English is my native language, but I learned Mandarin fluently. I don’t speak Mandarin from being raised with it, I learned as an adult. I can read and write well enough I was able to go to college in China (granted it was a rough start). The majority of my college experience was using Mandarin to learn other things, but I rarely used it to learn any other languages (due to time).
Learning about linguistics, education theory, and everything for my major stuck with me far better because of the linguistic barrier. I had to make sure I understood the concept as well as the language. I couldn’t get by just seeing the words and figuring I had it down well enough. That extra barrier ended up creating a filter which resulted in a deeper understanding and got my language level to where it is now. The same idea works even better for specifically learning another language, especially if that other language you use to learn (learning language for brevity’s sake from here on out) is really good, but not great.
The Idea Behind Learning a Language With Another Language
Learning any subject with a specific language is going to strengthen that language in that area as long as there is true understanding. The more you use the language in a specific context, the more within that specific context you will be able to communicate (as long as you are advancing the knowledge as well as the understanding behind it). You can’t just read about quantum physics and understand the subject past a certain point without the math and knowledge to make it meaningful within its full context.
This principle factors in that you’ll need to have a certain level of fluency with a language to learn another language with it. Do you know linguistic terminology or not? How much can you differentiate a given term? Will you spend more time trying to get through the content in the language you know than you can spend with the language you’re learning? These questions are important to answer because they affect whether you should bother or not. If you have infinite time and willpower, it doesn’t really matter, but modern learning involves scaffolding.
This method tends to feel more efficient when remembering information. You have more pieces of information tied to what you’re trying to do. If you look at a chart and just know it (whether you do or not), it can be easier to just keep going and not test that knowledge. This gets even worse if you’re learning on your own. Learning in another language forces you to test your knowledge because you have to know it in one to learn it in another which creates more novel memories of dealing with the content which increases exposure to a topic. It becomes more important to remember since it took more effort.
You may not be completely ready when you start, but you can make the leap with the right motivation. You also don’t need to just use one resource for everything either. If you use a dictionary or similar resources in your native language, you can help fill in gaps and learn a bit about both languages. This isn’t a zero sum game and it isn’t all or nothing for resources.
Reinforcing Your Learning Language
One of the goals is to learn a new language, but the the other is to reinforce and strengthen your learning language. This can apply to your primary language as well, but if you’re not living somewhere with a language you know, you’re probably not practicing it actively (or as much as you want). By using a different language, you get more exposure to parts of the language you might not elsewhere.
If you’re using the language and living somewhere it’s relevant, you still get reinforcement of grammar concepts and similar. You have to comprehend the rules of the learning language, the taught language, and reconcile any differences. If you had it wrong, you’ll have something to subtly show the breakdown.
I like to read in Mandarin when I get a chance, but I also like to learn new things. By using this strategy, I can get topics I seldom see or experience and learn another language too. It cuts my maintenance time down because I have to use it to make sure I understand the grammar points, arbitrary vocabulary, and all the other explanations without hitting snags. If I hit a snag, I get a chance to rectify it.
You can use this strategy to strengthen your learning language as well. If you don’t know certain terms, you’re going to have to learn them. If you learned a language for one thing, but shifted careers, this can be helpful. Jargon is an essential part of functionally using a language, but it can be hard to introduce without a purpose. If you change careers, you’ll need jargon if you want your language to be applicable for the job. Why not go for two birds with one stone if it’s easy?
Auxiliary Benefits
This sort of learning gives you an insight on what a specific language’s learners may struggle with when learning a foreign language. Non-tonal language speakers tend to struggle with tonal languages, but the inverse is true as well. Sometimes, just learning to write is a struggle in itself for one language’s learners. What does the book spend more time on and what does it jump through quickly? If you can preview the content, this can be a good way to also weed out languages to learn with a given language.
I would only really jump to another language with a more similar language. When I say “similar”, I don’t even mean same language family, just region and impact from that language. Thai makes a lot more sense to learn from Chinese than it does from English. Thai has tones just like Chinese, and the grammar is arguably more similar. If you already got over the cognitive hump once, why spend a chapter on something when a page suffices because of your other knowledge?
Certain languages are faster to learn when tied in with another language. Going from Chinese to Thai is less of a jump than Chinese to German as far as what makes the language difficult for a learner of a specific language. Exploit this but avoid wasting effort on wrong combinations too. If half the book is over pronunciation when a book in your main language covers it in a lesson, which should you probably start with?
Making the Right Call
If you want to reinforce a language, this method works great as long as the language isn’t too different from your target. It doesn’t matter how good your hammer is if all you’ve got are screws. Japanese to English is going to be much more of a jump than German to English. Play off of objective strengths, not ideals.
Crossing and combining languages provides a new insight into another language and culture. You get the added benefit of bettering your language learning on multiple fronts. You aren’t just learning the target language, you’re getting reinforcement for the learning language as well. Make sure there’s a reason and a benefit to this reinforcement though, or else you’re just spinning your wheels.
This method is amazingly powerful when used right. Your learning language needs to be good enough in terms of skill and application to be worth using to learn, but when it is, you cut out so much useless work. You also get to target two languages at once instead of just one (though what you gain will be different between them). This method is limited by a skill requirement, but it provides much more exposure than many other methods could ever hope to.
Image by Peggy Choucair from Pixabay