I'm studying 7 languages in 2022 (and you should too!)

No I'm not joking. I will be studying 7 foreign languages in 2022. I'll explain why.
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Language learning videos, tips and techniques!
• How To Learn Languages
OK if you've reached the end of the description then you really need something to do.
Tell me how I made the thumbnail in the comments! (Hint: It's not photoshopped, but actually holding such heavy books isn't actually practical for such a photo because they would wobble fall and just generally be a pain... So how did I do this?)

[@daysandwords]

Hold my beer... And let me know what language or languages you might dabble in 2022!

[@PewPewPlasmagun]

I MIGHT try to renew my learning of basic Hindi/Urdu

[@tn98544]

We want to see a shoey

[@ZiraRisasi]

Türkçe

[@akonni2]

French and Russian

[@rattlehead001]

I might try German.

[@coremitsi922]

Lamont in 2021: I'm studying only one language to get really good at it Lamont in 2022: 7 languages it is

[@daysandwords]

I plead guilty with extenuating circumstances.

[@DNA350ppm]

That's the point of keeping an eye on him, one never knows what mischief he has gotten into! :-) Good point, CoreMitsi!

[@coremitsi922]

@@daysandwords I bet in December of 2022 you'll upload a video titled "Australian surprises locals in Thailand by speaking 22 languages". Jokes aside, I love your videos. They're very motivating.

[@daysandwords]

@@fallout4smallcustomization330 You do realise I am not actually doing this 7 languages in 2022 thing for views, right? I was pleading guilty to saying the opposite of what I said a year ago (and doing so jokingly). It seems you think I was pleading guilty to clickbaiting the audience. I WILL at some point make a super clickbaity video, but this isn't it.

[@daysandwords]

@@fallout4smallcustomization330 Right, well, regardless of YOUR intentions here, you're coming across as more than a little self-righteous. Saying that there is a fault with me, my audience, my approach to languages etc. Try to look at it from my point of view and ask yourself why you'd even bother engaging with these comments.

[@Livakivi]

The point at 2:15 about people forgetting what's it like to be a beginner in a language is extremely important to understand, I've wanted to bring it up in my videos for a long time now, but I keep forgetting to do so. Its so incredibly common for people to recommend stuff like "just start reading novels", "just watch shows/movies without subtitles", "just go speak to natives" and so on to complete beginners, whilst completely forgetting how tiring, difficult, and seemingly impossible it feels to someone who pretty much is completely illiterate. I remember how difficult it was to consume content designed for natives even as an "intermediate", at around ~3000 to 5000 words learned, which is why I always talk about building a baseline lol. Also, I pretty much instantly clicked on the video when I read the title, I did not expect to see my own channel in the video lmao. Overall I think its a good video and a great idea - This kind of "limited dabbling" in various different languages can also be applied to dabbling with different hobbies, projects, skills and so on, to see what sticks and what doesn't. You can experience what its like to work on something without having to undertake any risks associated with going all out, nor feel overwhelmed with how long the road is going to be. If what you're setting out to do is short-term and temporary, with a clear end in sight (eg, only for 2 months, not 10+ years), its going to be much easier to stay motivated and actually finish what you started.

[@kirklingthegypsy8068]

my two favorite youtube channels finally met. you guys need to do a crossover or something like that, i'd love to watch an hour long interview between you both hahaa :)

[@DNA350ppm]

There's a tiny Leonardo da Vinci in all of us, and that is so much more fun than just being an expert on one single thing.

[@alfie8868]

Funny thing is, I believed all those youtube videos saying that "you need to be watching videos and speaking your target language from day 1", and so I did lmao So 3 days into learning spanish I hopped onto youtube, understanding anything was practically impossible, but there were so many cognates so I had an extremely faint idea of what was going on But I continued to do this, as well as (ashamedly) using duolingo to build vocab. It's actually a pretty decent tool for that initial vocab building stage but not much else. Now I'm much much better at understanding spanish content, even native level stuff, on familiar topics, even though I've only been doing it for 3 months Sometimes it's interesting to look at the duolingo sweats who have spent 3 years doing spanish on duolingo and are only just starting to comprehend shows in basic spanish, because they have just never done anything of the sort back on duolingo

[@DNA350ppm]

@@alfie8868 Yes, it is funny how we can have a large vocabulary in one field and almost nothing in another. I could read philosophy in German, when I couldn't say anything meaningful about kitchen utensils. I knew "das Ding an sich", but in the kitchen I had to refer to "das Ding da" :-) . Swedish is my mother tongue, but in my other languages I only know a tenth of the flowers, birds, fish, mushrooms, craftswords, motor, sailing, camping and agricultural vocabulary from the 19th C and earlier, that I know in Swedish.

[@daysandwords]

@Kirkling - well Livakivi and I did do that very thing on my Patreon, but I understand that the monetisation model can be a bit annoying and no matter how monetisation is done, there'll be people who disagree with it. But even if you just signed up at the $4 for one month to listen to that chat, it's an option.

[@languagecomeup]

Who all here made it that far into the video? LOL!

[@daysandwords]

When you're editing yourself for like 5 hours, you just feel like no one is going to be able to listen to my babbling for 8 minutes, so I thought that bit was appropriate haha. Obviously I knew some people WOULD see it, since it wouldn't have been there otherwise!

[@InParticularNobody]

needs a timestamp 8:43 :)

[@Belle-zq3xc]

Starting a new language after sticking to one for a while humbles you because you're a beginner again, you can't understand anything and have to study things and learn words, you can't just binge watch content like in your advanced language that just becomes leisure time at some point which you take for granted, and you're excited to get to that point again. It also boosts your confidence because you realize where you once were with your other language and just how good you are at it now ☺️ I think once you get to B2-C2 and realize there are still things you don't know(just like in your native language btw, try reading a difficult novel in it) it's easy to want perfection and doubt yourself cause you notice little things like still encountering words you don't know or your slight but still existing accent but with this you can actually see that yes, you're an advanced speaker haha

[@smrtfasizmu6161]

"which just becomes leisure time". That's a false dichotomy. It is a leisure time and you are also improving your target language.

