Have you found it easier to learn a third language after picking up a second?

[pesic87]

Yes it actually is easier. Once you got the idea of how to acquire a language, and the process that follows the language acquisition,  the mechanisms involved, the time consumed, the small and bigger ways and options in language learning that work best for you, the sources you could use when setting yourself on the path of yet another language learning; it can be rather easier, than it would have been if you were just introduced to another foreign language.

I know this to be true, because when first i was introduced to English language, as my second language, I was pretty much in a fog. Quite lost in the whole aspect of how I would acquire some other language and how long will it take. One has to understand that language is never learned and you may never say: 'Oh, now I know the language'. It is a very tiresome, pretty much a life long process of learning a language, due to the very simple fact that each and every language is alive, spreading, widening, and improving, every single day. But, once you get the ideas that I mentioned above, every next time you decide to pick another language you will not be in a fog any longer, because you would know which sources to pick in order to learn a chose language. Of course, you would always need some guidance, and a lot of help, too; but, It would be much more easier than learning a second language.

Also, it depends on the will, the motivation and the learning abilities of the learner.

 

[Miya]

I think it gets easier in terms of studying. After learning one language, you kind of have the "experience" and you know how to study effectively to grasp a language. But it doesn't make learning the language itself easier.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Miya

[agentzero]

I have only tried learning French after learning English as a second language so I wouldn't know Seriously, French is hard. But also, I'm not sure if I was more dedicated to learning the language or having private lessons from my girlfriend who was going to college for it  

[atanas.velikov]

Hi, 

I am an English native speaker and after taking two years to learn Bulgarian, which is with a whole different alphabet and one of the most difficult Eastern European language to learn I would say picking up a third would be easier for me than it was when I started to learn my second language. 

Russian is very similar to Bulgarian so that is a plus. I have picked up a bit of Turkish while living here and I must admit I take it in pretty quick now the language switch has been turned on. Whether it's easy or not if you want to learn, you can. 

[Chris_A]

Learning a third language after the second you have learned, totally depends on the third language that you are attempting to learn. For example, if you are a native English speaker, learning German would be pretty hard but then learning Chinese would be even harder, because it is totally different from English or German. German, at least, is in the same language family that English is.

[sillylucy]

I find that learning a third language is easy if you are learning romance languages like french, Italian and Spanish. I know English and Spanish and it was super easy to learn French because of Spanish. Now that I am learning Italian it is easier, but hard at the same time because my mind wants to say the words in Spanish.

[Wanda Kaishin]

Yes, the third is much easier than the second for reasons already mentioned by others. But I want to add one more reason that I don't think has been mentioned - confidence. You already know that you are able to learn a language as an adult to an advanced level. This is huge.

[anna3101]

16 hours ago, Wanda Kaishin said:

Yes, the third is much easier than the second for reasons already mentioned by others. But I want to add one more reason that I don't think has been mentioned - confidence. You already know that you are able to learn a language as an adult to an advanced level. This is huge.

This is true. But I wonder why so many of us do not believe they can do it or just worry about the whole process. When it comes to languages, the thought of failing has never crossed my mind but that's probably because I started to learn my first foreign language as a child. I had no expectations and no goals back then, learning was just for fun. When it comes to other skills that I wanted to acquire later, as a grown-up, I often find myself worrying about a million useless things. Am I smart enough to do this? What will people think of me if I fail? What will I think of myself then? Will I have enough time? What if I'm just not talented enough for this?

It's really annoying. I wish we all had more confidence in our ability to cope - or in our ability to fail without any major catastrophe hitting the planet at the very moment.

[Wanda Kaishin]

7 hours ago, anna3101 said:

I wonder why so many of us do not believe they can do it

Good question. Maybe because it takes so much time, and inexperienced learners don't know they have to be really patient.