How to Avoid Mixing Up Two Languages
Ever found it difficult to learn a new language while preserving the knowledge of another?
It might be hard to maintain two freshly learnt language skills at once. Confusing words or grammatical structures is common and it may refrain us from reaching the level of fluency desired. We have put together a few tips to help you avoid this from happening.
Learn two distinctive languages
The first thing you can do to prevent mixing up the languages you learn is to choose two languages with distinctive characteristics, especially if you are planning to learn two languages at once. There are some languages with a high degree of lexical similarity, for example, romance languages — French, Spanish, Italian… Similar languages can confuse you in language acquisition. Contrasts make it easier for your brain to acquire the information. The chances of confusing the two languages will be minimized if you choose languages that are less likely get mixed up, for example Japanese and French.
Having a good base in one language first
It may sound obvious, however one of the most common mistakes is to start learning another language before making sure you have acquired the other language at an intermediate level, to the least. It will make it harder for you to memorise, process and comprehend the information if you are learning two languages at beginner level at the same time. You should have a good grasp of one language you’ve learnt before learning a new one. In this way, you can focus more on the new language while maintaining the other one.
Getting yourself familiar with the sound of the languages
Before learning the new language, it’s helpful for you to distinguish between the sound of the two languages, even if you don’t understand them. You can do so by frequently listening to audio of the language, getting familiar with the pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary and grammar. In a more practical way, you can separate the pronunciation of each language to get specific with the distinctive phonology. Every language has a distinct precise phonology. Study those sounds that are causing confusion, and find out exactly how to pronounce and replicate them,and then practice.
Separating the languages by tasks
Design different tasks to learn the two languages. Dedicate a certain task to a certain language. For example, watch the same movie or show with the same language every time so your brain will associate the language with the movie, making it easier for you to remember the vocabulary, pronunciations or phrase structures. Your brain tends to absorb knowledge better when you attach information to information. Besides associating the language with different material, you can also design your own learning environment for the specific language. Let’s say you only study French at home and study German at school. Your brain will associate the language with the environment which could help facilitate your learning outcome.
Different forms of learning materials
Design the learning material of the two languages to be as distinctive as possible. For instance, using different colors of pens to write the notes. If you are using flashcards to help memorization, use different colors of cards to separate the two to avoid the confusion. Your brain will be able to set the two languages apart better with different images associated with them. Additionally, you can use a different medium to study the languages. Study Spanish on your laptop and Arabic on paper so the image in your memory would be distinguishable.
Setting the learning sessions apart
If you are learning two languages at once, make sure to prevent scheduling the study sessions of both languages immediately after each other. Take a long break between the two learning sessions. More preferably, you should schedule the sessions on different days of the week — days dedicated to one language. By doing this, you can give your brain enough time to “digest” what you have learnt that day.
To achieve the best learning outcome, you have to invest effort and time into your learning. If you decide to learn a new language or learn two languages at once, be sure to choose the right learning approaches. There are various ways of learning a new foreign language, with taking a language course being one of the most effective choices. FluentUp is a useful tool for you to find language courses offered by language schools from all around the world. Experienced language teachers will assist you along the learning journey, so you can maximise your learning efficiency.