[@naofg]

Well said! This is all so true

[@Belle-zq3xc]

@@smrtfasizmu6161 sure but compare that with trying to watch something at A0-A2, I wouldn't dare call that leisure time haha I also think just watching whatever is enjoyable has diminishing returns at some point around B2 since the stuff you don't know is more obscure and progress is slow enough to be frustrating, it's good for maintenance but I'd say it is definitely leisure. It takes a lot more to improve at those levels and If you wanted to improve you'd have to go out of your way to challenge yourself with content full of more obscure/academic/technical vocabulary and sentence structures that a well read/college educated native speaker is expected to know, and even that is easier than watching something at A1. I know I'd be kidding myself if I said that I'm watching KZbin or your average tv show to improve my C2 English when I could be challenging myself with difficult British accents that are hard to understand even for other native speakers or content with old school vocabulary haha and I've felt that way since B2

[@myownimprovement]

imagine struggling more in your native language than in your 2nd language

[@Belle-zq3xc]

@@myownimprovement I can imagine haha I often struggle more with phrasing things in my native Russian but I rarely do in English and I know more advanced words in it related to certain topics like politics or science while in Russian I struggle to search for those words and in general i often feel dumber in it, I spend most of my time interacting with English so yeah. Nothing reading a few books in Russian can't fix tho when I really need my Russian to be super advanced haha

[@runningriot7963]

I have studied Japanese for several years, my Japanese still isn't anywhere near where I want it to be, but I've got me to an intermediate / advanced level and a kind of lost interest after a little while and started picking up Russian and Norwegian. The more Russian and Norwegian I study the more I feel like I want to study Japanese again as well. It's weird how they all connected that way I don't know how to quite explain it but I know the feeling.

[@redeyes392]

The more I study Japanese, the more I love it and want to immerse in the language more. I don’t get tired of it, there’s always more tv books video games visual novels etc. to enjoy. I can’t relate. I mean, you don’t get bored of English do you??!!!??

[@runningriot7963]

@@redeyes392 Yes I agree, I just lost the spark, it's about reigniting the spark.

[@MiguelEMG]

@@redeyes392 I think it may depend on various factors, I’m not really interested in French culture or media and I was losing my passion of learning it until I made friends with which I speak quite regularly in French and I think it really has more to do with what makes you want to keep going. Making friends and learning other peoples experiences are more fun to me than learning from media. Who knows what drives other people or what type of concentration they have

[@redeyes392]

@@MiguelEMG Yea i like reading jp books way more than talking.

[@naofg]

I teach English to other Brazilians for a living, and sometimes it's hard for me to remember what it's like being a beginner in English, since it's been 14 years since I started studying it and I got a C2 level certificate 4 years ago. Learning new languages is essential so that I can truly understand my students' struggles. It makes me wonder how someone who teaches their native language and has never studied any other languages can do it.

[@daysandwords]

I think that they are sometimes amazing at it, but normally not very good.

[@cameronhubberstey6039]

I'm a native but I aspire to teach english abroad. I suppose that's like the "Easy way" to get abroad but I've at least been studying languages such as Italian, Chinese and Korean etc

[@deanlie]

I always thought that was the advantage graduate students had as teachers -- the full professors have forgotten that whatever the subject is (mine was math) was once hard, but the grad students remember how they once struggled to learn it.

[@mariajohnson2294]

When I dabble in Italian, my desire to read Russian explodes. I love learning Italian in Russian. I think you should try to learn some of these new languages in Swedish. It is a very different experience than with your native language because you are pulling from different memories and experiences with known words than with your native language. Also, you are hilarious! Absolutely highlight of my week!

[@yourbae7598]

Удачи в изучении русского языка, Мария! Приятно видеть, что наш, без сомнения, сложный язык изучают, интересуются культурой, развивают международные отношения...

[@DNA350ppm]

I have also tried that and found it helpful and eye-opening.

[@badgermanization]

Good idea!

[@BryanAJParry]

I'm learning a foreign language right now through another foreign language. It's doing the trick!

[@user-ij1bt3yb7i]

I like that. I'm doing the french Duolingo course in English which is not my first language🙂

[@CH-ek2bm]

Personally, I have decided to study all 7139 of the world's languages next year, but I can understand why some might not be prepared to take that step

[@bofbob1]

I'm gonna wait 80 years when 7,139 will be down to 3,600.

[@Radddd]

When I started learning Dutch I was two weeks in and saw the advice "For languages that are similar to English, you could start reading on day one and understand most of it", which of course is insane... but I believed it. I forced myself through a novel looking up every word (the first few chapters were like a blur and I had no idea what was happening). Anyway, the point of this story is it ended up being the BEST advice I ever had. Even though it's insane it bloody worked. Early on in month two when I started my second book, I was able to read it pretty comfortably. By book four or five it was smooth sailing (keeping to the fantasy genre). Your day 1 Game of Thrones advice is dumb but maybe not as dumb as you think.

[@PetraStaal]

Geweldig!

[@Radddd]

@@PetraStaal Nee, niet echt. Alleen een idioot kan zoiets geks doen. Beter als ik meer geduld had, maar ik ben een leesfanaat dus ja It was fun for me but probably not for most people

[@daysandwords]

Yeah but the "joke" there was that Game of Thrones is huge. Like, each book is about 4 "normal" books. Additionally there are many made up words or words that no one has seen since the 18th century. I actually find the Swedish translation a bit rubbish in this respect because they use very "normal" Swedish words. I would seriously doubt anyone who'd be learning English for less than 2 years could read the original. I think it can be good advice BUT it needs to be 1 minute of that advice ("just read") and 10 minutes of "It is going to be freaking hard and that's ok..." A lot of people are more addicted to understand 99.9% than they realise. 60% comes as a rude shock.

[@Radddd]

@@daysandwords You won't find disagreements here. Books are weird though. The hardest translated book I've read BY FAR was the first Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It's not that long and has few made-up words, but the whole thing is written in metaphors and jokes, and there's even a section where everything starts repeating and I thought I was losing my mind. Imo, made-up or obscure words are kinda whatever. We deal with them in English just fine and I never get too caught up. A made up word for magic (for example) is easy to remember and it goes straight in my brain's 'fake word bucket'. There are much more difficult things to understand like cultural references and so on. Man, it's hard to write out an essay like this on my phone. Sorry if it seems rude or something. Love your videos

[@DWTin]

I've just started learning Welsh and I'm going to put a lot of effort into it next year. As someone who was born in and still lives in Wales I've always felt a bit cheated that I lived in an area that only spoke English and therefore couldn't grow up with the language. I'm making it my mission to become fluent in this language.

[@sara-maireyes1067]

Pob lwc i ti! Dal ati ✨

[@joachimjustinmorgan4851]

This is great. Peoples description of B1 left me very misinformed. When I was able to pass B1 tests in Greek I basically considered myself peoples description of A1. Like I understood very little and didn’t really feel like I was able to say ouch either.

[@wolfzmusic9706]

yeah i’m a low B1 & still need to use learner material bc anything else is too difficult

[@Belle-zq3xc]

That's interesting cause I tend to feel the opposite that B1 is underestimated because when I passed B1 in English i felt fluent for the first time, could understand most things and watched tv shows and KZbin no problem, didn't know a few words on every page of Harry Potter but also didn't have any trouble talking to natives/exchange students at my school or discussing things like politics philosophy etc. My accent was also great finally. It was during summer and I'd spend literally all day listening to English and then talking haha maybe it's the difference between just passing the test and being functionally B1?

