Learning Languages Through Your Second Language

[whitewashedblackguy]

So I want to learn a few different languages: I'm learning Spanish, next is French, then it's Portuguese, then Korean. That's a lot. But what I'm wondering is, is it possible to learn your third language through your second, and so on and so on. Does anyone have experience with this? What languages have yall learned like this? I would love to hear about it.

 

[Seth_Rose]

Sure, learning one Romance language for example will lend itself to others. I'm studying Romanian, and having studied Spanish and Russian I feel like I have a pretty good base.

What are your goals though? What level do you want to achieve with these languages (e.g. A2, C1 etc.)

I wouldn't get too far ahead of yourself planning to learn 5 languages. If you have a strong desire to learn Romance languages, that would make sense.

 

[scotian]

Being fluent in French helped me learn Spanish a lot because of the similarities in grammar structure with Latin languages, there’s lots of similar words too so picking up vocabulary was easier to. My advice is to focus on one language at a time, I suggest Spanish.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

Sure, learning one Romance language for example will lend itself to others. I'm studying Romanian, and having studied Spanish and Russian I feel like I have a pretty good base.

What are your goals though? What level do you want to achieve with these languages (e.g. A2, C1 etc.)

I wouldn't get too far ahead of yourself planning to learn 5 languages. If you have a strong desire to learn Romance languages, that would make sense.

I want to get as close to native as possible, which i hear is like 10000 words. My thought process is to get to a near native level with Spanish, then learn french through a Spanish-french book, and so on. Are you learning Romanian through English or through a Spanish/Russian book? That's what I'm most curious about.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

Being fluent in French helped me learn Spanish a lot because of the similarities in grammar structure with Latin languages, there’s lots of similar words too so picking up vocabulary was easier to. My advice is to focus on one language at a time, I suggest Spanish.

That's the plan. I'm not moving on to french till I've been immersed for a year or so. The shitty thing is going to be korean, but I really want to learn it so...

 

[scotian]

Don’t get in over your head with this stuff, just take small steps and keep your goals realistic and achievable. So start with Spanish and go immerse yourself in Colombia or wherever for a few months, who knows, you may knock up an Afro Colombiana cutie then suddenly learning French or Korean won’t be much of a priority.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

Don’t get in over your head with this stuff, just take small steps and keep your goals realistic and achievable. So start with Spanish and go immerse yourself in Colombia or wherever for a few months, who knows, you may knock up an Afro Colombiana cutie then suddenly learning French or Korean won’t be much of a priority.

Maybe. I want to learn them as a cool useful hobby, but maybe I'll be happy with just one if that ends up happening. In any case, I don't plan on learning french until I've got Spanish under my belt.

Korean would really be a useless language for me, but I want to learn cuz I'm part Korean. It would be for shits and giggles

 

[MikeS]

Of course, though it obviously depends on your level in your second language. I've been fluent in English the last couple of decades and have been communicating in it daily the last six years, so it's no more challenging to use that instead of my native Danish to learn another language.
And in fact with Bulgarian, since I currently live in Bulgaria, I suspect it would be difficult to get hold of Danish-Bulgarian material - I never tried looking. Even English-Bulgarian options are slightly sparse.

 

[TigerMandingo]

Is it really possible to be fluent in more than 2 languages? And by fluent I mean you have very solid conversational skills, no pauses, able to read academic-level literature etc. I speak 3 languages, but only 2 of them are high-level fluent.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

Is it really possible to be fluent in more than 2 languages? And by fluent I mean you have very solid conversational skills, no pauses, able to read academic-level literature etc. I speak 3 languages, but only 2 of them are high-level fluent.

I would like to think so. While I think the whole hyperglot thing is bullshit, maybe if we have the chance to immerse ourselves in each language, it's possible to be close to native in every one. Kinda like knowing multiple coding languages or multiple instruments.

 

[911]

Is it really possible to be fluent in more than 2 languages? And by fluent I mean you have very solid conversational skills, no pauses, able to read academic-level literature etc. I speak 3 languages, but only 2 of them are high-level fluent.

It's easy enough if you're from a mixed background. A good friend of mine who is German Canadian married a Japanese girl, his kids are already fully quadrilingual at age 10 (French and English on top of Japanese and German).

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

Yea, I don’t think I can do that boss

 

[Obermarschall]

I would like to add a few points; French is a Romance language yes, but a very difficult one. I learned it since I was 8 or 9 and until now I still have difficulties with it. But when I learned Italian or Spanish they were somehow easier and I just didn't try to learn it through French you know. So in order to learn French, you need to somehow learn it by heart. There are so many exceptions, so many unique cases in the French language which makes it hard. There is a reason why French people can't speak a second language...so keep that in mind.

Another issue is that Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are so close to each other that you will easily mix them up, you need to clearly separate them. Keep Portuguese more at the end when you can clearly separate it from Spanish and once your Spanish is solid. Trust me, it will help you a lot.

