Learning two languages Help or Hindrance?

[Aishia22]

Hello all, I’m looking for some advice and was wondering if there are any language learners out there who could help me…

I have just returned from a French language course in France, a final part of my degree which has consolidated all what I learnt and left me more or less fluent. It has fired my passion for language learning so much so that I am not only considering languages as a career but also considering learning another language. But this is what worries me, I don’t know whether it really is a good idea or not. I certainly don’t want to lose my French level! Considering one of my main interests is Italy, I thought about learning Italian – but slowly and steadily, whilst keeping up the French too. For this I was considering taking a viaggi di studio Montreal which would basically be going to an Italian school but in a French speaking city. So though the main focus on my language learning trip would be Italian (given that it is the new, target language), I would be mixing with French people (and so practising French) outside of class hours. Furthermore, I was considering giving one to one English lesson to French (or Italian!) speaking people as a way to earn money and a way to meet and mix with people.

What worries me is that the two languages are relatively similar and so I don’t know if this would be a help or a hindrance…

If anyone has experience of learning two languages simultaneously, please do let me know how you manage and differentiate between the two! I’d hate to try for both and end up with none!

[bacter]

Perhaps it's no a good idea to learn two languages with the same origin at a beginner level, because they efectively may appear relatively similar to you - but they are not!
But if you have already a good base in one of them (in your case french, if you are able to maintain some normal conversation (even with lot off errors!) and to understand normal text like news), then you will have no problem going more perfect in french at the same time as you learn some other language with latin origin like italian.
Knowing one language from the same group may help you sometimes to understand more quickly written text in the other, because you may 'already know' some word - but you will also learn that the 'same' word in different languages may have two absolutely different meanings . But it's quite few likely that you will mix up the two languages.

The best advice for learning and maintaining languages i can give you, is: READ, READ and read books and newspapers in this languages, and listen radio or watch tv from those countries!

[Aishia22]

Good day Bacter!

Thanks for your advice. Yes your right reading and listening is most significant to maintain the knowledge of Languages you've learn.

Thank you and see ya later. 

[rejetto]

Aishia22, someone reported me of your activity on the forum as suspected of spam.
1. I googled a sentence of your post, and found you posted the same post in several forums.
2. there was no topic-relevant posts by you till now.
3. your post was filled with links to external unrelated (and i guess commercial) activities. (links i now removed)
So, your account is not banned yet, but indeed my opinion is that you are here for unwanted promotional activities.
If this opinion is right, you'd better stop with this here and continue elsewhere.
If i'm not right, i'm sure you won't give us any other reason to think so. Because more reasons would lead to a ban.

love&peace

[Fysack]

Aishia22, someone reported me of your activity on the forum as suspected

Mess with the best, die like the rest.
..you got ball`s baby