[@joachimjustinmorgan4851]

@@Belle-zq3xc maybe it’s language dependent or content dependent.

[@Belle-zq3xc]

@@joachimjustinmorgan4851 maybe haha B2 is always more frustrating to me than B1

[@yorgunsamuray]

I went until the B1 course of Russian in a language school. I could get by in the ex-Soviet countries I traveled, but the thing is I could speak some (ordering food, asking for directions, buying tickets, checking in hostels, etc), could make sense of written Russian on packages and signs. But understanding it…that was the real pain. There’s this cliched expression here. “I can understand the language but cannot speak it”. It was the reverse for me.

[@ronlugbill1400]

I was thinking of doing something like this too. I am a French teacher, but I have spent the past 9 months learning Spanish. I think if I keep learning new languages, I will be better able to understand what my students are going through because I will be going through the same thing, only in a different language. Or maybe I am tired of being on the intermediate plateau in Spanish so I just want a change. Maybe a different language every year. With a year, I can get to a decent level, where I can understand and be understood, but not perfect. With just one or two months of a language, I might forget it. But with a year, I will mostly retain it I think.

[@Balipio]

You're on the right track. When the novelty of the new or active language wears off, starting another language, or picking up an activity from where you left off on another previous language, triggers the excitement back into all your languages. I've been doing this for well over a decade and a half and see this cycle at least twice each year, particularly since I have other hobbies that will side track my focus or routine for a season. (I am active with 8 languages, not counting English). Finding the spark of excitement to continue your program or pick up where you last left off is the real challenge for each learner, not the actual learning itself.

[@datonekidvids1432]

This was actually one of Khatzumoto's ideas. He talked about taking a miniscule break from L1 (Your main language) and study or dabble in L2 (the other language). He said that doing this reignites your passion in L1.

[@fryrish7749]

I tried something similar to this in 2020. My main two study languages were (still are, with a plus one) Norwegian and French (hmmm, how'd I find this channel?). My motivation was that if I'd allow myself a bit of dabbling, my curiosity would perpetually be satisfied and I could retain focus on my main two. I did a new language on Duolingo each month. What was the result? Russian is now my third major study language, with Irish and Finnish consuming regular time as well.

[@DNA350ppm]

Nice combo, kudos!!!

[@Belle-zq3xc]

I like doing something similar to this too! I'm focusing on German(A1) and "dabbling" in French, Swedish and Finnish, I do intend to stick with them long term tho. One reason I like it is because I'd rather have some background knowledge about a language, especially vocabulary vise, floating somewhere in my head when I decide to dedicate myself to it a year or something later, it makes learning grammar and comprehending the language so much easier and faster and less frustrating, especially with languages that are very different from your own

[@bunnyteeth365]

Same with me. I made the mistake of trying to learn Hebrew without any background knowledge. It was way harder than I expected. Right now I occasionally dabble in Finnish because it's possible I'll want to dedicate myself to it. I already have some vocabulary and basic structures floating around in my head.

[@jamesgosling8491]

Du kannst das!

[@Belle-zq3xc]

@@bunnyteeth365 i started Finnish recently with zero prior knowledge and I'm suffering a little not gonna lie haha the vocabulary makes it difficult cause I keep confusing all the words

[@gracie9658]

That's actually really interesting. I've been doing this as well, mostly out of curiosity because I'm so into languages and linguistics. Sometimes I just have the desire to check out and learn about a language I like but I can't realistically dedicate myself to it because I need to focus on my current target language. I didn't realise how helpful it could be down the line when I actually decide to dedicate myself to those other languages !

[@CouchPolyglot]

Being a beginner again is refreshing, during the pandemic I found out that learning a new language helps me deal with stress. So I have started Italian and Swedish in the last two years and dabbled in some other languages too 😅 By the way, the other day I found out the word "onion" is almost the same in Russian and Swedish, thought it was cool 😊

[@daysandwords]

Yeah there are a few that are close in Russian and Swedish. "to buy" is clearly related too, and yeah "onion" I noticed straight away... I feel like I've noticed others but I can't remember them now.

[@CouchPolyglot]

@@daysandwords I did not think about that one, I had compared it to German "kaufen", that is the language I realated the most to learn Swedish. What I find super confusing is that "так" means "so" and it is a word I use a lot in Russian. And also "Я" and "jag" being similar confuses my brain a lot, like I want to start a sentence in Swedish but my brain will be like "Теперь я говорю по-русски" 😂

[@DNA350ppm]

I simply want to shout out to someone when I stumble upon these wonderful connections between languages - here are some: torg (Swedish for market place), Turku market town in SW Finland), torgvalu торгвалу (sorry for transcripting dabblingly ! - well, it is about buying and selling in Russian). The long list of French words in Russian made the strongest impression on me - but Russian is a true mix of many Indo-European influences or the other way around. Bistro, robot, mammoth, caviar, pirogue... are examples of Russian exports. And in Finnish the loanwords are endless, though Finnish is not an Indo-European language. If you learn how Finnish adapts the loanwords it is easier to spot them. Bank becomes pankki, apotek becomes apteekki, music becomes musiikki, and automobil becomes bil in Swedish, but auto in Finnish. For anyone linguistically interested and an avid reader of Tolkien, Finnish is absolutely a language to dabble in! In Finland they use euros and for Europeans it is to travel to Finland. For the same reason (the EU) I might go to Latvia to speak Russian one day. After the pandemic, naturally. BTW bricolage is one of my favourite words...

[@ПитерАнгличанин]

There is a reason for this. It's the exact same reason why English has "leek". Leek, лук, and lök are all cognates of each other with their root in proto-Germanic (it then was borrowed into Russian).

[@sandwichbreath0]

Like how 'pineapple' is ananas/ананас in something like 20 languages 😂 I'm always surprised as well when I encounter Swedish or another Scandi language and recognize 'Russian' in there -- though it really shouldn't surprise every time, given their geographic proximity 🙃 They're just not languages you naturally expect to share cognates.

[@ПитерАнгличанин]

If this means there will be a video or video(s) about your noob impressions of Russian, then I am all for it. I love being reminded of what the early stages in learning Russian is like. Less a tent in the pouring rain and more a tent in deep space where you don't know which way is up.

[@stephtab922]

Currently attempting to learn 3 languages (Mandarin, Russian and Mongolian). I am planning on dabbling in Italian and Vietnamese. I have to agree with you, once I started learning a third language things became clearer in my second one.

