20

For example, consider Tamil and Malayalam. They are two very similar languages with many similar words.

The point is I get confused by the minor differences as I cannot remember them. I usually confuse Malayalam words with their Tamil counterparts.

How can I learn two similar languages without confusing them with one another?

Tsundoku
  • 19,740
  • 4
  • 43
  • 120
Kolappan N
  • 1,281
  • 7
  • 27

3 Answers3

13

If your mind is having trouble with the differences between similar terms, differentiate them by learning them in a separate context.

If you race cars, you might not have trouble driving normally, unless your brain can't differentiate the two similar environments.

I always found good ways to differentiate two similar things was to learn them in a different way:

  • Flash cards vs Memory match (Associating mental reflection of events with terms)
  • Red cards vs Green Cards (Associating colours with words)
  • Study room vs Backyard (Associate locations and location-based stigma with terms)
Quill
  • 968
  • 1
  • 10
  • 23
7

I think that you have to first master one of the two and then it will be easier to learn the other.

J.Past
  • 787
  • 6
  • 16
John McFerrin
  • 579
  • 4
  • 9
  • 2
    Hi John, and welcome to Language Learning! Your answer seems to be a little too short to be helpful. Please try to expand your answer and add more details. – fi12 Aug 07 '16 at 15:06
5

I started learning French before I have started learning Spanish. When learning Spanish, I usually could see the similarities between the French word and its Spanish counterpart. I basically used this to learn both faster. I have learnt how to do something in French and then memorised the differences to Spanish. When I forgot something in French, I usually had the Spanish word memorised and could "backtrack" the way it would have been in French.

itsmee
  • 51
  • 1
  • 2