The joys of trying to learn multiple languages simultaneously
It’s a little odd to first learn to aspirate my Ps for American English and then have to learn to do the exact opposite for French. To make the pinyin D sound more like a Spanish T for Chinese and then realize that my Spanish DE has started sounding like TE because of my Chinese practice.
My poor brain and tongue are in a perpetual state of confusion from practicing multiple languages simultaneously and I can never be sure what sound is going to come out of my mouth at any given time.
It’s an unusual but also, oddly enough, exhilarating feeling, almost like I am a child still stumbling over his first few words as he slowly discovers the sounds of his first language.
The really cool thing is that, little by little, my brain is figuring out and compartmentalizing this information so that my pronunciation and vocabulary in each of these languages is improving without affecting any of the others.
It’s only during this transition time that I slur words and speak with a lisp as if I am drunk or I have just been to the dentist and my tongue has been anesthetized. I find the whole thing funny more than anything else, all part of the adventure.
For people asking why I want to learn so many languages simultaneously, well, I grew up in a trilingual household and learned three languages simultaneously growing up. I see no reason why I can’t learn three more now.
Yes, it will take longer to learn. But it is so much more fun to learn this way. 🙂