Third Language Learning

A friend of mine also interested in SLS mentioned that she wondered what learning more than two languages would do to how you learn.

I'm here to explain that as best I can without knowing much at all about SLS yet.

English: My native language, learned as a child. I fancy I understand it rather well.

French: My second language, started in high school. I'm nowhere near fluent, but you could parachute me down anywhere in France and I could probably find my way home, or at least get into a good discussion about literature. I hate the grammar, love the pronunciation, like and mostly understand the literature, and ask that, s'il vous plait, you'll speak slowly.

Arabic: My third language. Parachute me into Egypt, and I'll be able to tell someone who I am and that I need to find someone who speaks English. I might even be able to carry on a halting conversation about my pets. Hate the vocabulary, like reading and pronunciation.

I'm in the process of learning both French and Arabic right now. I'm also in the process of saying, "Bonjour ya Carmen. Kayf halak? Ca va." I usually don't start speaking in Arabic when I'm trying to speak French, but I've had some close calls, including a time on a test where I had to choose between the wrong season in French and the right season in Arabic. (I went with French.)

But when I'm in Arabic, French is usually my fall-back language. If there's something I don't know how to say in Arabci and I have time to think about what I'm saying, I'll usually use English. If I'm still trying to say it in Arabic, the word I don't know will probably be French.

Sometimes I think I get into a 'foreign language mood.' When that's the case, it's easier to grab a word from my second language than my first. It gets a bit confusing, especially if you're the one trying to understand me.

So that's speech and thought; now for learning.

Learning French in high school was a valuable experience; it taught me how to learn a language. Before that, I didn't know such a thing as regular verbs existed. There were certain phrases I knew I should look out for and learn quickly, and ways to chart verbs that would help me study more effectively.

On a related note, it was studying French that made me realize how little I knew about English. Sure, I was good at grammar, but I didn't even know if we had regular verbs. I had a better idea of what I needed to learn in college. If I hadn't realized this, I'd probably still be in English Education, preparing to teach literature.

In summary: learning a second language taught me not only how to learn a third, but how to learn my first.