My current ambition is to be able to communicate comfortably in English, French and Spanish. I began to study Spanish in 2008. I have been a student of French, on and off, for about 30 years and up to last year I could cope reasonably well in a supportive social environment.
But then I reached the point of diminishing returns: I realised that if I was to put an equivalent amount of energy into learning a third language, instead of just "treading water" in French, I might be able to communicate (at least in a basic way) with another 300 million or so people who speak Spanish. I found this idea exciting. . . Read more history
Rather than just follow the first course at beginner level that I could find, I wanted to save myself time and effort and I decided to make as much use as I could of the various tips and techniques, resources (real and virtual), short-cuts and time-saving cheats that I have been exposed to over my time as a (keen-ish but amateur) language student.
I decided to approach the challenge scientifically and in November 2008 I committed to study Spanish as a third language.
The whole point of writing and sharing this information is to let other people in a similar position know that "you are not alone" and because it’s not so long ago that I was looking for a resource like this myself and failed to find it, I suspect there is a need. If I am right please share your tips and ideas perhaps we can form a small community for a while and between us we can hack this business of growing from bilingual to trilingual quickly and effectively.
¡Vamos, vaya! ¡Ataquemos! Allons y!
Recent Comments