Should I learn both languages at the same time?
French and Spanish
I already started a little bit Spanish cause Im really interested in it since young, I dont know why. Maybe cause it sounds sexy.
French cause I will maybe get into the art industry-architecture/fashion later in my life and my father told me that french is really useful in art industry. Is that true?
So should I learn both of them at the same time? Will I be confused? Or should I learn one for like 5 years then start learning another one after that? If I should wait before learning another one, which one should I learn first?
And where is a good site to learn French? I really wish there's a FrenchDict as good as this.
8 Answers
I agree with lorenzo9, French and Spanish are a bit close to try at the same time. When I started at Spanish, the little bit of German I retained from high school/college would keep coming up and that is not even particularly close. If you are really good at languages, or already know more than 1, you could try, but my recommendation otherwise would be to give some time between them.
My short answer is ... Yes.
The long answer - in this case, what is really important is how you learn them. French and spanish have important similarities in both grammar and vocabulary (but NOT pronunciation), and this can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. If you are at beginner level in both French and Spanish, and you want to learn both at the same time, you need to really focus on pronunciation, as this often will be the only way that your brain will instantly be able to tell whether a word is french or spanish, apart from being just "foreign". This will stop you getting confused. Once this becomes automatic, the similarities in vocabulary and grammar will help you remember phrases in both languages more easily.
Source: I studied for a year in Paris, and started learning spanish during that time.
Go for the gusto, girl! You can always drop one if it gets too tough, and pick it up later, ¿no?
No biggie.
It really depends on how you learn languages. Languages are very difficult for me, so it would be too confusing to do both at the same time. I frequently go to public places in order to practice Spanish and have met a number of Spanish speakers that want to practice their English, which is fine with me, but a few are also learning French and try to get me to dredge up what little remains of my French after 30 years of neglect. This really interferes with my Spanish learning, so I try to avoid it.
It can be done. I knew a guy in Caracas who moved there only knowing Serbian. Within 6 months he was conversational in both English and Spanish. Is it easy? No.
When I moved back to the U.S. from Caracas I took French in college. Spanish words kept popping out when I tried to talk French, much to the amusement of my classmates and the disdain of my French professor. She also told me I spoke French with a Spanish accent.
Hi there. I have been having the same debate. I learnt French at school (for GCSE) but haven't used it for over 10 years. I'd like to pick it back up but I really need to learn Spanish.
I found that when I first started learning Spanish, French words popped up. This hasn't been a problem for ages, until a French girl joined my Spanish class and to help her out, I tried to think of words in French - then for a while, French words kept popping up!
Similarly, when I tried to speak French on holiday last summer, Spanish seemed to get in the way!
From other people I've spoken to, this does seem to be quite a common issue. However, starting both from scratch at the same time might be a good idea. This may be a very bold statement but I suspect languages interfere more when you already have some knowledge. Studies of children have found that those that learn two languages from birth take much longer to start talking, but when they do, they advance far more quickly (in both).
I would suggest giving it a go, then if you find it too difficult, drop one of them and start again when you are reasonably confident in the language you chose. I hope this helps you make a decision, and good luck!
No. Do not learn both at the same time.
You can if you want, but it is quicker, better, more efficient and more rewarding to learn 1 first, then the other.
If after x amount of time you speak half French, half Spanish you wont be able to show off as much nor immerse yourself, nor enjoy the advantages of fluency.
But if you put all that half French energy into Spanish, or vice versa you will, after the same ammount of time (or less) be able to speak enough Spanish to be able to go around, show off, immerse yourself, and at that point switch to French, which will in turn be a lot easier, since you already know Spainsh.
I studied Spanish for three years in high school and then took French the last year. I found this to be a very good way. It made French so much easier to learn because I already had a lot of knowledge and skills about how to learn a language and understanding the structure of a language. With only one year of French and many years since I have studied it, I may not be able to speak much of it any more, but I can read it fairly well and also understand alot of it if I see a play or movie in French.
While I was studying Spanish, my sister was studying French and vice versa. We used to teach each other and also write notes to each other in French and Spanish to see if the other could decipher it. After a short time, we were both reading in both languages.
My senior year I was in a play that involved learning some Italian. Through that I gained some basic understanding of how to pronounce Italian. With my prior knowledge of Spanish and French, this unlocked Italian for me so that I can read it and understand some basic Italian.
It seems the more languages you learn, the easier it becomes to learn new ones, especially the romance languages. It also improves your English grammer as you have a much better understanding of the structure of languages. The only word I still get confused about is that I always seem to call pepper "poivre" when speaking Spanish. I just can't seem to get pimiento to stick to my tongue.
I also study Ojibwe, a Native American language. Now while I was beginning to study Ojibwe, I was also living in a very Hispanic neighborhood. Sometimes I would be talking on the phone with a friend in Ojibwe, and would answer the door with a neighbor who only spoke Spanish. This made for some confusing and comic moments. I am sure I sounded like I was talking jibberish to both people.
Right now I am really trying to focus on improving my Spanish. I want to take it to the next level. So I have had to set my Ojibwe aside temporarily. I would say that if you are pushing to make significant gains in a language, it is better to focus on just that one language for a while. I would probably hesitate to take French and Spanish during the same semester, but alternating between them might be very helpful. It would reinforce grammar rules that are the same between the two languages and highlight the differences.
