Should I Learn One or Two Languages at Once?

The founder and CEO of Allied Wallet, Andy Khawaja, PhD, oversees business operations in more than 160 currencies and 195 countries around the world. To assist him in this, Dr. Andy Khawaja maintains fluency in Arabic, English, French, German, and Spanish.

Many people argue that learning one language at a time is best since it grants you more time to devote to your studies. If you spend just one hour a day studying a new language, for example, you can devote either one hour to one language or a half an hour to each of two languages. Since you are spending more time each day studying one language, you will likely become fluent in that language faster.

Additionally, learning one language at a time means that you will experience less confusion. When you are studying two languages, particularly languages that are similar, you’re likely to mix up certain words and grammar rules, thus delaying your fluency. This problem doesn’t occur when learning one language.

However, there are many people who not only are capable of learning two languages at once, but also actually prefer it. Learning two languages is a faster way of becoming a polyglot, though it does require more work. To make things a bit easier, make sure you choose two languages that are different from one another. This reduces your confusion and makes it easier for you to grasp each language.

Beyond that, you should focus on learning one easy language and one difficult language. This prevents burnout when learning multiple languages. It also makes language learning more dynamic since you can begin learning the more difficult language with the easier language once you are familiar with it. For instance, if you are learning French and Chinese, start studying Chinese in French after you are fluent in French.