Re: Language Fluency

>As for myself, I'm working on achieving (or regaining) reading fluency in
>all the national languages of the EU. That's going to take a long time, if
>I stick with it, but I have no lack of confidence in the ability of the
>mind to acquire that many languages.
>
>
I think my five posts are up, but if this gets through... I think the
fact that most of the languages are related makes it harder, not easier,
to achieve actual fluency in using them, rather than passive recognition
of the words. If you're learning two very similar languages like for
instance Spanish and Portuguese you (or at least I) tend to switch
accidentally and confuse people... its not a problem of course if your
aim is passive understanding (as in reading), but it is you intend to
speak or write those languages. I'm not saying its impossible... just
that it takes more mental discipline and practice to separate the two,
than if you were learning two (or more) unrelated languages.

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