Two languages at the same time

Is it possible to study two (or more) languages in Rocketlanguages at the same account, so I can choose which language I want to study every time I log in? I didn't find answer in FAQ. 

Jaakko: I don't know for sure, but I am guessing not, since the "tuition" you pay is for a specific course such as Rocket Spanish Platinum or Rocket Chinese Premium. But maybe you meant can you study 2 languages if you have paid for 2 courses. That I don't know either. So I guess I have not been very helpful. Sorry!

But I do admire your ambition. I have all I can do to try to learn just one new language.

Hi, I actually bought Rocket French 1-3 and German 1-3 modules at the same time, and recently picked up the modules for Japanese, and yes, you can toggle among the courses at the same time. You would need to go to:

http://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/courses

and all your purchased languages will appear there. I've long completed the French modules so I'm no longer using them (I'm spending most of my time on the Japanese modules), but I still toggle to the French section through the "courses" page to see if there are any questions that I can answer on the discussion board.

Torusan, are you fluent in French as a result of going through the course? I don't know how people can learn two languages at once. I have all I can do to maintain my level in French and try to keep moving forward in Spanish.
 

Hi Steven, I wasn't fluent (at least not to my liking) at the end of the course. I could get by as a tourist, but certainly couldn't have full-blown conversations with Francophones for any extended period of time. I tested on the low side of B2 (upper intermediate) on the Common European Framework at the end of RF Platinum:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages

The short story is that after the course, I realized that I still needed a lot of help with oral comprehension and grammar, so I started working with a tutor twice a week (1 hr. sessions) a little over two years ago, and in the past year, with four tutors (4-5 hrs. a week). I'm now at C1 and I still continue my tutoring 2-3 hrs a week to keep up the conversational practice. I wish I had done this with Spanish, because I've pretty much forgotten it.

I should clarify though that although I picked up German at the same time, I stopped going through it almost immediately because I realized that it was adversely affecting my French pronunciation. I still plan on going through the course, but since I already have a trip to Japan lined up next year, I decided to start Japanese first. :) And unlike with French, I already started with a Japanese tutor immediately to get that extra help on oral comprehension, now that I know that *that* tends to be my weakness.

My experience in learning Spanish is similar to yours, torusan. I think that I can read and write pretty well in Spanish. I am feeling more confident in my ability to speak Spanish, but the oral comprehension is the most challenging for me. I think it is because when I read, write, and speak I can control the pace. When listening to another person speak they control the pace. So I am trying to keep up with what they are saying and at the same time begin thinking about my response. As soon as an unfamiliar word is spoken I find myself fixating on that word and losing what is said thereafter.

But, as President Kennedy said, we do it not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

If you purchase multiple languages using the same email address, you go from one language to another by clicking on the "Rocket" banner at the top of the page.  It will then give you an choice of languages to study.

On learning, I find that Rosetta Stone and Rocket Languages are good complements for each other.  If you sign up for online access (Rosetta World), you can then do their studio sessions which gives you live tutorial sessions with other students.  The main thing missing from Rocket Languages is the tutor.  Rosetta Stone lacks translations and explanations.

Thanks for the answers & other discussion.

IMHO, if you want a fluent language skill in language, it is impossible to study two or more languages at the same time. In school I was never keen studying languages, but after I turned 30, I have been driven by the burning desire to know different languages. The more, the better. And this has last for 10 years. 

Someone would wonder (all my friends in fact do so), why to study this many languages if my real language skill is so low in almost all of these languages- why not to study one or two languages fluently instead? Well, if you are career-oriented in your studying it really does not make sense: If you are hired for example for your French language, you must be really good in it. So you must focus. But for me it is simply such a wonderful feeling that I can order in restaurant in Slovak, read shop list in French, say hello in Chinese or give my telephone number in Italian. Life is so short that you cannot study 15 languages fluently.

Hi all - Just a quick tip about oral comprehension. Being pretty much tone deaf, oral comprehension has been by far the hardest part of language learning for me. I came across an article somewhere (it may have even been a forum post!) that suggested passive listening to a radio station in the target language would help.  It was also suggested that it may take 3-6 months to make good progress.

I have found that this has helped me a lot!

Very helpful comments, Torusan. Thanks. There are places around where I live that offer Spanish tutoring (most probably Spanish from Spain). I will look into it.

I learned French way back when from immersion. And while I live in a French-speaking country now, the level of French people speak here isn't that good (generally speaking) and my vocabulary has collapsed around what I use at work. I am currently using "conversationexchange.com" to get in touch with people from France. You might want to look into this as it is a free service - although certainly not as effective as having a tutor.
 

Jason - I would have to agree with you. I listen to Latin music as well as watch an hour program (a TV series) in Spanish pretty much every day. Oral comprehension is not what I find most difficult. It's more spitting out what I want to say.

All that in addition to watching the daily news in French. Learning and keeping up languages is definitely not for the faint of heart...
 

