Learning two languages at a time can be really overwhelming. The fact is, when you learn a new language, your brain is doing a continuous job of putting the new knowledge in harmony with the existing knowledge and so-called mind patterns, which are “adapted” to your native language and ways of thinking. As a result, if you “stuff” your memory with too many language structures and quite new patterns, you may feel overtired, emotionally worn out, and even depressed.

At the same time, every one of us has his or her individual limits, and I have met people who used to study two or more foreign languages at a time quite successfully. Still, the knowledge of every language is determined by the ability  to communicate in it, which is impossible to do without continuous practice of speaking. If you have lots of language speakers around you all the time in a bilingual country (like the French provinces of Canada, for example), then your chances to successfully master two languages at a time, will be much higher.

Still, I would not advise a native English-speaker, for example, to try and learn Russian and Ukrainian at a time. Slavic languages have many similarities between them, but they are quite different from the languages of Germanic group; this kind of study may become quite tiresome and such learners may end up losing motivation for study at all.

“This is the first time I’ve done this kind of blog, in that it’s an open question to all of you who read. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it in a previous post, but I’m learning Spanish. I’m about level B1 and go to a weekly two-hour course. I started properly learning in September 2013. […]

via Have you ever learnt two languages at once? — Dan in Deutschland