5 Ways You Can Learn 5 Languages Just Like I Did

Do you want to know how to learn five languages? Take it from me, it really is possible.

As of this writing, I’m an expert in Berber, upper-advanced in Arabic, advanced in English and intermediate in both French and German.

If you’re an aspiring polyglot, I’ll show you the five key strategies I used to learn my target languages, which you can apply to your own multilingual goals.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Take One-on-one Language Lessons

Recently, I met a Spanish teacher from Catalonia. We talked about her experience studying translation in Barcelona (something I’m interested in).

She has since helped me learn more about the courses available in Spain. Throughout our conversations, she’s taught me some basic Spanish vocabulary related to academics and translation.

Besides Spanish—which I don’t speak fluently—I’ve also scheduled online language lessons for learning German and English.

There are a number of great online platforms where you can find tutors in any language. Most sites easily allow you to find experienced, vetted tutors both locally or online. That gives you tons of flexibility, no matter where you are or what your busy schedule looks like.

Learning a language by yourself is an admirable (and totally possible!) goal, but if you have the time and spare funds, one-on-one lessons make the language-learning process so much faster and more effective.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list, a language tutor can:

• Teach the essential foundations of your target language
• Identify your personal linguistic weaknesses
• Correct your mistakes and clear up confusion
• Tailor lessons to your interests and needs
• Suggest study tips and learning resources

Language tutors also keep you accountable in your studies, always pushing you forward.

To make learning fun, I always make sure I connect with teachers who share the same interests. I find this a crucial strategy for having a successful learning experience, especially as it helps keep the conversation going.

2. Find Language Exchange Partners

Language exchange partners are two people who each want to learn the other’s native language.

For example, during an hour-long language exchange session between an English and Spanish speaker, the conversation would be in English for 30 minutes and then Spanish for 30 minutes, so both people get to practice their target language with a native speaker.

There are a lot of online language exchange apps and platforms out there. Many have similar features, such as:

• Chat threads with instant translations available
• Voice-to-text and text-to-voice options
• Texting, voice note, voice call and video call options
• Search filters for finding language partners (age, gender, interests, etc.)

To learn multiple languages, you may decide to chat in one language for a set period of time (say, a month) and then switch to another for the same period.

To ensure I don’t get ignored when I “pitch” prospective language partners, I usually include a hook in my first message. Here’s one I recently sent to a language partner from the UK:

Hi Jessica! They say an Englishman laughs three times at a joke. The first time when everybody gets it, the second a week later when he thinks he gets it and the third time a month later when somebody explains it to him. Is this true?

I actually copied this joke from Reddit, but it was enough to leave a positive impression and win a new language partner!

3. Consume Authentic Language Content

Developing comprehension skills and a native-level accent is hard enough with one target language. How can you possibly achieve this for five separate languages?

The best way I’ve found to increase my comprehension and confidence as a speaker is to immerse myself in a language, in context.

The quickest (and most fun) way I’ve found to do that is with authentic video content. There are a lot of options for finding this kind of content. You can find a good selection of foreign-language movies and TV shows on Netflix, for example.

There’s an even wider variety of videos if you search on YouTube, but it can be tricky to find high-quality videos there that suit your level of language proficiency.

FluentU is an app that teaches you with engaging, hand-picked videos from the web, available in 10 languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

4. Keep a Language Journal

Since I set off on my language learning journey, I’ve always kept a multilingual language diary—it expands your vocabulary and improves your writing.

My personal method consists of jotting down random words I’ve learned throughout the day and then mixing them up to create a story, write about my opinion or capture an idea.

Usually, I start off with English, then I translate the text into French and German.

At the beginning, I was only capable of writing one to three sentences a day in each language, which sometimes took me up to an hour. But because I’ve done this consistently, writing has turned into one of the easiest and most enjoyable daily language learning activities I do.

In fact, I am now able to write one to two pages of German, English or French in just a few minutes!

If you want to use this method, I highly recommend taking advantage of free translator apps and websites to help you translate idioms and words, and learn how to put words and expressions into sentences.

A major benefit of this practice is that keeping a language journal or diary will help you practice skills and vocabulary that will carry into your ability to speak and comprehend your target languages.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/learn/bullet-journal-language-learning/

5. Integrate Languages into Your Daily Life

If you can regularly expose yourself to a language’s vocabulary (like while going about daily tasks), chances are you’ll get the words down pat more easily than with a textbook or grammar books.

I first started integrating foreign languages into my day-to-day life using my devices. I changed the display language on my phone, computer, Facebook account and games I sometimes play.

I also switched the language I used in my hobbies. For example, I watched YouTube travel vlogs in German.

This can apply to you too! You can probably do most of your favorite activities in your target languages, such as:

• Watching sports events
• Listening to podcasts
• Watching TV shows
• Learning to play an instrument

This technique is useful even if you’re only learning one language—so applying it to learning five languages is actually very simple.

Head to your calendar and assign a different language to different weeks or months. Because this learning technique is designed to give you an immersive language experience, it’s advisable to focus on one language for a set period of time.

For example, I recently changed my email and Twitter languages to French, after I’d used them in German for the last six months.

So, if you want to know how to learn five languages, that’s how I did it!

While my language learning experience has improved many aspects of my life, I should admit it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows—especially when I first started out.

So remember to be clear about your goals and know that it may be slow going at times. Stay consistent and patient until you reach your target levels. If I can learn five languages, you can too!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And One More Thing...

If you dig the idea of learning on your own time from the comfort of your smart device with real-life authentic language content, you'll love using FluentU.

With FluentU, you'll learn real languages—as they're spoken by native speakers. FluentU has a wide variety of videos as you can see here:

FluentU App Browse Screen.

FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.

Didn't catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.

Interactive, dual-language subtitles.

You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU's "learn mode." Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU Has Quizzes for Every Video

And FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You get a truly personalized experience.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)