one and get started. As much as it would be wonderful to learn them all, I should really just invest in one, and at least see how that is going and if I feel able to handle another. Any examples of a language learning community site?
 

mr0001

New member
I agree that you should start with one. And my additional recommendation is to start with one that is similar to the others and that will make you feel more confident about your progress. So Spanish and French are somewhat similar to each other and they share most of the same letter structure as English so I would pick one of those as your first language to learn. I'm not very familiar with French but for Spanish, there are tons of resources out there.

Arabic and Farsi share a lot of the same letters, though I think they're pronounced differently? But they are very different from English so they probably would be harder to learn first. I will say that Spanish and Arabic have some similar words in common (because of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula, primarily in the 11th-13th centuries). I am not familiar at all with Japanese and Hebrew, but again, you would be learning new alphabets.

So I would recommend an order like this: 1) Spanish, 2) French, 3) Arabic, and 4) Farsi. Recognize that it will take you awhile but the good news is that once you learn one language, it is typically faster/easier to learn other languages. And enjoy the journey, instead of just trying to reach the destination!

If you let us know which language you have decided to start with, we can give you more resource suggestions.

Also, I wrote about nonstandard learning options here: https://www.neuroskillzclub.com/threads/tips-for-nonstandard-language-learning.589/

Hope this helps! :)
 

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