Serial Bilingualism and Language Cross-Training
I've written about serial bilingualism - losing an old language when you take up a new one, instead of adding to the number of languages you speak - before (here, for example). The question then, as always, is what to do about it. The other day, Steve of The Linguist fame had a short post on cross-training. He notes:
A lot of polyglots need a little refresher before going off to a country where they speak a language that the polyglot hasn't used in a while. Steve's suggestion of cross-training is a good training. It keeps the brain on its toes (there's a picture!) about which language is being used. It gets the brain used to sorting out linguistic data, as opposed to just lazily assimilating meaning according to one linguistic system. And, I suspect, it improves one's stronger languages because the brain figures out new things about language that it would have missed if it were allowed to just lazily assimilate meaning. If you've ever read a book (in your own language) that sent you scrambling to the dictionary on a regular basis, you probably noticed a similar increased attentiveness to how language is being used.
The last few weeks, I've been playing with multiple languages again. I've been studying Italian and Spanish, plodding through the end of Michel Thomas Mandarin and listening to a bit of Michel Thomas Arabic. It was a bit rough at first. What I've found, though, is that after a week of listening to both Pimsleur Spanish and Pimsleur Italian (both review at this point), my Italian and Spanish both feel a little stronger and they're running together less and less. My brain is now used to the idea these languages happen in the same day, and that I have to engage them both actively. This is a contrast with listening to music, where if your store of vocabulary is good enough you can listen to either and understand without paying a lot of attention to which one you're listening to at the moment.
If you want to be a polyglot, it's not enough to learn a lot of languages. You have to be able to call them up on short notice. In the past, I would have counseled someone learning Italian who speaks Spanish already to stay away from Spanish so they don't get confused. But now I'm thinking, if you're ambitious enough to keep both when you're learning Italian you should probably do ten or fifteen minutes review of Spanish every day at the same time. In the short run, it will make it harder, but in the long run, you'll have both languages and your brain will be used to having to know the difference.
And yes, Steve, if you want an affordable approach to working with multiple languages at the same time, LingQ is well worth checking out.
I think everyone at LingQ should spend 10- 20% of their time on a minor language in order to get better results at their major language.I believe that it stretches the brain, refreshes it, challenges it, and make the brain better fit and more eager to engage the major target language again.When the brain engages language, there's a lot going on. With a language you're weak in, it has to first figure out which language, then translate, then see if the translation makes any sense while decoding. Even with a stronger language, you need a second to say, "Which language was I speaking again?" I've written before about small children refusing to stay bilingual if they don't have to, and about adults facing their own strains too. I think there's another element, though, and that's getting in the habit of switching languages.
A lot of polyglots need a little refresher before going off to a country where they speak a language that the polyglot hasn't used in a while. Steve's suggestion of cross-training is a good training. It keeps the brain on its toes (there's a picture!) about which language is being used. It gets the brain used to sorting out linguistic data, as opposed to just lazily assimilating meaning according to one linguistic system. And, I suspect, it improves one's stronger languages because the brain figures out new things about language that it would have missed if it were allowed to just lazily assimilate meaning. If you've ever read a book (in your own language) that sent you scrambling to the dictionary on a regular basis, you probably noticed a similar increased attentiveness to how language is being used.
The last few weeks, I've been playing with multiple languages again. I've been studying Italian and Spanish, plodding through the end of Michel Thomas Mandarin and listening to a bit of Michel Thomas Arabic. It was a bit rough at first. What I've found, though, is that after a week of listening to both Pimsleur Spanish and Pimsleur Italian (both review at this point), my Italian and Spanish both feel a little stronger and they're running together less and less. My brain is now used to the idea these languages happen in the same day, and that I have to engage them both actively. This is a contrast with listening to music, where if your store of vocabulary is good enough you can listen to either and understand without paying a lot of attention to which one you're listening to at the moment.
If you want to be a polyglot, it's not enough to learn a lot of languages. You have to be able to call them up on short notice. In the past, I would have counseled someone learning Italian who speaks Spanish already to stay away from Spanish so they don't get confused. But now I'm thinking, if you're ambitious enough to keep both when you're learning Italian you should probably do ten or fifteen minutes review of Spanish every day at the same time. In the short run, it will make it harder, but in the long run, you'll have both languages and your brain will be used to having to know the difference.
And yes, Steve, if you want an affordable approach to working with multiple languages at the same time, LingQ is well worth checking out.
2 Comments:
I agree; counseling someone to stay away from Spanish (if they speak it somewhat but not natively) while learning Italian is exactly the wrong advice if the want to hold onto their Spanish.
When hearing from people who complain one language is pushing out another, I ask them if they are making sure to maintain the first language by using it on a regular basis. The answer is invariably that they aren't.
It's not so hard to train your brain to get used to switching back and forth between languages. I used to have trouble with this when I first started learning different languages, but now I can switch back and forth with little interference. This is despite the fact that some of the languages (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian; German, Yiddish) are closely related. The secret is to constantly be using your various languages whenever you can and not to let one slip by the wayside. ("Using", as Steve will be the first tell you, also includes pure input, of course).
boredstrakhirstatistiker,
Thanks for the comment. It should be an inspiration to get to work for those who fall back on excuses about interference!
I see you are, or have been, a devotee of Pimsleur as well. Have you given up on the blog, though, or moved? You had some nice commentary, especially for learning in concert with other people.
Best,
Geoff
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home