How to Learn Several Languages at a Time

Prioritizing Your Language Learning

Choose languages from different language families, or ones that are not very similar. While it may seem helpful to learn two similar languages at once, such as Spanish and Italian, this can result in some confusion if you're not careful. If you have a choice in which languages you learn, choose languages that are different from one another to avoid blending them into one combined language in your mind, or mixing up words or grammar. If you are studying similar languages, avoid studying them in the same study session—separate them by studying them on different days or even on alternating weeks. However, for some people, learning similar languages helps them remember each one better. You can make connections between the two languages that will help you understand each one better.

Choose languages that vary in difficulty. If you have a choice, choose to learn one language that is easier for you, and another or others that are more difficult. An easier language will be one that is similar to your native language or another language that you know, while a more difficult language will be one that is less similar. For English speakers, Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, and French tend to be easier to learn. Languages from the Germanic family, such as German, Dutch, and Swedish, also tend to be easier to learn for English native speakers since English is also a Germanic language. If you decide to learn a Germanic language, you'll find that there are many words similar to their English equivalents. Slavic languages, such as Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish are often challenging for native English speakers due to some unfamiliar grammar concepts. Many Slavic languages use an alphabet called Cyrillic, which isn't very hard to learn. Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean are some of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn, due to different sentence structures and different character sets. Uralic languages, such as Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian, also tend to be difficult for native English speakers, since they have little connection to Indo-European languages (which includes Germanic, Romance, Slavic, and others).

Make one language your priority. It is helpful to prioritize one of the languages, giving it the most time and attention. This way, at the end of your hard work, you are more likely to be skilled in at least one of your languages, rather than only knowing a small amount of each of them. Consider making the language that is the most difficult your priority language. You can also prioritize the language that you are most eager to learn, or the one that has the most urgent time crunch.

Create a detailed schedule to stick to. Time management is very important when you are learning several languages. Schedule how much time will be spent on each language per day or per week. When doing this, allot more time for your priority language. It is up to you how you allocate your time. The most important thing is that you stay consistent and adhere to the schedule you create whenever possible. Try dividing your language-learning activities into different days of the week. On four or five days per week, study your priority language(s). Then, on one or two days per week, schedule time for your secondary language(s).

Streamlining Your Study Time

Translate between the languages you’re learning. One way to keep all the languages you are learning active in your mind is to try translating between them, rather than translating them back to your native language. This can help you to internalize the languages on a deeper level. Try using the easier languages as a point of reference for the more difficult ones. For example, if you are a native English speaker learning Korean and Spanish, translate your Korean words and phrases into Spanish instead of English. For an extra challenge, try writing a passage in one language, and then translating it verbally into a different language.

Make a mixed flashcard deck of all the languages you’re learning. Write words and phrases from your different languages on flashcards and mix them together in a deck. Then, quiz yourself. This will help you to practice jumping back and forth between the various languages.

Invent different personas for the different languages. Create a new personality for yourself when speaking each language. This will help you keep the languages separate in your mind. Acting on the cliches of different languages can work wonderfully for this. For example, if you are practicing French, you can imagine yourself as very romantic. Try pouting your lips and imitating French actors that you see in films. Multilingual people often claim that their personality changes with each language that they speak. You may find this to be true for yourself as you play with different personas and learn to express things in a new way in your new language.

Study the same topic in all of the languages. When possible, try to focus on related content in all languages at one time. This will help your brain to make stronger associations with the words. For example, if you are learning words related to animals in one language, focus on animals in your other languages, too.

Add all of the languages to a language-learning app or website. Several language-learning apps and websites, such as Duolingo, Memrise, Clozemaster, Anki, and Lingvist allow you to add multiple languages at once. Download an app, and then add all of your languages, if they are available on the app or website. This way, when you are on-the-go, you have quick access to a way to study any of the languages you are trying to learn.

Color-code your learning materials. Buy different-colored notebooks, pens, and highlighters for each language that you learn, so that one language is associated with each color. If you are using an online calendar, such as Google Calendar, to schedule your study time, use a different color for each language.

Staying Motivated

Let yourself have fun. Studying multiple languages can feel like a daunting task. To avoid burnout, include some fun language-learning activities into your study time. Watch movies or shows with subtitles in one of the languages you’re learning, listen to music in your new language, explore social media accounts or YouTube videos, or find native speakers of the language that you can talk to and practice with. Joining a local conversation group or language exchange for the languages you’re learning can be a great way to stay motivated and meet new people. You can use a website like meetup.com or your local newspaper to find a group like this. You can also join a virtual language exchange through a website like iTalki.

Integrate your language learning into your daily life. Be sure to schedule time each day to practice at least one of your languages. In addition to the scheduled time, you can label items around your house in the different languages, or change the language settings on your phone and computer. You can also listen to music in your target languages, watch TV shows or movies in the different languages, and consume other media in those languages. Small changes like this will give you little bits of language practice even when you’re not formally studying.

Make a real-world connection. To stay motivated, it helps to have a solid reason for why you want to learn the new languages. Find something that you care about to help you get motivated to keep learning. Some ideas are to plan a trip to a country that speaks one of the languages you’re learning, or join a volunteer group for helping speakers of that language get accustomed to life in your country.

Reward yourself. Don’t forget to celebrate all of your small accomplishments! Allow yourself to take breaks as a reward, or treat yourself to a dessert that is traditional to a country that speaks a language you’re learning. Planning a trip to a country that speaks the language is also a perfect way to reward yourself.