I feel that speaking Spanish is the more difficult aspect for me and I absolutely agree with you Dan-H24 when you say you get so focused on the one word you don't know that you loose focus on the other part of the discussion, it happens to me too.

To add to what torusan said Just click on the rocket language sign on the very top of the page
 

PIcking up on Jason's suggestion about listening to radio in your target language I've found this to be really helpful and motivating as well.  On Black Friday last November I picked up an inexpensive Fire and portable bluetooth speakers so I could play German internet radio while doing my two hours a day of swimming exercises. 

I started listening putting it own the hour I go to sleep, wake up, or sometimes even in the background when I'm practicing.

At first, it was frustrating at how little I could pick up even though I had three years of German in High School.  The speakers spoke so quickly, I could only even recognize 10% or less of the sounds as words.  I perceived them as blurs, and referring to the "chunking" theory alluded to hear I think all my registers were just overwhelmed, or "overflowed."

Gradually, I could pick up more words and every now and then I'd hear what I could recognize as a word and then look it up.  But often couldn't spell them enough to find the right word. 

Sometime in the last few months it is as if a curtain has been lifted or a magic wand "spronged."  I can hear every word even if I don't understand it, I can write it down usually spelled correctly, and I can follow the meaning of the stories.

There are a few "learning accelerators" for this kind of thing I can share with you if you like. I've picked these up from experts or just trail and error.
1.  Relax and let your mind flow with the sounds, rather than get hyperfocused trying to catch every word. You're brain will start to map the pattern and rythym of the langauge at a higher level over a period of months.
2. Read up on some of the stories in the English language versions of the country you are targeting.  For example, Deutsche Welle has both English and German langauges version.  If you get a basic understanding of the topics that are hot, who some of the key players are etc, you can piece together context, or "meta-clues" as to what is being talked about and infer a lot of meaning by intuition. For example, German the refugee crisis comes up in every story, as does the German national league soccer competitions.  So looking up words like team, score, stricker, etc.  gives you a big leg up.
3. Keep a notebook for words you pick, out or even look up.  It is not unusual to have to look the same word up 3, 5, or in some cases even 10 times before it really sinks in so deep that you instantly recognize it real time.  You will also noticed that there are several hundred words that you can get correctly on vocabulary programs like Vocabulix, but that you can not retrieve meaning on fast enough to make sense of them in free flowing very fast radio broadcast speech.
4. Be patient. It will take 3 - 6 months for the first major wave of new brain cells to start really kicking in.  And I don't even know how long for fluency. But, I am now at a point where I can learn the meaning of new words by context or inference, and may learn another 10 to 20 every hour I listen.
5. I started using RBB Witstock a News Station in German, but realized they were playing a continuous loop of about 40 minutes of original material over an over.
Mix it up some, Talk Programs are great because speakers not only speak more slowly, but also use a lot greater variety of "filler" expressions - Words, llike Nah, genau (exactly).  I remember about three month into this experiment I heard two women talking and the interviewer kept saying "genau" over and over again. After I looked it up I realized she was keeping the conversation going and letting listeners know she was still there.  You don't get these kinds of thinks in straight news broadcasts.
6. Listen to commercials, they come up over and over again and are a good way to provide intelligible "anchor points." To keep you engaged.
 7. Yabla has a free programs that let's you play games with short videos, and although it is expensive ($30 a month) I used FluentU for video programs and can recommend it when you have enough time to really use it intensively to get your value.  I will use it again, but let my subscription go to do this program, which was as good choice.
8. I also carry around index cards with target words, and conjugations, for when I go to the bathroom, have to wait for Gina shopping, etc. I can get an extra hour a day at least of study, by having the Rocket German lessons recorded on my portable Ipad, Fire, and Iphone.  I listen to the audios while driving or exercising,, so that when I am sitting down at the computer I can concentrate on the exercises and flash cards.   I listen to all the audios of the all course in advance so I can start to gain familiarity with future lessons even before I know the vocab.  I listen to the all conversation tapes of the whole lesson several times every day even weeks before I get to those sessions, and weeks after I've passed the earlier modules. Repeating things over and over again is key.

9. Check out "German language programs" on Youtube, (or whatever your target language is) . Last night, my S.O. and I watched a 1972 Fassbinder film in German for free on Youtube. Tonight we will watch another.  I was astonished that I could understand so much of the dialogue which was much slower in pace, and had so many context cues.
These are just a few ways I've accelerated my learning with real languages supplements. I could share others if you are interested.

Cheers,
David

Hi David - Great tips. Thanks for sharing!

I'm also learning two languages at the same time and find it to be a lot of fun. I just started Chinese last week with my son.

I am currently learning two different languages.  I study Japanese with Rocket, video games, and other assorted Japanese media, and Spanish at work with customers and coworkers.  So it can be done.  Its just a matter of creating a system so that you won't become overwhelmed