How I Maintain EIGHT Languages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4ete3dpVJs

Hi everyone! In today's blog post, I'm going to be sharing some of my tips on how I maintain all the languages I've acquired - eight to this date!

The short and simple answer to how I remember all eight languages is that I use them daily. However, this does not necessarily mean that I'm having conversations with people in all eight languages every single day. There are other strategies, both passive and active, that you can use to help keep the languages fresh in your mind.

Tip 1: Do your routine tasks in the language(s) you want to maintain

Everyone has the same twenty four hours a day, and how you choose to make use of them is up to you. We are all busy individuals, and so it isn't always feasible to carve out extra time in your day for studying languages. The good news is, you don't have to! For example, I work out almost every day, and sometimes, when I'm doing that, I listen to a podcast in one of the languages I want to maintain. When I'm on the treadmill at home, I put on a TV series in a language I want to maintain. Even when you are cooking, cleaning, or doing the laundry, you can listen to music in the language you want to maintain. If you work on language maintenance while you're doing something you already do regularly anyway, you won't have to try and find extra time later.

Tip 2: Take art/dance/cooking classes in the language(s) you want to maintain

This is similar to Tip 1. If you already take art, dance, music, cooking, or other classes, you can try taking them in the language(s) you're looking to maintain. For those of you who don't know already, I'm a private piano teacher and vocal coach. One of my former piano students was a lover of the French language. She was already at a pretty intermediate level, but just didn't have many opportunities to practice speaking. When she found out that I also spoke French, she requested that all our piano lessons be done in French only. This was very smart on her part, because she was gaining twice the value for the same price. As for me, I recently did some workout classes in Spanish and Portuguese, both of which are languages I am maintaining. Since I was going to be doing the classes anyway, I figured I might as well make the best use of my time, and work on some language maintenance at the same time.

Even if you don't already take these types of classes, you can sign up for them as a way to try something new and out of your comfort zone, while working on maintaining your acquired language(s). Trying new things is a great way to break your routine. It can feel very refreshing, and boost your mental health as well!

Tip 3: Write your journal entries and to-do lists in the langauge(s) you want to maintain

Anything you are in the habit of already writing, whether that be journal entries, to-do lists, or even grocery lists, you can write them in the language(s) you want to maintain instead of your native language. For a while, I myself was writing my bullet journal in Italian. Years ago, I would do the same thing in French.

Tip 4: Learn songs in the language(s) you want to maintain

As a musician, I love this method, because it's the most fun one for me! This is a great way to relax, have fun, but still work on language maintenance at the same time! Also, you actually never know when you might need to sing these songs. For example, a few months ago, I was invited to a birthday party. The entire household was Mexican, and most people there could not speak English very well. Later on in the evening, they decided to pull the karaoke machine out, and when I sang a Spanish song, they were all so surprised!

Tip 5: Find online/in-person conversation groups

Sometimes, it's hard to find people in our daily lives to practice languages with, and this is why finding either an online or in-person group where you can practice having conversations in the language you want to maintain is important. I'm part of an online polyglot group, and each day of the week, there is a meeting or two for a different language. So far, I have participated in the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, and Italian meetings. You can come and go as you please, and it's a great way to practice real conversations with real people. It's also a fantastic way to meet new people with the same love of language learning as you!

Thank you so much for reading until the end! I hope you took something of value from this blog post. Please feel free to let me know if you want more tips like this, or if you have any suggestions on other topics I should speak/write about. Have a fantastic rest of your day!