[@ashley_smith]

I like this idea. Thanks for the great video. Right before I sleep too, so I'm bound to have good dreams and wake up full of enthusiasm :D

[@nikolapolzovic2698]

This is so awesome! You have a new subscriber. I came to the video to see your point of view, because I myself speak 7 languages. I am 23 and I plan to learn some new ones in the future, definitely. I know English, Russian, German, Polish, Spanish, Serbian and I am learning Hungarian. You are such an inspiration and I am always happy to see more fellow polyglots out there. The world is a fantastic place, keep up the good work, man!

[@a.r.4707]

Wow that's nice👏. May I ask you why Serbian though since it's not very popular language around the globe?😃

[@nikolapolzovic2698]

@@a.r.4707 Nobody asked me tbh, I had to learn it because that is my native language :D Thanks a lot, by the way ;)

[@a.r.4707]

@@nikolapolzovic2698 Thanks for the answer buddy😊. Usually people who want to learn it have some sort of family reasons etc. behind it. I also speak it but my wife is from there, so I wanted to learn it for family reasons as well😉.

[@moveme2902]

Well if you can learn Irish from scratch then fair play to ya. It'll give me more confidence to take up learning it again. I will definitely keep up with your progress. Best of luck

[@XG_Winchest3r]

Also when starting a new language you get to see how much you’ve learned from the other languages you study.

[@DaniLangTalk]

And I wish you 100 k subscribers in 2022✊

[@MATTierial]

I've been hyper focused on Japanese since the Pandemic started. But, I think I'm going to dabble in Spanish this year. I've dabbled before, and I already speak French so I have a huge leg up, and I recently started Lingq so I have access to a great tool and beginner content. I remember Lindie Bottes talking about multitasking in language study. She suggested spending a little time on a language close to your own language (a Germanic or Latin language) and the majority on a difficult language (like an Asian language). I also want to learn German for Genealogical reasons. So, maybe I'll dabble there too. Use the Genealogy as my study material would be fun :D

[@Sage-and-Scholar]

You have succeeded in describing, so simply and wonderfully, what I have been experiencing these past few months. I find that time away from a primary target language is almost necessary in the learning process in the case that the primary target language loses its initial passion. This is why I have a few 'fall back' languages that are all either A0 or A1 in order for me to (like you said) build that curiosity again. After maybe a month in one of these 'fall back' languages, I go back to my primary target language and start to reconnect with it again on a new, more nuanced level than I ever have. Even right now, I am currently going back to my B2 Mandarin after one month dabbling in Bangla (Bengali), and I find my passion for advancing has been rekindled. Glad to know that I have been doing something that others like yourself also agree with!

[@fab006]

Speaking as someone who’s started about half of Duolingo’s language trees, yeah, it’s safe to say I’m in favor of dabbling. Every once in a while I find a language that goes on my long-term or mid-term to learn list.

[@aell.e]

Thank you Lamont for putting words on something I couldn't quite pinpoint! 🙏 The "curiosity transfer" you mentioned is a thing and now that I realise this I'll make the most of it 😊

[@jasonschuchardt7624]

I really like this video. Particularly with regards to remembering what it's like to be a beginner again, I feel like you managed to put into words a feeling that I've had recently. I've been studying Japanese for a long time now, on and off for a while, but fairly consistently since the start of Covid. I'm now at the highest level I've ever been in Japanese, which is still not particularly high. But I decided to start studying Chinese a few months ago. It's been extremely interesting to see what it's like to understand so little of a foreign language again, particularly what it's like to try to build listening comprehension in a language so unrelated to anything I speak. It's something I must have gone through at some point with Japanese, but when you're first starting out there's this point you reach where even when the sentence is spoken slowly and really easy, so you could understand it perfectly if it were written, when you hear it your brain takes too long to process it, and then the next sentence comes and you get overwhelmed. It's both frustrating and super motivating because you realize how far you have left to go in the new language and also exactly how far you've come in your more advanced language.

[@williams.4049]

That's why I enjoy Japanese so much. It's still interesting even after years and years, because you'll come across Kanji, compounds, a dialects/accents or even new ways of saying/writing something that you didn't know before. Some people may not like that concept but the visual aesthetic of Kanji, especially the pictographic ones make me feel like the language is literally moving on the page, basically I'm reading pictures. Enjoy your explorations into languages! (I dabble a lot with other languages as well, but Japanese is the anchor, the others are islands I frequent)

[@RasmusKarlJensen]

I have some suggestions… (feel free to discard to your leisure) - Bulgarian (the “easiest” slavic language, apparently) - Frisian (English’s sister language) - Catalan (the most approachable of Glossika’s freebies; your French knowledge will be a boon with this one) - Cantonese (boilers at full blast) - Romansh (if you won’t, who else will?) - Hungarian (boilers at full blast, European edition) - Basque (I needed a 7th language to suggest)

[@echelonangel98]

I've experienced this feeling too! I've been learning Japanese for almost 7-8 years (had Spanish for about 4-5 years) and have no idea what or like to learn from zero anymore. I dabbled in French a bit this year in the Summer and hoping to focus on it a bit more for 2022.

[@coremitsi922]

I've been studying japanese for a few months and recently downloaded duolingo as an experiment. I tried out different European languages I realised that the reason why I've been progressing so slowly in Japanese is not because I suck at learning languages, it's that Japanese is hard and it takes time.

[@user-ij1bt3yb7i]

@@coremitsi922 similar thing happened to me, I am currently doing french Duolingo and I realized how much faster I can improve on it compared to Russian, which took me more time per lesson and I had more mistakes, and that kind of discouraged me to learn Russian, I guess I will give it another try in the near future

[@pia_mater]

@@coremitsi922 Japanese isn't hard, it's just different from English. The grammar is very logical and irregularities are rare. If you wanna learn a real hard language, try Arabic where you need to memorize the plural form of every noun and certain forms of every verb

[@jackson7841]

Great video, Lamont. I actually really like this idea. I've been learning English for 4 years now. (my focus) And since January of 2020, I've dabbled in other languages - namely French, Turkish, Latin, Spanish and Russian. It definitely helps you to keep your curiosity.

[@elleryprescott]

I like the house analogy quite a lot! I waited til I had about 4.5 years of learning German under my belt before I started another language. The issue is making the move too early and that’s what a number of polyglots unfortunately do.

[@Riurelia]

Great video Lamont! I've actually been considering doing the opposite. Since 2020, I've dabbled in too many languages so in 2022 I would like to study maybe 5 at most.

[@julbombning4204]

Great concept! I have been studying Spanish for almost 3 years and I definitely recognize the monotonous feeling of studying that language. I’m interested in ancient languages like Latin and Ancient Greek so I think I will try your method. Also besides being fun it will also boost linguistic knowledge!

[@matfalarn]

Considering you're really fluent in Swedish, it'd be really fun to see how comfortable you could get with Norwegian within 1-2 months!

