How Do Polyglots Learn So Many Languages?

When you find out that polyglots can speak multiple languages, one of the first things you will ask is How! …How do they do it?

It is an incredible achievement, and it does not happen by pure chance, which means we can look at what they actually do and how they go about learning so many languages.

Polyglots Learn The Same Way We Do

Polyglots are not super human, although I am sure a couple of them are, but in general they are just normal people. This means they learn languages the same we way do, they use all the same techniques and resources as us.

The only difference is that they have usually streamlined everything to be extremely efficient and they also have a very powerful desire to actually learn.

You could argue that they have more experience, which helps them and while that is true …they all started with no languages and slowly built up this experience and there is nothing stopping you from doing the same.

The only real difference between them and us, is that they are willing to dedicate a serious amount of time on learning. They put the effort in and you could argue that this is the biggest reason for how they can learn so many languages.

They Learn One Language At A Time

Polyglots also learn one language at a time. Exactly like how we would do it.

They dedicate their time and effort into getting really strong at one language. Polyglots all know that once you reach a certain point, that language is pretty much in your brain forever and then maintaining it is fairly simple.

Learning in this way allows them to build up a collection of languages pretty easily. They can spend a few years really getting to grips with one language before deciding to move on the next one and they just repeat this over and over again.

There will become a point when trying to add more languages while maintaining the ones they have learned becomes a tricky balancing act, but by this point they are certainly already polyglots.

(You can read more about – Is There A Limit To How Many Languages You Can Learn?) 

They Have A Reason To Learn So Many Languages

If you want to know how someone does something, it can be good to look at why they are doing it.

You will find polyglots always have a good reason for why they are learning languages. Once you start talking to them it doesn’t take long to really see the passion and it’s very clear why they are learning a certain language, you can just tell they are obsessed with it on so many levels.

This can be for many reasons ranging from business, friendship or even just because they find it interesting. Either way you will always that their motivation is extremely strong and this will ultimately help them have success.    

Polyglots Do A Lot Of Planning

When it comes to learning multiple languages, you need to plan.

If you look at how a polyglot learns one language, the plan probably looks very similar to a plan you may use, but when you step back and see how they manage their multiple languages, you will realise they plan a lot.

Most polyglots have a very intense system to help them learn and to practice languages they already know.

If you want to learn multiple languages you need to be well organised as it can be a real balancing act at times.

This all comes through experience and as they learn and try things out they slowly shape their plan and schedule to fit around their life.

Polyglots Use The Laddering Technique

A lot of polyglots use a technique called laddering, which helps them learn more than one language at once.

The technique is pretty simple; they just learn a new language through a language they already know. Let’s say they are an English speaker, but they also speak German. Now if they want to go and learn French …they would use resources in German to do this.

This way they are learning the new language (French) but also getting practice with one of their languages (German). The best part is that after they learn French, they could go on to use this to learn Spanish for example.

There is also nothing stopping them using both English and German to learn French in this example, but you can see the general idea of how you can use one language to learn another so that you are both learning one and practicing the other at the same time.    

(You can read more about – What Is Language Stacking? (Laddering))

Polyglots Stay Consistent

A huge thing you will notice with polyglots is that they are consistent.

They show up every day and put the effort in. It takes an incredible effort to learn multiple languages and you need consistency to make this happen.

Many people give up long before they see success, but not polyglots, they just keep going and going and this is what gets them there.

If you want to study like them, just be consistent and you will see the same results.

They Make Languages Apart of Their Life

As I just mentioned, polyglots will study consistently and they do this by making it a part of their life.

Everything they do usually revolves around their languages. This helps them be both consistent and also allows them to spend a large amount of time on it.

These two things contribute to polyglots being able to spend a lot of time on their language. The real secret to getting good at anything, especially a language, is just spending a lot of time on it.

Polyglots simply spend a lot of time on their languages. 

(You can read more about – The Importance Of Making Your New Language Apart Of Your Daily Life)

Some Polyglots Start Learning Languages Young

Some polyglots do have the advantage of starting young. As I just mentioned, the more time you spend on language, the better you will get, so of course if you start young you are going to be pretty good by the time you are a young adult.

Some people just grow up in an environment where they are exposed to multiple languages and it is true that when you are a kid you will absorb languages a lot easier.

If you are aware of the popular youtuber Pewdiepie, he is a Swedish native speaker and married to a native Italian. They both speak English and I think that is how they communicate. Anyway, they live in Japan now and have recently had a baby. …so this child is going to have access to Swedish, Italian, English and Japanese all from day one.

I don’t know if they will learn all 4 languages, but the potential is there, which is something many of us didn’t have. However, you can find plenty of polyglots who didn’t have this advantage and have still managed to acquire a lot of languages.

Polyglots Know How They Learn

One of the few differences between us and polyglots is that they really understand how they learn. They know what works for them and they really focus on this.

Of course this comes from experience and with every language they learn, they get more experience and become more efficient.

They are happy to experiment and try all sorts of different methods and techniques, but eventually they will work out what is best for them and what gets them the quickest results and they will really lean into this.

There is nothing stopping you doing this when you are learning your first language, you will find something that suits how you learn and it then you can just keep doing more of it and really increase your results.

They Make Their Own Resources

You will also find that polyglots will tend to make their own resources, rather than relying on premade ones.

Anyone who is learning a language for the first time generally wants to have their hand held through the experience, which is understandable. They are more likely to use textbooks or courses and not stay too far from this.

Polyglots are much more open to diving into things on their own. Again this will partly come from experience, but not always. They will naturally mix things together and come up with their own way to study and learn.

(You can read more about – Can You Learn Multiple Languages Through Immersion?)

They Focus On Input

If you where to look at a polyglots plan of action when starting a new language, most times it will lean heavily on input.

They understand that input is important and the more you can absorb, the quicker you can get to grips with things. You will often find that they all like to immerse with videos and reading and really put a huge effort into this up front.

Of course you will find examples of people focusing on speaking early, but I would still say the majority tend to try and focus on a lot of input when they are studying a language.

(You can read more about – What Is Learning A Language By Immersion?)

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can start to see how exactly a polyglot goes about learning a language. While everyone will do it slightly different, they do seem to have all the general characteristics I discussed above.

The important thing to remember is that if they can do it, then so can you. You just need to put in the work like they do, and you will get the same results. 

(You can read more about – Why Do Polyglots Learn So Many Languages?)