Can You Learn Two Languages At The Same Time?

I am often asked the question “Can I learn two languages at the same time?”. The answer is yes, you can. It is totally possible to do this.

Many people have done it and there has also been many studies to show it’s possible. The real question is …Should you learn two languages at the same time?

The answer to this is a bit more confusing. Basically it depends on a lot of things…

Ultimately if you are starting two new languages at the exact same time, this isn’t a good idea, but if you are already learning one and are quite proficient in it, then you should be able to add a second language without any trouble.

How To Start Learning Two New Languages At The Same Time

If you want to learn two languages at the same time, don’t start them both on the same day. When you start a new language it can take a lot of effort to get a basic grasp of what is going on.

It can be extremely draining and your brain has to work overtime to grasp the concepts of the grammar and structure of the language, let alone try and remember the words. Everything you look at needs processed and trying to do this can take time.

If you try and do this with two languages at the same time it is just going to be too much.

When you start a language it is like building a house of cards. It’s very unstable and can be easily destroyed (you can easily forget things or get confused).

After a while you will start to solidify the language in your brain, so it’s like the house of cards starts to turn to stone. When its like this, it is a lot stronger and easy to maintain. The stone house (your 1st foreign language) can just sit there quite happily and nothing will happen to it while you build your next house of cards (the 2^nd foreign language).

Building one solid language and then keeping it maintained on the side is much easier than building two very unstable languages at the same time.

You should aim to get to an intermediate level with the first language before adding the second. At this point you should have a good basic grip of the language that you can maintain and add to while you also start to dedicate a lot of brain power to the new second language.

(You can read more about – What Are The Pros and Cons Of Learning Two Languages At The Same Time?)

Already Having Other Languages Can Make It Easier To Learn Two Languages At The Same Time

If you already speak a few languages you probably can start learning two new ones at the same time.

Having the experience of already knowing a few languages and the experience of learning them is going to help you massively.

I would still suggest you do one at a time though. Even if you are an experienced language learner you will still benefit from putting all your effort into one and getting to a good level before adding a second new language.

However, let’s be honest, most of you reading this are only starting to learn your first language (after your native language) so you do not have the experience of learning many languages before.

If this is the case, you should definitely be trying to learn one to a strong level before even thinking about adding a second.     

Learn Two Un-Similar Languages At The Same Time

One of the big problems with learning two languages at the same time is that you are likely to get the two confused and muddled up. The easy way around this is to learn two languages that are completely different. This should make it easier to keep everything separate in your brain.

If you are studying Spanish and Italian there is a lot of overlap. While this might seem like a good thing and really efficient, because you are basically learning one thing that can used in both languages, it’s not.

Although they are similar, there will be subtle differences. These differences are going to be too close and you will end up getting them mixed up.

The word for “world” is ‘Mondo’ and ‘Mundo’. Can you tell which one is Spanish and which one is Italian? I’ve no idea and I literally just looked it up 20 seconds ago.

You could argue that they are so close you could probably get away with using either. Maybe, but you know that any one you talk to is just going to think your skills are bad and your pronunciation is terrible. I wouldn’t want to be speaking a language like this.

This is also quite a small difference, but there may be other larger ones that make what you are trying to say turn into some weird mix between Spanish and Italian, which would be understood by neither countries native speakers.  

It is far more sensible to learn two languages that are very different, so for example, Spanish and Chinese. The chances of getting things confused between the two are much lower and you will be able to separate the two much more easily.

Have A Good Language Study Plan In Place For Both Languages

If you are planning to learn two languages you are going to have to get organised.

Learning one language is a massive mission and can take a lot of effort. To try and double this is going take some serious dedication. The only way to make sure this actually happens is to have a really strong plan in place.

You will need to make yourself a study plan and routine that you can stick to and where you can also get a good balance between the two languages.

If you take the time at the start to put this into place, you will end up getting far better results and will be far more efficient.

To just blindly start learning a language never works well, it will be twice as ineffective if you are trying to double your efforts.   

Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin

If you do make a plan and routine, be sure you are not stretching yourself too far.

My guess is you still have a life outside of language learning, so to make sure you are able to balance everything, your time management needs to be very slick.

If your life is too busy and you cannot dedicate the right amount of time to languages, you need to be honest with yourself.

If you are spreading yourself to thin something will have to give. You are either not going to be able to dedicate enough time to languages, or other areas of your life are going to be neglected.

There is also the risk that you become exhausted or burnt out, so make sure you are factoring in rest periods.

Over stretching yourself is going to be really un-enjoyable and make your life a misery which will probably result in you giving up on your learning.

Motivation Is Needed To Learn Two Languages

If you are going to do this, you need extremely high motivation levels.

Learning one language needs a lot of motivation. The feeling of wanting to quit can be very strong at times and having good motivation is one of the things that can keep you going through these rough patches.

With a second language on top of this, you are really going to have to be up for it.

You really need to ask yourself if this is the right thing to do and if you can give it the time and effort it requires.

If you think are up to the challenge and have the right amount of motivation, then definitely go for it.

(You can read more about – How to Keep Motivated When Learning A Language)

Have I Learned Two Languages?

You will probably know from this site that I have learned French, but I also have started learning Japanese. I did exactly what I have said in this post, I got pretty good at French before I even looked at Japanese.

This wasn’t easy and I wanted to start Japanese earlier than I did, but I took the sensible approach to get a little further in French before splitting my time. I would still not call myself fluent in French, but I can get by.

Japanese is very different to French, so I have not had any confusion. The only real issue now I have to split my time between the two, so my progress into Japanese will not be as fast, as I am still spending time immersing in French.

Learning two languages is not easy and it takes a little bit more planing and management, but it is entirely possible. If I can do it, then any one can.

Conclusion

Learning two languages at once is not easy, I really wouldn’t advise it for any one starting out.

If you do want to try it, I would suggest you really try and build up one language to a good level until you feel comfortable with it, before moving on to the next one.

This is just the sensible and most effective way to go about it. There is no reward for saying “I’m learning two languages at once” and technically you still will be, it’s just that you are slightly more ahead in one, compared to the other.

Always remember language learning is a long term thing, there is no rush and you shouldn’t try to hurry it. You can learn multiple languages; it just takes time and effort.

(You can read more about – Advice For Beginner Language Learners)