[@SomedayKorean]

If you're taking suggestions, I vote for a language like Korean, Japanese, or Chinese. Mostly because I'm partial to them, since they're languages I've studied, but also because (in the case of Chinese/Japanese) you can see how apps deal with teaching characters, and (in the case of Japanese/Korean) you can see how apps deal with a very different grammatical and honorifics system than English. This also applies to Russian, I suppose, but I'd be interested to hear about your experiences learning (/dabbling in) a language with a very different script from English and how it compares.

[@sevret313]

There are good apps for this, but part of the issue is that you don't get far in a month. Something like Wanikani for Kanji works well, but is meant to be used over at least a year and won't let you progress too fast.

[@SomedayKorean]

@@sevret313 Those specific apps might not work, but surely there are some apps that allow for a faster progress rate. I tend to stay away from apps that encourage "a little bit every day for a long time consistently" anyways. I like to progress when I want, in bursts, rather than slowly and steadily.

[@toralundin5869]

± they are closer to where he lives. Almost all languages were European - so far away.

[@Komatik_]

I'd be interested in someone getting their feet wet in Japanese and Korean simultaneously, because the languages are structurally so close but the writing systems are worlds apart.

[@Belle-zq3xc]

I'm a Russian speaker and I feel like the script thing is a bit overblown, Russian is more similar to English that people might think, that are lots of cognates and lots of things work the same way

[@jeanthomas7523]

Love this plan! Sounds like something my brain would also really like, so maybe I'll give it a go! Right now, I'm learning Spanish, but I haven't given up on French. Also wouldn't mind refreshing my Chinese for 2022. Thanks for sharing :)

[@multilingualjourney4576]

Thanks for sharing this, it got me excited and I already want to choose languages this December, preparing for 2022 when I finally get started. I like this "spilling effect" when you transfer your curiosity of an A0 language towards a C1 language, it's an amazing eye opener and it opens the lid for greatness. That's why I believe that your strategy of seeing from a beginner's perspective is sound and could actually work. Anyway, I wish you the best in 2022!

[@fatalshot0093]

I was thinking about this topic yesterday. It’s surprising that the algorithm placed this video before me 😳 I’m primarily learning Japanese and also want to try out Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Tagalog. Don’t know exactly which one I want to learn first though. I also need to maintain my Portuguese and Spanish abilities. This video has encouraged me to want to tackle on a new challenge next year. Once I figure out a plan, I’ll do my absolute best!

[@sevret313]

While of course I wouldn't tell you what languages to pick, it would be interested to see languages from all the different difficulty levels too see how much further you get in a language like Spanish or Italian compared to something like Chinese, Japanese and Arabic.

[@daysandwords]

Yeah there'll be ones from all over.

[@jamesconn]

I am trying to learn all of the Slavic languages, along with Finnish, Arabic, Hungarian, and Farsi. I know these are all rated about 4 to 5's, so I feel like I have big goals.

[@56932982]

Interesting. I think I experienced exactly what you describe: Reignite the interest in the actual target language by dabbling into an other. I (German) worked my way through the entire Duolingo tree in French last year. I struggled keeping up with learning French the first half of this year. Often doing nothing for days or a week. Then I started with (Brazilian) Portuguese, which I learned instead of French for some time. Now it reversed. I haven't learned any Portuguese for at least a month. Instead now I watch french KZbins every day to work on my listening comprehension. A dabble language for next year would be Hindi / Urdu. I wane experience a language that is not written in the Greek / Latin / Cyrillic alphabet. And I already purchased a copy of "Lingva Latina per se illvstrata"...

[@justaname1837]

I think many language learners (including myself) often lack dicipline. That's probably why they can't focus on learning one language properly before they choose another language.

[@blankb.2277]

I've been doing this with Klingon and I finished the tree last week, now I'm trying to make it gold. As you said, no commitment and it satisfies my desire to try other languages than my TL. Definitely recommend.

[@markusklyver6277]

English: "Klingon" means nonsense People: literally speak Klingon

[@paholainen100]

dabbling and returning later to your stronger language is a perfectly healthy thing to do. Novelty is good for the brain to refresh you, variety is the spice of life. My German might be equivalent to your level in Swedish and sometimes I try out other languages for fun. Nothing wrong with taking a peak.

[@BryanAJParry]

This video resonates so much. I'm currently doing a second language at the same time as my Spanish, and it's helping me get that freshness back. Good stuff.

[@JustLIkerapunzel]

Wow omg I LOVE THE 2 MONTHS IDEA!!! I have such an issue with being intrigued to learning or dabbling i. So many languages but then I feel guilty to do so cause then it slows down my main ones. And 7 is exactly my number hahs German (Mothertongue) English (fluent - completely confortable "leisure time" language) Portuguese (fluent - close to English) Mandarin (fluent but not yet that comfortable yet) French - somewhat fluent Spanish - advanced beginner to intermediate Serbian - my feeling obligated to learn language as it's my moms mothertongue and it feels wrong not to try after all the others lol (plus cool to "unlock" a new language family) And well now I also found Jamaican Creole trying to lure me in lol

[@ДмитрийКончаков-п5ы]

I felt complacent about my English for 3 years. Well it was good I could understand movies, KZbin almost 100 percent but when it comes to reading I encountered a lot of rare words that are not used in daily conversation (like to irk someone). Still I can usually understand what's going on in the story through context but I have really mastered reading. Five months ago I started to learn Japanese and it really fired me up to tackle this aspect of the language. I'm not much of a book person but now I try to read something, at least a chapter a day and I guess it builds more advanced vocabulary a little bit but I don't read a lot. Well that's another task to solve.

[@catalinauribe5443]

I honestly thought you were just trolling with the title, but I’m actually excited to see your language plans for 2022. This is what I inadvertently did in 2021 too. I studied Korean for all of 2020, so by the end of the year I was reaching an intermediate plateau, learning was a bit more difficult but also less interesting. So I took up Japanese for a few months, and the result was that my interest and motivation to learn Korean skyrocketed. Throughout 2021 I dabbled in Japanese, Russian, Swedish, Arabic, and ASL. I would never dream of saying that I speak any of these languages, in fact I’ve forgotten most of them, but I do credit them with helping me stick with Korean for another year. They made language learning fun and fresh again, instead of feeling like a chore

[@mandiepitre8063]

Love this! So excited to see which languages you learn this year!

[@h3nnah]

4:53 I understand this completely. My main language focus is Russian. When I took a break and “dabbled” in Norwegian and Dutch, I felt a surge of energy and almost as if Russian became easier to learn for a period of time when I returned to it.

