The ASJP and Afrikaans in Patagonia

I read two amazing articles about language today.

From the first: The Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP) can actually assign a single number to the difference between two defined languages. Apparently, there are mostly two dinstinct groupings when comparing all languages/dialects. This means that given the score between two languages/dialects A and B (a number between 0 and 1), it can be deduced with this simple number whether A and B are different languages or simply different dialects of the same language.

The second article I read was about the study of Afrikaans speaking people in Patagonia. To me it is so interesting and mystifying that such communities exist, and the things we can learn from it are numerous. The Afrikaans language is already that of a group of people who left the Netherlands and settled in South Africa, whereby the language slowly changed from Dutch to Afrikaans. And then some of those Afrikaans speaking people ("Boers") left after losing their territory to the British. They settled in Patagonia and continued to speak their language at home, while also learning Spanish to integrate in the local communities. The youth now are mostly speaking Spanish and therefore the Afrikaans spoken there is dwindling.

Now I must ask, how do Afrikaans and Dutch score on the ASJP? And what is the score when comparing the Afrikaans spoken in Patagonia to the Afrikaans spoken in South Africa?

5 random suggestions for language learning

Beyond being fun and allowing one to speak with more people on our planet, learning languages has been shown to boost economic growth and stave of dementia. But there are so many tricks and tips to learning languages. What actually works?

To put in my two cents I made this list, non-exhaustive, in no particular order:

• Traditional Books actually work. Many people will say that it is beneficial to use alternative methods and to try immersive tactics, etc, etc. Of course, supplementing academic-style language learning books is useful and something I would recommend, but supplementation is not replacement. It may be tempting to avoid the dryer, more potentially boring prospect of picking up a book and doing the exercises and listening to the conversations. But in the end, nothing can replace reading the grammar and slowly learning things in a pedagogical way.
• Consistency is key. I think that language learning is best done in shorter sessions, for example something like 45 minutes at a time might be optimum (for me). But on the other hand, to progress one has to have a lot of sustained contact and use with the language. For this reason, studying every day is recommended, in whatever fashion. And of course if every day isn't possible, then being as consistent as possible is a must.
• Don't postpone learning. I think many people put off learning today because they think they will have more time on the next day, or because they can somehow optimize the learning experience further (or buy another book, or download another podcast, etc, etc). Doing whatever you can today is always better then nothing, and the worst case is that you postpone learning so long that you have to re-learn something.
• You will make mistakes. Imagine anyone you know in your everyday life that is not a native speaker of your language. Store clerk, professor, doctor. Do they make mistakes? The answer is definitely yes. This should put it in perspective: everyone makes mistakes at every level of language learning, so the prospect of making mistakes should not scare you from speaking.
• It never ends. Related to the last point, the language learning journey never ends. Even if you are at the level where you need to be practically, you will still learn new words and new idioms that will push you even further. Combined with the fact that we all need refreshers to recall specific grammar points, we should be in the mindset that learning a foreign language (or more than one) is a continuous lifetime task (and that is a good thing, not bad!).

Language and Personality

There is an effect when speaking a foreign language that I think isn't talked about as much as it should be. The fact that, when speaking in another language, one takes on a slightly different personality than when speaking in their native tongue. I've noticed the effect of this in many different contexts.

I'm a native English speaker, and I've studied many languages to varying levels. But with the German language I got to the highest level and I can understand most conversations. I noticed eventually that I acted differently when speaking German, but I also noticed the converse. I worked with mostly German colleagues, but the working language was English. So my colleagues were used to the fact that usually when they were speaking English it was about work and therefore more serious. Conversely, when at work they would sometimes speak German with each other when a non-German speaker wasn't involved. Since I could understand what they were saying, I routinely noticed that they were more casual with each other. This is surely partly because they can just speak more freely in their native tongue, but I also got the sense that it was psychological, meaning in German they could access a larger range of their personality.

Being now in a multi-lingual marriage, I am interested in how multiple languages effect the raising of children. Without citing anything, I have read that children develop fine with up to three languages, but having four or more at a very young age can slow development. An example scenario with three languages is two parents each speaking to the child in their native tongue, and one more being learned and used at school. It also supposedly helps if one parent always speaks a consistent language with the children. I would guess that one of the reasons that this method is preferred is that the child can consistently develop their intelligence and personality in each language without getting them confused.