I would also recommend German instead of Portuguese. With German you can travel across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, eastern parts of Belgium, Northern Italy and even some places in Eastern Europe. It is also, from an economical point of view, a very important language. More people in Europe speak German than French.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

I would like to add a few points; French is a Romance language yes, but a very difficult one. I learned it since I was 8 or 9 and until now I still have difficulties with it. But when I learned Italian or Spanish they were somehow easier and I just didn't try to learn it through French you know. So in order to learn French, you need to somehow learn it by heart. There are so many exceptions, so many unique cases in the French language which makes it hard. There is a reason why French people can't speak a second language...so keep that in mind.

Another issue is that Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are so close to each other that you will easily mix them up, you need to clearly separate them. Keep Portuguese more at the end when you can clearly separate it from Spanish and once your Spanish is solid. Trust me, it will help you a lot.

I would also recommend German instead of Portuguese. With German you can travel across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, eastern parts of Belgium, Northern Italy and even some places in Eastern Europe. It is also, from an economical point of view, a very important language. More people in Europe speak German than French.

I know french is hard, but I have some good sources to explain all the rules for me. Not saying it'll be easy, but I'm aware. Also, I'm not sure about France, but a shit ton of the Quebecs are English/French Bilingual

Yeah, I'm not learning anything that closely related until I have the first language on lock. French would be spacer.

I don't know. I'm not really interested in any of those places except Switzerland. I want Portuguese for Brazil although I may change my mind about that down the road. But, I can see the importance from a economic POV. It would be easier to find french speaker though. I believe more travel to the states, and I've for sure seen more in Mexico than Germans.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

Something else that's bugging me, half of the places mentioned by Obermarschall speak French as a second language, so I could learn french and go to Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Belgium. I would also like to point out that us Anglo's are actually the worst when it comes to learning a foreign language. It's us English speakers that don't bother with a second language.

 

[Seth_Rose]

Sure, learning one Romance language for example will lend itself to others. I'm studying Romanian, and having studied Spanish and Russian I feel like I have a pretty good base.

What are your goals though? What level do you want to achieve with these languages (e.g. A2, C1 etc.)

I wouldn't get too far ahead of yourself planning to learn 5 languages. If you have a strong desire to learn Romance languages, that would make sense.

I want to get as close to native as possible, which i hear is like 10000 words. My thought process is to get to a near native level with Spanish, then learn french through a Spanish-french book, and so on. Are you learning Romanian through English or through a Spanish/Russian book? That's what I'm most curious about.

Using an English language book. Actually didn't strike me to use a Spanish-Romanian book.

But my Spanish is that developed yet. Just knowing a few thousand words though goes a long way.

 

[bucky]

Sure, learning one Romance language for example will lend itself to others. I'm studying Romanian, and having studied Spanish and Russian I feel like I have a pretty good base.

What are your goals though? What level do you want to achieve with these languages (e.g. A2, C1 etc.)

I wouldn't get too far ahead of yourself planning to learn 5 languages. If you have a strong desire to learn Romance languages, that would make sense.

I want to get as close to native as possible, which i hear is like 10000 words. My thought process is to get to a near native level with Spanish, then learn french through a Spanish-french book, and so on. Are you learning Romanian through English or through a Spanish/Russian book? That's what I'm most curious about.

Using an English language book. Actually didn't strike me to use a Spanish-Romanian book.

But my Spanish is that developed yet. Just knowing a few thousand words though goes a long way.

I wonder if there are even any materials available for Spanish speakers to learn Romanian. Even in English once you move away from the "big" languages like Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic the amount of material available drops off dramatically. It's one of the things that's always kept me focused on the major languages, as interesting as learning something obscure like Welsh or Georgian might be.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

I don't think there is a book like that. I'm sure there's a Russian Romanian book though, cuz of the Slav influence

This techinque I'm talking about actually has a name, it's called 'laddering'

https://bilingua.io/laddering-technique-in-language-learning-plan

 

[BigFellow]

I don't think there is a book like that. I'm sure there's a Russian Romanian book though, cuz of the Slav influence

This techinque I'm talking about actually has a name, it's called 'laddering'

https://bilingua.io/laddering-technique-in-language-learning-plan

I have been studying Russian. My Spanish is at a high level, so I bought a Spanish-Russian book. That way I learn Russian while polishing and continuing to practice my Spanish. The problem is it's pretty expensive to find books/tapes like that. You often will have to order them from another country. Most of the Russian language learning books and audio available in the U.S. is in English. Sometimes I make flash cards with the Russian word on one side and Spanish word on the other side.

 

[whitewashedblackguy]

I have been studying Russian. My Spanish is at a high level, so I bought a Spanish-Russian book. That way I learn Russian while polishing and continuing to practice my Spanish. The problem is it's pretty expensive to find books/tapes like that. You often will have to order them from another country. Most of the Russian language learning books and audio available in the U.S. is in English. Sometimes I make flash cards with the Russian word on one side and Spanish word on the other side.

Yep, that's the idea!

edit: some more info on laddering languages here