How to Learn 2 Languages (or More) at the Same Time

Summary

This video offers a unique approach to learning multiple languages simultaneously by introducing the concept of 'language personalities' to avoid confusion between languages. The speaker shares personal experiences learning Mandarin and Arabic, emphasizing the importance of embracing distinct identities for each language to enhance learning. The video suggests using platforms like Preply to find native tutors for practice and recommends a cyclical learning strategy of advancing one language while maintaining others. It also touches on the principle of separation to keep languages distinct in the learner's mind for effective learning.

Takeaways

• 😀 Learning multiple languages simultaneously is possible and can be achieved by following specific principles.
• 🎭 The concept of 'language personalities' helps to distinguish between languages, preventing confusion and enhancing learning.
• 🌟 Embracing different identities for each language can lead to a more sophisticated and nuanced language learning experience.
• 🔄 The speaker found that leaning into these language identities helped to avoid mixing up languages in their mind.
• 📚 Developing a 'language personality' for each language aids in organizing linguistic data and switching between languages more easily.
• 🗣️ Practicing language learning by speaking with others is crucial, and hiring native tutors on platforms like Preply can provide personalized guidance.
• 🔗 Preply offers one-on-one lessons that cater to the learner's pace and proficiency level, which is beneficial for learning multiple languages.
• 💰 A special offer for half off the first lesson on Preply is available for those interested in language learning.
• 🔄 The principle of 'advance and maintain' suggests focusing on one language at a time while keeping the others active, rather than dividing time equally.
• ⏸️ Taking a complete break from a language and then returning can lead to surprising improvements, despite initial rustiness.
• 🚫 The importance of 'separation' in language learning is emphasized, suggesting that learning very similar languages or starting all from zero can be less effective.
• 📝 It's recommended to keep a distance between study sessions of different languages to maintain their distinctness in the learner's mind.

Q & A

Is it possible to learn multiple languages simultaneously according to the video?

Yes, the video suggests that it is absolutely possible to learn two, three, or even four languages at the same time.

What was the speaker's initial dilemma regarding language learning?

The speaker was indecisive about whether to learn Mandarin or Arabic and found the indecision was driving them crazy.

What are the three key principles the speaker followed to learn multiple languages?

The three key principles are language personalities, maximizing output by practicing with native speakers, and the principle of advance and maintain.

What does the concept of 'language personalities' refer to in the video?

Language personalities refer to the different feelings and identities one might adopt when speaking different languages, which can help prevent language mix-ups.

How does the speaker describe the feeling of having a language personality?

The speaker describes it as a subtle change in how they feel and behave when speaking a particular language, influencing their body language and overall demeanor.

Why is it beneficial to cultivate language personalities when learning multiple languages?

Cultivating language personalities helps the brain to assign data to specific feelings, making it easier to switch between languages without confusion.

What is the recommendation for practicing language learning in the video?

The speaker recommends hiring native tutors on Preply to guide, push, and help enjoy the language learning process.

What is the principle of 'advance and maintain' as described in the video?

The principle of 'advance and maintain' suggests focusing on advancing one language while maintaining the others in cycles, rather than dividing time equally among all languages.

Why is it suggested to take a complete break from studying a language according to the video?

Taking a break from a language can lead to surprising improvements upon returning to it, as the subconscious continues to process the information.

What is the importance of 'separation' when learning multiple languages?

Separation is crucial to keep the languages distinct in one's mind, which can be achieved by learning very different languages or maintaining proficiency level differences.

How can one effectively separate languages during study sessions?

One can effectively separate languages by studying them on different days or by having longer sessions for one language followed by the other, avoiding back-to-back study sessions.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Embracing Language Personalities for Multilingual Learning

The speaker shares personal experience in learning Mandarin and Arabic simultaneously, highlighting the concept of 'language personalities'. This involves embracing the different identities and feelings associated with each language, which helps to avoid confusion and mix-ups between languages. The speaker suggests that by cultivating these distinct personalities, learners can effectively separate the data for each language in their subconscious, making it easier to switch between languages without interference.

05:02

📈 Maximizing Language Learning Efficiency with Preply Tutors

The video script emphasizes the importance of practicing language learning through speaking with others, recommending the use of native tutors from Preply. The speaker explains that learning multiple languages simultaneously is challenging and requires guidance from experts. Preply tutors are praised for offering personalized, one-on-one lessons that cater to the learner's pace and proficiency level. The speaker also provides a promotional link for a discount on the first lesson, encouraging viewers to invest in language learning for the best results.

