Lumbering Ox Posted January 8, 2016 at 06:08 PM Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 at 06:08 PM This is more a question for future Brian, not present Brian. Once someone gets good at a language [C1 C2 level/advanced] how much time would one need to maintain it. I've seen one discussion that suggests half an hour a day but the same person claims that at a C1 or C2 level one doesn't lose the language which I know to be false. Even people who were unilingual for their first 20+ years can see their skills erode. So I am not so sure. I am also guessing that the time would change for say an English speaker trying to preserve French, vs Hindi vs something like Chinese or Japanese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtcamero Posted January 8, 2016 at 06:27 PM Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 at 06:27 PM i think it depends on a few things. not trying to study another foreign language makes it much easier... since your brain isn't quite as occupied. also time reading is I think more effective than time spent watching tv...but both are differently useful. i try to watch an hour of tv and read 5-10 pages of japanese per day, at the minimum. after 2 years I have probably dropped a little bit from my peak skill level, but then plateau'd off. talking with japanese friends feels rusty for the first 5 minutes and then I get loosened up and things flow with little difficulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulfgar Posted January 8, 2016 at 07:08 PM Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 at 07:08 PM I've seen one discussion that suggests half an hour a day but the same person claims that at a C1 or C2 level one doesn't lose the language which I know to be false. Can I assume you're talking about this discussion? If you've truly reached C1/C2, there aren't many reasons for "maintaining" imo. Sure, your skills will erode, but extremely slowly. You're going through the effort to learn a killer language like Mandarin (I assume), right? So I can't imagine you'd leave it alone enough to require maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lumbering Ox Posted January 8, 2016 at 07:15 PM Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 at 07:15 PM Yeah, that's the thread. I am considering Mandarin or Japanese, about a hundred hours into the later but thinking of making the switch. However at some point no matter which I learn I think I'd like to try the other or maybe something else. I don't know how people can maintain 6 or so languages at a high level without going a little something something unless they don't work and do nothing but language. Hell my father spent his first 20 years as a unilingal French person in the middle of nowhere. By the time he hit his 50's having worked in English and married a unilingual Newfie he noticed degradation in his French. He is back on track at the age of 83 when a bit over 10 years ago he moved to a more bilingual place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKennon Posted January 9, 2016 at 07:05 AM Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 at 07:05 AM I studied German at the University a half century ago, and got to the level where I could read most things in the language, although I had little opportunity to speak it. Since then I have read a novel in German about every other year. That has sufficed to keep me at the same level as when I stopped formal study in 1966, but I have not improved much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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