[@ItsameAlex]

this was a useful video, and Hannah had a useful comment

[@DILARARALID]

Так радостно, что вы учите русский

[@gcmmf]

i'm definitely gonna try this too, i've been 'learning' english for about 10 years now, and 8 months ago or so i started learning italian and being at that learning stage again where you're discovering the basics it's really motivating really, my italian's pretty good now i still have a lot to learn but i'm happy with my process, about a b1/b2 level now, so i might look into what other languages i could explore

[@vali69]

Yeah, looking back and not being able to remember how it was like not knowing a language you're now fluent in is or how it was when you started learning it is insanely weird. I've achieved fluency more than 5 years ago and I literally can't remember how it was not knowing any English. And now that I'm fully committed to Japanese I'm starting to see how it might have been like. But at the same time the few memories I still have of what content I immersed myself in back then feel exactly like how I feel right now when I watch an English video, like I feel like I was able to fully understand everything even though I probably wasn't. So I wonder if I'll look back in the future when my Japanese will reach a high level and think in the same way: "I remember watching this video/show, but I feel like I understood everything back when I watched it".

[@murkywaters5502]

I'm going to be slightly pedantic here: it is either "how something is" or "what something is like", not "how something is like". This isn't to disparage you. Lord knows I say things differently and I only catch it later.

[@christinacribbs7760]

I am so excited that you are thinking about French! I’ve been studying French now, for at least 3 years? And…I’m just a beginner. But I am so in love with the language and culture, I’m just forging ahead. Dreaming of speaking French fluently. Dreaming……. Absolutely love your vlogs!!!!! PS: Reading a book I can’t put down “beginners”. Especially if you have children. Really explains why we love to learn something new. Author Tom Vanderbilt.

[@katerinaserdabolia]

That's genius! I have been struggling with my japanese quite a while now and I couldn't understand why I constantly go and over focused on my Russian(native like level) and English (C1 level). Like I have been going crazy about my accent in Russian which is reeeeallly weak I mean I have a perfect pronunciation and only lack some rhythm or melody to be considered a native. Now it's clear to me that I was stuck with my japanese between B1 and C1 where I could understand a lot but not enought to be able to read and watch with 80 percent comprehension. So, just to avoid japanese I started to read out loud 10pages in Russian and 1 page with a pen in my mouth(don't ask) and religiously shadow any Russian I here during day. Also I have successfully driven my family insane by speaking with them only Russian. Then can speak is but it's annoys them to do it constantly.😂

[@Tatiana_Palii]

Wow, this seems to be a great idea! I'm focusing on Polish right now, and, because my native language is Russian, after a couple of month I can understand quite a lot, like on B1-B2 level, but the grammar is getting a bit tedious and confusing. At the same time I feel like I'm getting more and more interested in dabbling in some Swedish (and Latvian, and Italian) and brushing up on my English pronunciation and writing. So I won't feel as guilty about starting Swedish on Duolingo then :) And I've already ordered a couple of books in Swedish just because they were on sale... I'm also currently training to become a teacher of Russian as a foreign language, so this puts my language learning hobby into a whole different perspective.

[@simosgh4261]

I speak English (my major), french and German at an advanced level (I have the academic C1-C2 certificate in all of them..) beside my mother tongue Arabic.. i can speak Spanish (B1) beside some of Chinese (HSK2) Korean and i have finished the A1 in swedish.. As a polyglot i do not recommend learning many languages at the same time.. it all depends on your mother tongue and your background of languages.. like if your mother tongue is Deutsch and you are fluent in french then you can start learning Spanish or Italian or any other Latin language beside learning any other German language (dutch, swedish.. ) if you start leaning japanese and Chinese at the same time while you are not an Asian then believe me you are gonna end up quiting too early :) The most of us want to speak a language fast, to impress others so quick.. but in fact mastering a language takes some time.. it takes the most passion and motivation.. and as a piece of advice always learn a language for yourself, because you want to do it and you want to be a different smart cultivated person!! Peace guys!

[@tommyhuffman7499]

I've been studying Russian just over 10 years. Every so often, like once every few years, I'll devote a little time to another language with no intention of learning it. I did some German and Greek with Rosetta Stone. I went on a buying spree with Pimsleur with many languages: German, French, Polish, Japanese, Chinese. Later, I spent two months in Hungary, where I paid a tutor to meet me in coffee shops and teach me to order food in restaurants. Everytime my brain got a little boost, when I came back to Russian.

[@imacommentator]

Удачи, надеюсь, что у вас уже замечательный уровень русского. И ваш интерес в других языках звучит довольно интересно!

[@user-mp8ry1px9v]

The part where you spoke about forgetting what it was like to be a beginner was very interesting. I have often thought about this, and honestly would love to hear more of your thoughts on the topic. I feel like its a great topic for an entire video or discussion as I havent really heard people talk about it often. Ive been learning French for nearly 4 years now, and I absolutely adore the language, but at the same time I feel that a part of the charm is gone. Not because Ive grown to dislike it in any way, but more because it doesnt seem foreign to me anymore. At the beginning the sounds were exciting, the way it was written was exciting, but now its just normal to me, it doesnt have the foreign allure any more, it doesnt sound like a foreign language to me any more. Its hard for me to actually remember how French used to sound to me before I learned it. Its hard for me to understand how someone who doesnt speak French actually hears the language. And its funny to me too that another thing Ive noticed is I subconciously forget that other people in my life dont understand French, when they ask me what something in the language means I think to myself 'Oh thats right, most people dont actually understand this'. Its just something I dont really think about anymore, its just engrained in me that its weird to think about a time when I didnt understand the language. Its actually really interesting. But as you also said Ive grown frustratedin some ways, because I dont remember not knowing the language, all I can see is how far I have to go, all I see are the words and nuances I still have to learn, very rarely do we actually see how much progress we've made from literally knowing 0 to how much we know now. Anyway, keep up the great work.. And I would really love to hear more of your thoughts on the topic

[@regular-joe]

Exactly! It's a really weird emotional stew.

[@rakiyt3876]

Your comment was very interesting.

[@ruqayyahchadi]

This is the best language learning advice I’ve come across in a long long time! I’m actually excited again 😭

[@bluetangerinebb]

This is the first video I've watched from you and 1) I've subscribed cuz you're hilarious 2) clicked on the video with very low expectations, thinking this was gonna be one of those clickbaity language learning videos, and instead got a whole new perspective on language learning (a very exciting one I might add) Very cool video!

[@daysandwords]

Thanks for saying so and for subscribing!

[@daisyqoo3354]

This is a really interesting idea and I’m curious to see how it turns out. I wonder if I should try something similar. I love languages, but my main focus has always been Japanese. Ive always wanted to also learn French, Spanish, Korean, Maori and ASL (as well as almost every other language I hear, but this seems to remain my core list), but I’ve always told myself that I need to get good enough at Japanese first. Well, I passed JLPT N1 last December, and like you, I would say I’m at a C1 level. But that feeling has still not gone away, that I’m still not good enough. I think it would be refreshing to dabble in another language and get that beginner buzz back again. It’s so hard to choose which one though.

