I’ve heard before the prospect that a person can only actively switch between 6 or 7 languages at a time. Perhaps that’s the cap for multilingual fluency. But whether that’s true or not, it got me thinking: What are my priorities for language learning? Which ones matter to me the most? This is another excuse to compile a list, so let’s do it.
From this article:
“Hyperpolyglots must warm up or ‘prime’ their weaker languages, with a few hours’ or days’ practice, to use them comfortably. Switching quickly between more than around six or seven is near-impossible even for the most gifted.”
I might be tackling German at the moment, but that doesn’t mean it’s one of my most beloved of languages; nor do I expect it to be the most commonly used for my life now or in the future. It is, however, on my bucket list given its utility as a lingua franca at least. I only started learning it now in great part due to convenience and circumstance.
As a utility, I will probably only bring my German to lower/general fluency (B1.5~B2) and then stop active study and focus on other things instead, be it another language or other projects of mine. There are, however, some languages which I have felt the need to master for many years. Likewise, there are some I might learn to a lesser degree than even German.
Different languages will serve different purposes in my life, so I will learn them to different levels. There are four basic categories I put them in: Those to master (plans/hopes of living life long-term in the country of origin); those to achieve higher-end fluency in (possible plans of living in or visiting short-term); those to achieve lower-end/meaningful fluency in (utility languages to have available; no necessary plans/interest of visiting country of origin); and finally, uncategorizables (interested in to some degree or another, but unsure about what use or impact, if any, it would have on my life — these might be learned anywhere from nothing to fluency)
So here’s the list, roughly in descending order of interest per category (and keep in mind, this level of prediction is volatile; many of these could change):
Mastery (C1 ~ C2):
- Japanese
- Icelandic
Higher-end fluency (B2 ~ C1):
- Italian
- Polish
Lower-end/Meaningful fluency (B1.5 ~ B2):
- German
- French
- Korean
- Mandarin
- Russian
- Spanish
Uncategorized/Unknown:
- Swedish/Norwegian/Danish (I mean, it’s basically a dialect continuum)
- Finnish
…and many more which I’d like to dabble in, but are not important enough to mention.
Of course, I don’t know my future — anything could happen! But I suppose this is at least enough structure to keep my eyes forward and better understand what’s important and what my priorities should be. I could spend anywhere from a few years to a decade or longer in order to learn some or all of these languages.
Sometimes I wonder if I should learn so many at all, or just a few that are most important. Whatever the case may be, I have at least some semblance of order now.
So… if I happen to achieve everything on that list (other than the uncategorized ones), I’ll have mastered 2 languages, become proficient in another 2 languages, and become functional in 6 languages. That’s 10 languages overall, which isn’t bad compared to the 6 or 7 I would supposedly be able to switch between actively. And hey, if I can be as efficient as I think at learning, I could complete the list in as little as 6 years from now. Neat.
You have no idea how hard it was to figure out that list. Now that it’s done though, I feel I’ve gained important insight.
Nun… das ist das. Bis zum naechsten Mal.
Tongue Quest 