One last phenomenon I can propose has to do with language learning for adults. If one has a different personality when speaking different languages, then it also must be that they have to develop this separate personality when learning a new language. I have gotten the sense when watching others try to speak a foreign language that they are apprehensive to take on this new personality, and it hurts their ability to speak well. The most simple way to explain this is putting on a thick French accent when trying to speak French, rather than just saying French words as they would be said in American English. Of course as one would learn French more and more the accent would become more natural, but in the beginning stages the accent is more like playing a role, and I think that some people hesitate to take on that role. The extension for an advanced speaker would be using more phrases and colloquialisms in the foreign language. Sometimes they don't make sense when directly translated, and are a result of different cultural forces, but from just a language point of view they are useful for better communication.

In any case, I think some people would not even agree with the basic premise that when speaking a different language we take on a slightly different personality. But I have seen it and experienced it myself, and I think it actually can explain some aspects of language learning and use.

Learning two languages at once?

I want to expand upon the topic of language learning, inspired yet again by fluentin3months.com, this time by a specific post 'Learning Two Languages at Once: Can You Learn Multiple Languages at the Same Time?'

For a period of about one year I was learning German, progressing from beginner to intermediate, at the same time as beginning from scratch with the Croatian language. I've been living in Hamburg, Germany for three years now and wanted to learn the language for obvious reasons; to communicate and connect better with friends, colleagues, and everyday people. My girlfriend is from Croatia, so in part because of raw curiosity, but also to gain the ability to communicate with her family and friends, I started to learn from zero.

German had gone quite well even without an official course, mostly because I live in Germany and had a support structure to give me the opportunity to practice. Also, I was quite motivated so my self-study worked. Croatian on the other hand floundered for months, and is still only progressing slowly since I have time for only one one-hour long Skype course per week. Still, I feel like I really learned something for that period of time where I was learning two languages at once. I am heading in to a period where I will probably need to draw on these skills again. I am moving to Paris, France, and will probably want to pick up at least basic French and at least slowly continue with Croatian, albeit both with less urgency than before.

The article, written by Benny Lewis, the founder of the site, lists five things that I could not agree with more:

1. Choose languages that are really different
2. Study both languages each day
3. Avoid multi-tasking
4. Give each language a unique study routine
5. Don't rush!

These are absolute gold, and took me months to figure out myself. The most important I found was to really practically separate the way that you study each language. Don't study them in the same place, or at the same time of day. For the period I was studying German and Croatian I only studied German in the mornings before work, and only studied Croatian in the evenings after work. One example was listening to a German podcast on the way to work (Echo des Tages from NDR), and a Croatian one on the way home (actually from Serbia because there are no Croatian pods available, Srbija u dva). I would have loved to study each every day, but didn't have the discipline to do so, even for a small amount of time.

I hope this is useful. Just like Benny says, it is probably not possible or recommendable to try to become fluent in two languages at once, and it's also hard to imagine that being necessary for many people. But brushing up or slowly improving skills in two languages at once is something that many people probably wish they could do. It is definitely possible, just try to set these guidelines first so the time is well spent.

How long does it really take to learn a language?

I have become more and more interested in learning languages since moving to Europe. I studied German (hopelessly) in high school, and studied Japanese in college, but since moving to Germany over three years ago I have come to truly enjoy it. I have gotten to an upper-intermediate level in German mostly via self-study and immersion, and have started learning Croatian since it's the native tongue of my girlfriend. With an upcoming move to Paris and therefore French learning on the horizon I'm actually motivated rather than intimidated.

Along my journey of getting interested in languages I have many times clicked on fluentin3months.com, where Benny The Irish Polyglot (and now a team of bloggers) talk about the fun of language learning. His philosophy, outlined in his language hacking guides, is that book learning is over-rated and the best tactic is to speak from day one. He is absolutely right, and has proven it during many of his language challenges where he travels to a location and attempts to get to a certain level in his first 3 months there. What I have learned however is that book learning is very useful and important, but passion (and the hard work and determination that comes with it) is even more directly important. Book learning often drains passion, so it is only indirectly over-rated.

Is it really possible to become fluent in 3 months? Probably yes, but not for everyone with every language, and it's definitely not easy. But that's not the point of Benny's site anyway. The point is that setting goals and not being afraid to speak are necessary to make real progress.