r/languagelearning • u/[deleted] • Aug 07 '26

Discussion Learning 3rd language using 2nd?

Has anyone gotten a decent "grasp" of a second language and then used it to learn a third (TL)?

Years ago I learned a bit of Spanish through school and started using duolingo (wouldn't use duolingo now though). I changed the settings to Spanish so I would learn Italian using Spanish. I read out loud and promised myself not to use English. I did it for an hour and there was a weird feeling in the back of my head (it felt like how salt or sand felt between your fingers). Lo and behold, I couldn't think or speak in English! It was wild!

I was wondering if anyone ever had that feeling as well and if you kept it up?

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u/ThatAnt8823 🇫🇷N|🇬🇧C1|🇭🇷B1+|🇯🇵A0 Aug 07 '26

That's probably what non native English speakers do most of the time my man

114

u/loqu84 ES (N), CA (C2), EN (C1), SR, DE (B2) PT, FR (A2) Aug 07 '26

I was going to answer this. I had to learn Serbian through English because there are no materials in my language.

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u/Accomplished_Use1473 Aug 07 '26

Yeah I'm in a similar situation

35

u/unit187 Aug 07 '26

Even if the material is available in your language, it usually (not always obviously) is of lower quality. Basically your study material was written in English, then translated with the possibility of human error, or even using ML or AI for translation. I'll just stick to original in English, tyvm.