Hi there! Thanks for your blog, I love it ^_^ I was wondering if you have any advice for learning very similar languages at the same time? I have to return to my studies of Spanish soon, but I'm also learning Italian (~B2). I remember when I first came to Italy and started learning Italian my rudementary knowledge of Spanish was useful in some aspects and harmful others. I'm afraid that returning to it will result in me mixing them up constantly :(( Any words of wisdom? 🙏
Thank you so much! You don’t know how much this message meant to me, especially knowing I haven’t been that active with university and projects and finals!! ❤
And thank you for waiting until I could answer this too!
I don’t know how much wisdom i can actually impart, but i can always try to help out a fellow language learner. What i will share are a few tips i discovered during my 14 years of learning languages (god that almost makes me sound old and experienced lmao), and in my 10 years of learning more than one language at a time. They are not rules and are very much shaped by my experience, so feel free to spice them up at will:
First of all, when possible: Avoid languages of the same family that are way too similar!: The more similar they are, the more difficult to keep them separated, as you might have noticed. But we all know how tempting it is to learn them all, and at the same time, even if we know that if we learn that one language we will be able to understand the others as well because of their similarities. I know you will ignore this one. That’s ok, I did too. There’s some fun to it. Also sometimes we just can’t choose the languages we learn, so let’s go to the “real” advice
Only start a new language once you’re advanced and comfortable enough in the other language you speak: For this I would say around a B1 level is ok, even tho I always started mines when I was at a A2 level, but I must say it was without me realizing it. From my own experience, I would say a B1 level is better. This is so you can concentrate on practicing using and improving one language you already know quite well, while learning new basic vocab and grammar exercises in a new language. if you start another language while you are still in the middle of bulking vocab and grammar exercises and memorizing rules and words, you might confuse the two or get overwhelmed
Consider using different methods for each language: With this I mean, for example, improving your Italian via immersion (watching tv, reading, talking to friends, etc), and studying Spanish the “traditional” way, with exercises and vocab cards, etc
Consider learning one skill at a time: That is, concentrating on studying only writing in Spanish, and only speaking in Italian. This makes learning a language seem longer, and maybe a little boring for some, but it’s a good way to keep the languages separated in your mind, since you will be focusing on different aspects of the languages at a time
Designate days and times for each language: Learning each language whenever you feel like it will create more trouble for you than needed, and make you feel overwhelmed and frustrated. A way to counter this is via a good structural learning routine. You can designate specific days to languages even if you don’t take language classes and even if you use all the languages each day.
What designating a day to a language means is just basically that, in that day, you will focus more on that language. Mondays and Sundays are for studying French, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are for learning English, etc, for example. You can even adapt this given your routine: for example, in my case, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday are Uruguayan Sign Language days, because my sign language classes are Mondays and Wed, and most Deaf events are on Saturdays. I find it is easier to include them in a routine you already have, and not making a new one around the languages you want to learn
Assign times to them: An alternative, or addition to assigning days. It works the same, but might be more helpful if you have problems keeping or following a routine, too. Instead of assigning whole days, you make it a time of the day. So, instead of learning or using a language during the entire day, you do it only in the morning, and in the afternoon you can switch to another language. All you have to do is keep that order as much as you can without switching them up. This, as well as the day one, will help keep the languages more separated in your mind and help you not mix their grammar and rules and pronunciation, etc
On a similar note, use different notebooks and colors for each language (in ink, highlighters, notebooks, etc). You can also designate different parts of your house to study, or different places around town if you use the language in a certain place (classroom, work, friend’s house, etc). Make the distinction physical, palpable as much as you can
If you forget your routine… well, then now is the best time to start again: If for some reason you forget yo go to a class or sit down and study on your own when you were supposed to do it, PLEASE don’t give yourself shit for it. Do the studying right there when you remembered. Or the next time you are supposed to, if you have/want to keep the routine,
Concentrate on one more than the other: I know I know, no one of us wants this! But it will help I promise! It doesn’t mean you have to forget one or leave it aside. Just put more time, effort, or a more conscious studying in one of them (I normally do it with the language I'm just picking up, since I already know of the other, and so I can do a more “passive learning” on the one I know the most, and center in the other one)
Learning more than one language at a time is possible, even if they are very similar! You just gotta be more organized than usual, I've found out
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Gencon is very busy...!!!
Ummmmm highlights of the day..!!!
I maybe bought 4 Naruto figurines. Thankfully not individually expensive (though perhaps a little expensive all together...) see I wanted Sasuke but I also wanted Kakashi and I couldn't have Sasuke without Naruto and well it would feel wrong to have the 3 of them without Sakura and so I somehow. Got all 4. Haha. I'll most likely post pics later, whenever I end up opening them. I'm still at the convention center rn lol
(Putting the rest of this under a cut bc it got a little long lol)
I was on the field of the Lucas Oil Stadium, aka the stadium that the Indianapolis Colts play at. I've attended all of One game here (not professional football, it was a high school game lol) so I've felt the size of it, but it's still fucking crazy being on the field. It's so BIG...... and obviously they've got the grass covered rn, but it's still pretty cool!!!
I maaaade dice!!! Pretty precise process it seems, & definitely would require a Lot of work (after the sanding and the painting etc etc). I do still wanna get into it, but if I wanted to spring for stuff like the vacuum chamber or the pressure pot...
Yeah, it'd get expensive. Add in the fact that I don't have a good place to do this away from the cats & it really is not feasible to start rn. But!!! Eventually!!!! I think I'd really enjoy it. I just need a dedicated workshop space where I can spread out without worrying about poisoning my cats lol.
Here's some cool game set stuff I saw in the event hall. This picture is maybe... hm... a fourth of the event hall? And then when you consider that the vender hall (connected to the event hall, though it's closed right now) is maybe 1.5 times as big as the event hall?? Give or take a little...
Aka just imagine booths upon booths upon booths... I'm gonna have to take a pic of it tomorrow. I was there too briefly to think about taking a pic. Honestly I maybe managed to get through like a tenth of the whole vender hall in an hour of wandering. It's fucking huge. And So Many Dice... I bought one set of 14 (I think it was) dice. Aka an extended set. And then I got a random set bag of dice (just a basic 7). And then a d20 with a cat on it. And a dice of LETTERS. Aka I guess a d26 (I totally did not have to double check that there were 26 letters in the alphabet)(I have 702k words written & posted to ao3)(😂😂😂 I'm very tired) but with letters instead of numbers. And it's glow in the dark!!! And I found some hxh buttons, and a mighty nein poster, and uhmmmm. A cute lanyard. And that's all I bought. Which really is such restraint for me. (Omfg I just saw a dragon cosplay)(someone just dressed as a dragon)
OH YEAH I saw a fucking. Persona 5 Ryuji cosplay. Hanging out with the biker lady from Durarara. Featuring the Ryuji holding her scythe hfksbfmd which was such a funny image. I was too shy to ask for a pic but just trust 🙏 i saw this
Anyways yeah the only real big thing I bought is the naruto figurines. I'll show pics later once I got the stuff again (I dropped it all off in the car earlier)
Omfg literally as I've been sitting here (on a bench at the side of a main hallway) someone stopped by and gave me a handmade bracelet !!!
DND's 50th anniversary!!! So cute!!!!
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