[@CollieNike3]

I experienced this phenomenon with French (which I speak about C1 and have for many years) when I started learning Spanish last year. Great side effect of learning Spanish!😂🙌

[@Heidelbuam]

I am delighted to hear, that you delved into different languages as well :) I myself speak native-like to fluent 3 languages and semi-fluent swedish,portuguese and spanish. As I am Bulgarian and do live in germany for many year,German has no longer the status of a foreign language,rather a second language. Thus ,as you said , I am no longer as interested to develop my C1 English or C2 German into more native-like varieties :) Your channel is great and inspires me to start one of my own.Cheers Dimitar

[@kevinhull7925]

Interesting concept! I actually still remember when I was a absolute beginner in Spanish and French. (Now I can read most of what I find online, though my other skills still need work. However, I did take translation practice courses in both languages.) I got started by finding podcasts on iTunes and listening to them on my way to work. (I worked as an electrician at the time, and most jobs had at least a half hour commute one way from the shop to work.) I actually do hope to join the hyperpolyglot club, mainly to be able to communicate with more people.

[@ronniejamesdio6889]

I actually like this channel, you are exuding some positive energy out there 💥

[@kit922]

Language stacking is king. I have been learning a third language, Korean, in my second language, German and I do my best to still get a lot of input in German. For me, it's once I hit b1, that I start going all in. I'm not excited by the very beginning of learning because I hate not being able to form sentences; it makes it a lot harder for me to remember anything, so for me it's about powering through and building up momentum. But then somewhere in B2 I lose the thread a little bit and struggle to make that final jump. I think at that point, you should just spend a lot of time immersed in the language (3 months, for example, is a typical American study abroad program). As I live in an English speaking place, I often say to myself, "how am I supposed to learn German with all of these people speaking English to me?!?" 😂

[@undeadblizzard]

Thanks make sense. I am learning French as my primary language and dabbling in other languages. Language learning is a skill. So if your second language is Turkish, you could pick up Chinese faster than someone who is Mono Lingual.

[@paulwalther5237]

I think it’s a great idea. I hadn’t personally thought of making this year or any year a dabble year but maybe I will. It sounds fun. I’d like any videos about dabbling in an Asian language too btw.

[@heather6671]

"When I get into something, I get the idea that it is going to be *my thing* for the rest of time - to hell with all else." I haven't felt this attacked in a while 😂 I swear though, the timing of your videos is uncanny (for me). They always seem to come at the exact time I need them. Case in point: I have *just* (literally just yesterday) decided to dabble in Dutch, after having spent 2 years saying that I won't for at least another 2-3 years, or until after I've gotten my french to a level where I can comfortably maintain it. 😂 Oh well, I guess we'll see haha. Excellent video, as always! Good luck with your dabbling!

[@tomatrix7525]

I’m an Irish speaker from Ireland, and it is not a native language to me though I’ve a very high level in it, with 15 years of study, a combination of school (useless, almost) and passion. I also learned German to a very high level, obsessed with it for about 5 years. I can confidently say Irish is a very difficult language. I forget the beginner ‘feeling’ but I can be certain that the noun declensions, HIGHLY irregular genetive case (Forget it, lol. Only way to master it is so much exposure that you just ‘know’ it and it ‘feels right’) Noun variations etc etc. Don’t be discouraged though, OF COURSE it is doable.

[@daysandwords]

That's just in the thumbnail. I'm not necessarily going to dabble in Irish.

[@bioniclegoblin6495]

This may well be the most thorough video about not taking something seriously I have ever seen.

[@jeff-8511]

I’ve been studying Japanese for two years. But sometimes I just run into a wall. Then it really helps to look a little bit into another language. Or refresh other languages I learned. But Japanese remains my main focus.

[@speaking_of_languages]

I'm not even halfway through the video but hearing someone say that the really difficult part of a language is the stretch between B1 and C1 rang so true with me that I felt the need to stop the video and write this comment. I think deep down I always knew this was the case, but it wasn't until hearing you say it that I had it brought to the forefront of my awareness, and had a MASSIVE "Aha!" moment. For the past year or so I have been really struggling with language learning, and I have literally just realised why. Currently, I have 3 languages with which I have history, two of which I can comfortably converse with native speakers in, and one which I can understand a decent amount of spoken and written language in, but find it difficult to produce language in. In other words, ALL OF MY LANGUAGES ARE EITHER B1 OR B2. No wonder I'm struggling so much with language learning! I pressure myself to work on all three languages at the same time, but they're literally ALL in the MOST DIFFICULT (at least for me) stage of language learning! Man I sure as hell don't know what the solution is to this problem but holy breadsticks has this small step-up in self-awareness changed my everything for me.

[@thisisbgm]

"You just think this is how it is for everyone" is absolutely it! The other day, I said to my boyfriend "I understand most of this paragraph in Danish but I think it's just because all of these words are so similar to English" and then showed him and he looked at me like I'd lost my mind and said "What are you talking about?! This looks like gibberish to me!"

[@markusklyver6277]

Danska är en halssjukdom.

[@thisisbgm]

@@markusklyver6277 hehe ja ja... så siger svenskere ;)

[@thisisbgm]

@@markusklyver6277 men seriøst... når jeg hører folk snakker svensk tænker jeg "det lyder sååååå meget nemmere!"

[@daysandwords]

Yeah I also have this experience, even in French. A lot of people are also not nearly as good at inferring, e.g. I was telling someone yesterday how some things in French can almost be read and understood by an English speaker, and I showed them and they didn't see that "enfant" was "child" and I was like "How is that not obvious?" but I think some people just don't think in those channels.

[@daysandwords]

@Brian - egentligen är faktiskt inte så mycket lättare (nemmere). Betoningen är mycket oväntat och jag känner MÅNGA som kan mycket "bättre" svenska äm vad jag kan fast de kan INTE uttalet. Jag förstår att det är samma sak med danska men det är liksom... svårt att förklara, till och med på engelska skulle jag ha svårt att uttrycka det här men skillnaden mellan "svårigheter" i svenskan och danskan.

[@puccarts]

Hey Lamont! Awesome video! If you're open to suggestions, I'd love to see Cantonese as one of the languages that you try to learn a little of next year. Maybe I am a little biased because I've also been learning it, but I'm mainly really curious on how you'd get on with it since it's a diglossic language (which means the written form and the way the language is spoken are different). And that, in my opinion, makes it much more challenging than learning Mandarin, since it's very uncommon to find matching subtitles to the video/movie! And arguably harder than Japanese since Japanese has a TON of resources available. I'll hold your beer for you if you're up for the challenge! :P

[@norma94]

I totally thought you were joking 😂👍. I study Korean and Italian now but I used to dabble (in tiny amounts from time to time) in ASL, French, Japanese and Chinese. I stopped dabbling to focus on my main two but I think I might go back to some of them now 🙈

[@objectivistathlete]

I enjoy this approach of "it's okay to dabble." I'm C1-C2-ish in Polish and B1 in Russian and I want to continue to focus on those two languages, but some days I'm interested in Turkish, other days in German, sometimes in French or Spanish or Greek, etc. It's almost freeing to be told "it's okay to dabble in those."

