Should I learn the 3rd language although I have not mastered English as my 2nd language?

Question

My first language is Thai. I'm just an intermidiate English learner and still have a problem with my listening and speaking skills. I will probably learn Chinese in the near future. Do you think it's a good idea? I dont' live in where English is the first language like US or UK. I'm afraid that I'll get messed up while learning two languages at the same period.

Answer 1

I don't think it should be too much of a problem for you to learn Chinese if English is your second language. If you were trying to learn a language that shares the same root as English, you might have more of a problem since they would be alike and then you would find that distinguishing vocabulary in each language is hard. Part of what you need to do is mentally separate the two languages so that when you are speaking English, you think (or try your best to) in English, and the same for Chinese. You seem to have a good command of the English language already! Keep reading and exposing yourself to it while you are studying the third language.

Answer 2

Most likely it will be fine. Just do your best to keep them separate. Sometimes you will naturally say something from one language in the middle of some other language. This is a natural thing -- your brain is trying to sort out what goes where. Occasionally when I am trying to think of a sentence in French, an Indonesian word show up. Opps!

The biggest thing to is be dedicated and motivated. If it is a language you can use, you will be able to learn faster and more accurately. The more languages you learn, the easier it gets! Or so they say...

I grew up with English, then took French, then ASL (American Sign Langauge). In my ASL classes, some of the French grammar finally started to make sense! It was like a time lag. hahaha! Then I worked on Indonesian and Language des Signes Francais (LSF - French Sign Language).

My best two are English and ASL -- I have not kept up my French like I should. I did not get the time to really study or immerse for Indonesian. And LSF... well, I'll be working on that some more very soon!!!

Each one I work on gets easier. I am learning how to different cultures and languages classify information and that helps you understand soooo much easier.

PS -- Your English is excellent! Good luck to you!!

Answer 3

I have a degree in French and I am a French teacher, and I am not completely fluent in all situations. It is nearly impossible to completely master a second language, unless you learn it as a young child. Language learning is a life-long endeavour. I would say that your English is pretty good.

Most people find learning two languages at once not too terribly difficult, unless the languages are very similar. Many of my friends in university started learning Spanish while they were mastering French. The two languages are VERY similar. Most of my friends had no difficulty, and actually said that it was very easy for them to learn Spanish, but one of my friends would get confused between the languages because they are so similar. I had other friends who were taking French and another language (other than Spanish) and had no problem. Therefore, I say go for it. It shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Good luck to you!

Answer 4

Go right ahead. In reality, you will never stop being a learner of English. Don't worry about what possible effect your new language could have on your English -- there are many successful speakers of more than two languages. I'm currently learning my third and fourth language right now.

Answer 5

English is a difficult language to learn and is said to have more exceptions than rules. Reading your question I think you have a very good grasp of the language, better than many so-called native speakers whose grammar is atrocious and spelling even worse. I don't know what your spoken English is like (pronunciation) but that comes with usage.

Conversational Mandarin would be fine for you but if you tried to write in Chinese it would give you grey hairs ! What about romanised Chinese (hanyu pinyin)?

Good luck, whatever you decide to do !!

Answer 6

Finish what you started first. English is a hard enough language to learn without adding another language on top of it.

I found out that every letter in the Chinese alphabet has five different ways to say it. Yikes!

Answer 7

I think English and Chinese too different to be confusing for someone like you who already have a solid foundation in one. So if you have enough time and energy, go for your second foreign language by all means.

Answer 8

go for it! I haven't mastered German yet and it'll be awhile till I do, however I'm not going to let that stop me from getting some books to learn either Dutch or Swedish from the library next semester. When you're learning Chinese, just don't forget that you still need to be actively working on your english or you'll start to lose it.

Answer 9

It depends on if you want to learn these languages for the sake of learning, or for actual use (business or personal. If it is for business I would work hardest on the one I may be using the most.

Either way I don't think you will get Chinese & Enlish mixed up.

(By the way your English writing seems very proficient!)
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Answer 10

Judging by the paragraph you wrote up there, I think you won't mess up. You're good enough in English that learning Mandarin is okay for you. Your English may be lost/degraded a little bit, but it should come back in no time.

Other way to do it, is learn Mandarin through English. Instead of translating words to Thai, translate them to English.