🔄 The Cycle of Advancing and Maintaining in Language Learning

The speaker introduces a strategy for efficiently learning multiple languages, which involves focusing on advancing one language while maintaining the others in cycles. This approach is contrasted with the idea of evenly dividing study time among languages. The speaker shares personal insights that taking breaks from a language can lead to surprising improvements upon returning to it, suggesting that the subconscious continues to process language information even during periods of rest.

🚫 The Principle of Separation in Distinguishing Multiple Languages

The final paragraph discusses the importance of keeping distinct boundaries between languages when learning multiple languages at once. The speaker advises against learning languages that are too similar to avoid confusion and suggests that having different proficiency levels can also aid in separation. Practical tips for maintaining separation include varying study schedules and finding personalized strategies. The speaker invites viewers to subscribe for more language learning content and encourages questions and comments, fostering a community of language learners.

Keywords

💡Language Personalities

Language personalities refer to the unique identity or character one feels when speaking a different language. In the video, the concept is introduced as a game-changer for polyglots, suggesting that adopting a different language personality can help prevent language mix-ups and facilitate the learning process. For example, the speaker feels more sophisticated when speaking French and more playful when speaking Arabic.

💡GameChanger

The term 'GameChanger' is used to describe something that significantly alters the status quo or the way something is done. In the context of the video, language personalities are a 'GameChanger' for learning multiple languages simultaneously, as they help to differentiate and compartmentalize the learning of each language.

💡Subconscious

The subconscious is the part of the mind that operates below the level of consciousness, influencing one's thoughts and actions without direct awareness. The video discusses how the subconscious can struggle to separate languages when learning multiple languages at once, but by developing language personalities, the subconscious can more easily distinguish between them.

💡Maximizing Output

Maximizing output in the video refers to the efficient use of language learning time by practicing speaking with others, which helps to solidify language skills. The speaker recommends hiring native tutors on Preply to ensure that language learning is tailored to the individual's pace and proficiency level.

💡Preply

Preply is an online platform mentioned in the video where one can hire native tutors for language learning. It is highlighted as a resource for guided learning, which is crucial when learning multiple languages due to the complexity of the task.

💡Holistic Process

A holistic process considers the whole system or entity rather than just individual parts. In language learning, as described in the video, a holistic approach involves immersing oneself in the language with all new information—sounds, words, sentence structures—coming from one source at a time, which aids in better language acquisition.

💡Advance and Maintain

The principle of 'Advance and Maintain' suggests that when learning multiple languages, one should focus on advancing one language while maintaining proficiency in the others. This cyclical approach is recommended over equal division of time and effort, as it allows for deeper learning and retention.

💡Separation

Separation in the context of the video means keeping the languages distinct in one's mind to avoid confusion. This is achieved by choosing languages that are very different from each other, maintaining different proficiency levels, and scheduling study time for each language separately to ensure clear distinctions.

💡Proficiency Levels

Proficiency levels refer to the degree of skill or competence in a particular area, in this case, language learning. The video suggests that having different proficiency levels for each language can aid in separation and make the learning process more manageable.

💡Cycles

Cycles in the video refer to the recurring pattern of advancing one language while maintaining others. This concept is integral to the 'Advance and Maintain' strategy, where language learners cycle through periods of intense focus on one language followed by periods of less intense study to maintain the others.

💡Rustiness

Rustiness in language learning is the loss of fluency or skill due to lack of practice over time. The video mentions that taking a break from a language and then returning to it can surprisingly lead to improved understanding and comfort, despite initial rustiness.

Highlights

It's possible to learn two, three, or even four languages simultaneously.

The speaker learned Mandarin and Arabic, two of the most challenging languages for English speakers, at the same time.

Three key principles for learning multiple languages are discussed in the video.

The concept of 'language personalities' is introduced as a game-changer for multilingual learning.

Different languages can evoke different versions of oneself, influencing behavior and body language.

Language personalities help prevent language mix-up in the learning process.

Cultivating language personalities provides a mental framework for language data.

Maximizing output is essential, and practicing by speaking with others is recommended.

Hiring native tutors on Preply is suggested for personalized language learning.

Preply offers one-on-one lessons tailored to the learner's pace and level.

A special offer for half off the first Preply lesson is mentioned.

Learning languages in cycles, advancing one while maintaining others, is more effective than equal division of time.

Taking breaks from a language can lead to surprising improvements upon returning to it.

The importance of keeping languages distinct in one's mind to avoid confusion is emphasized.

Learning languages that are very different from each other can be more effective.

Maintaining proficiency level separation between languages can aid in the learning process.

Strategies for building separation into language learning practices are discussed.