[@prcek1122]

Yes, I agree. I like to do this with German and Cantonese. And I too feel like my desire to study Chinese and English again spikes up (after studying Chinese for over 4 years and English for probably around 18 years now it does get a bit boring and frustrating sometimes).

[@ryanrandolph4658]

I'm currently working on learning Tagalog, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese at the same time I think that any progress is good

[@bunnyteeth365]

I studied Icelandic to around early A2 in high school. I find it very easy to have issues with overheating. So I think I'll wait until I'm at a B2 or C1 level in my main target language before I get back into Icelandic. Finnish on the other hand is around A0 for me. I never have overheating issues with Finnish.

[@sameerk6306]

You have my support Lamont. You are Not that crazy. I studied 8 languages in 2021 and 4 of them were new.

[@johnneiberger7311]

I'd love to see you tackle something like Lithuanian. It's so different from English or Swedish. It completely baked my noodle for a while until at some point it started to make some sense.

[@daysandwords]

Hahaha "baked my noodle" - I've only heard The Oracle in the Matrix say that. Yeah I'm going to learn some really different stuff, eg Finnish will probably be on there somewhere.

[@oishiiichigo24]

That's exactly it ! I feel stuck because I have a very low intermediate level in Spanish, and I'm not really a fan of that language, so I started learning Italian, and it was all exciting again, but at the same time I want to get it over with my Spanish, and I'm starting mixing the two. Learning Italian also made me want to study back Persian, and then why not starting Arabic ?! While I have a part-time job, and studies. The most difficult thing tho, is discipline. Oh the struggle.

[@tophbeifong8304]

Using this method for 3 months, update/what I realized- I was planning to study Chinese for the first month but I got into learning and ended up with 2 months of learning Chinese, March review- Ok.. This month was honestly my worst language month.. but also my best, I got 2 new *amazing* language apps that I feel like i'm going to stick with, I finally figured out my way of learning, This month I was..uhh.. Dabbling in all my languages to see what I really feel like doing for next month :)

[@emel3925]

Interesting! I think you're right, the excitement of being in that beginner phase in one language really does seem to spill over into other languages too :) Also, my main target language has a good amount of borrowed words from the new language I'm learning, and I definitely get so satisfied when find a new one hahaha

[@lonelyfrog5499]

I filled out an online test. It said my current level is C1.... in English ,I kid you not. I am horrible in English (grammar, writing, pronounce is meh.. too) I can read and understand spoken English. To be truth I didn't understand either, but somehow I read a Fan Fiction (with dictionary and after that I fell in to the rabbit hole, now I can read actual books: Deep Work, Rich Dad Poor Dad quite well. Antifragile is another pasta (sy if it doesn't make sens in ⬆️English, but I really like to use it , so I translated it. Meaning~: It is another story) It has new, "bigger" words and it makes me happy, but just how you said, I am struggling with "it is nothing new, but I am not useing/knowing it efficiently" syndrome. And my would be 3rd language German (what was my chosen language for highschool diploma), it's re learning is painful and boring, but my motivation is to start to read Fan Fictions and later books in German too. (+ plus points to the funny words e.g. turtle= shield toad... No cap, it is keep me going forward, and made me laugh every time)🤣

[@slideintoenglish7243]

Hrmmmmm I thought that after studying one language for 19 months you'd finally gone mad! But I actually like your takes on this. Would love to see how your journey continues :)

[@sagec.8951]

More than anything It seems like you have a lot of fun with learning these languages, and I feel like that’s the main point other than “I want to go to this place and be able to communicate/learn the culture”. Having fun with it is a huge part and not frustrating yourself too much about not getting it off the bat.

[@PeaceInAfrica]

I'd like to see the results of this lang dabbling. Other than the expieriance itself, is it worth it to learn some basics in a language? I would love to dabble in Scandinavian languages at some stage.

[@mep6302]

I confirm that you forget how it feels to be a beginner in a certain language when you're advanced. I remember when I was teaching English to a Spanish speaker. It was simple stuff. The simple present. She asked me "when do you use do and don't and when does and doesn't?" I instantly thought "well, it's too easy" because I've already internalized it. But then I remembered she doesn't know English so I pretended in my head that I was recently learning this and I explained it to her. I realized that it wasn't that easy to explain as I thought (maybe because I didn't have that much experience teaching a foreign language back then). Especially when you have the verb to be as an exception of the rules. She fortunately understood after practicing sentences and doing her homework.

[@aaronhanlon772]

I completely agree with you on this. I was beginning to run a little cold on Spanish so decide to mix it up with a bit of French. One week later i am watching your videos, buying Busuu and devouring Spanish again. It somehow seems to fire up language centers of the brain again.

[@emmiewilliams7546]

I started my second language Russian 6 months ago. Good luck..but your're right French became more interesting. I've also noticed some similarities in both languages like liasons. Which helps me in both languages.

[@analuisa674]

This is the excuse I needed to dabble in Spanish while learning Korean, thank you

[@DanClapp]

Just wanna say that your humor is on point!

[@LimeGreenTeknii]

As someone learning Italian coming from learning Spanish, I will say that learning Italian has helped me with Spanish. You basically never run out of cognates even as you learn more and more obscure words: sleepwalking: sonambulismo, sonnambulismo; stab wound: puñalada, pugnalata; embezzlement: malversación, malversazione. I don't know if you'll get the same curiosity effect or not that you mentioned, though, if you choose a language close to Swedish.

[@noelleggett5368]

If you need a hand with Irish, I’m an Aussie who has been teaching the language for over 20 years… and I have developed my own method. (Most textbooks teaching Irish are shockingly bad.) I used to teach classes in Sydney, and now (I’m living in Queensland), I teach online classes. I’ve studied several languages since I was 7 years old, and I’m fairly proficient in half a dozen or so languages. But concentrating on teaching Irish has meant that the others have got a little rusty.

[@jck956]

Going into 2023, I may try this I've been interested and actively learning German and Swedish for a while now My German is ok, it's not great and it def could be better My Swedish isn't great So if I focus on German and get out my curiosity on some things while focusing on German and putting Swedish aside, I think I can get my German to C1

[@newmuslimnamedjacob]

Well, I was originally planning on going all out in Indonesian, but maybe I'll dabble in Mandarin or Bengali while I'm at it. Thank's for the advice!