A while ago, JiEun (one of the Doing English+ members) was talking in the Doing English+ Community about learning a third language.  And it reminded me of something.

Something funny about languages that you might find interesting.

When you learn a second language, you experience transfer from your first language. So my Japanese is influenced by my English.

We all know this, of course. But what you might not know is this - when people learn a third language, it tends to be the SECOND language that they get transfer from. Not their first.

Meaning...

... if I learned, say, French, my French would be influenced by my Japanese.

If I then decided to learn a FOURTH language, guess what?

It'd be influenced by French. Not English or Japanese.

Actually this is something I experience a lot.

When pronouncing Indian names, and other non-English or non-Japanese names (this seems to be especially the case with Polish names) it's my JAPANESE pronunciation that influences the way I say it - not English. Sometimes this is a problem, because I put a "L" sound in where there should be an "R" sound.

Just one of the fascinating mysteries of language.   But its means that theoretically, if you were going to try and learn ALL the languages in the world, there should be a “optimal” order to learn languages in.   Intersting, eh?   And it just so happens that this is the topic of this week’s podcast.   Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the show.   Cheers,   Julian