An invitation for viewers to subscribe for more language learning content is extended.

The video concludes with an invitation for questions and comments from the audience.

Transcripts

yes you can absolutely learn Two Three

or even four languages at the same time

and in this video I'll show you how to

do it seven years ago I couldn't decide

if I wanted to learn Mandarin or Arabic

I kept going back and forth it was

driving me crazy and eventually I

realized that the only way I would be

happy was if I learned both of them two

of the hardest languages for English

speakers at the same time

ald and only reason I was able to do

that was because I followed three key

principles that I'm going to share with

you right now language personalities

this concept might sound a little

bizarre but if you're learning two or

more languages it's a complete

GameChanger in one of my other videos I

talked about how speaking another

language can actually make you feel like

a slightly different version of yourself

for instance when I speak French I tend

to feel a bit more sophisticated and

worldly and I've even noticed that my

body language starts to become a little

more fluid

whereas when I speak Arabic I feel more

playful and relaxed and I've even

noticed that my body language becomes a

little Bolder and

bigger now look it's not always a huge

change it can be very subtle and it's

mostly something that I just kind of

feel in myself and I call that feeling a

language personality and when I realize

that these different language

personalities exist in me it completely

changed the way that I learn languages

because when I started leaning into

these various identities I found that I

stopped getting different languages

mixed up in my head and maybe you've

even had this experience you're learning

two languages but when you try to speak

one the other one keeps trying to pop

in no no no um

no and that's because your subconscious

is having trouble separating the

languages where does one stop and the

other ones start but by allowing

yourself to have different language

personalities you're basically giving

your subconscious big sticky boards for

all the different data okay French we're

going to take all the words The Sounds

the rules and stick it to this

personality Japanese we're going to take

all that data Stick it to that

personality German great we're going to

stick it to this personality are you

getting the idea here we want to

cultivate the feeling of a language the

personality so that your brain can then

assign data to that feeling and then

when you want to speak or learn a

different language it's easy to make the

switch you simply lean into that

different personality maximizing output

now as you build your language

personalities it's essential that you

put that learning into practice by

actually speaking with other people and

to do that I would highly recommend that

you hire native tutors on prep Ley who

speak your target languages here's why

learning two or more languages at the

same time is really hard and you need

people who can guide you who can push

you and who can help you enjoy the

process and in my experience preply

tutors are the best of the best I have a

mandarin tutor on preply an Arabic tutor

a Japanese tutor a Spanish tutor and

because preply lessons are all one to

one I'm always learning at exactly my

speed and my level and right now you can

get half off your first lesson on prep

Ley by clicking the link in the

description box below if you're serious

about learning a new language it's the

best investment of your time and money

advance and maintain okay you might

think that consistently dividing your

time between two or more languages would

be the most efficient way to get better

over time it's it's not definitely not

language learning is a holistic

subconscious process you're throwing a

lot of new information at your brain new

sounds new words new sentence structures

and over the short term that information

needs to be aligned to be coming from

One Source One language so rather than

learning like this with equal time and

equal effort we want to instead Advance

one language while maintaining the other

in Cycles back and forth back and forth

and if you're studying three or more

languages it's the same idea Advance

maintain Advance maintain and I've

actually found that when I take a

complete break from studying a language

going a month or two months or six

months with zero practice that when I

come back to it I'm surprisingly better

sure I'll be rusty with a Little vocab

but after some time off I always find

that I can understand and speak a new

language much more comfortably I'm

interested to know if other people have

had this experience as well so if you

have please leave a comment and let me

know the principle of Separation there's

one more key concept here that I want to

cover separation if you're learning two

or more languages at the same time it's

very important that they remain as

distinct as possible in your mind now

this idea plays into language

personalities and the principle of

advance and maintain but there's much

more to it than that for starters you'll

learn two languages more effectively if

the languages themselves are very

different from one another for example I

wouldn't recommend learning say Spanish

and Italian at the same time because

there's so much overlap that you're so

conscious will need to work over time to

keep each language in its own lane

likewise it's also helpful if your

proficiency levels also have some

separation for example learning two

languages from zero is much more

difficult than learning one from zero

and one from an intermediate level and

even as you study it's helpful to keep

some distance between your target

languages so rather than doing say 30

minutes of French followed by 30 minutes

of Mandarin back to back do an hour of

French one day and an hour of Mander in

the next and there are plenty of other

ways to build separation into your

language learning practice so you should

find what works best for you and your

learning style if you'd like to see more

videos about languages and language

learning please consider subscribing and

if you have any questions or comments

I'd love to hear them thanks for

watching see you soon