Why Learning a 'Simple' Foreign Language Can Be a Trap?

We've all heard this advice: Want to learn a foreign language? Pick one that's 'closely related' to your native tongue, and it'll be much easier.

For instance, many Chinese people find Japanese easy to get started with, as it contains numerous Chinese characters. Similarly, for someone who knows French, learning Spanish or Italian might sound like 'easy mode', given that they all originate from Latin, like long-lost siblings.

On the surface, it definitely seems like a shortcut. 'How are you?' in French is Comment ça va?, in Italian it's Come stai?, and in Spanish it's ¿Cómo estás?. See, don't they look like a family? There are many similarities in vocabulary and grammatical structures.

However, today, I want to share a counter-intuitive truth with you: Sometimes, it is precisely this 'similarity' that becomes the biggest trap on your learning journey.

The Most Familiar Stranger

This feeling is akin to a Mandarin speaker trying to learn Cantonese.

You see '我今日好得闲' (I am free today), you recognise every character, and you can even guess the approximate meaning. You think, 'This is too easy!' But when you confidently open your mouth, you discover that the pronunciation, intonation, and even the core meaning of some words are worlds apart from Mandarin.

This frustration of 'understanding it when you read, but making mistakes as soon as you speak' is the biggest pitfall when learning 'kindred languages'. You think you're taking a shortcut, but you're actually dancing through a minefield.

The 'false friends' in these languages are the biggest landmines. They look exactly like words you're familiar with, but their meanings are entirely different.

For example: In French, 'colour' (couleur) is a feminine noun. When a French person learns Spanish and sees the word color, they would naturally assume it's also feminine. The result? color is masculine in Spanish. A small mistake, yet it exposes a certain laziness in thinking.

These pitfalls are ubiquitous. The more you rely on your native language's 'experience', the easier it is to fall into them. You think you're taking a shortcut, but you're actually being completely counterproductive.

The Real Challenge: Not Remembering, But Forgetting

When learning a completely new, unrelated language (like Chinese and Arabic), you approach it like a blank slate, humbly accepting all new rules.

But when learning a 'kindred language', your biggest challenge isn't 'memorising new knowledge', but rather 'unlearning old habits'.

1. Forget your muscle memory: French pronunciation is smooth, with even word stress. Italian and Spanish, however, are full of bouncy rhythms and emphatic stresses. For a French person, this is like asking someone used to walking on flat ground to dance the tango – they'll feel completely out of sync.
2. Forget your grammatical intuition: If you're accustomed to a certain sentence structure, it becomes difficult to adapt to the subtle differences in 'kindred' languages. These differences, though minor, are crucial for distinguishing a 'native speaker' from a 'foreigner'.
3. Forget your assumptions: You can no longer simply assume, 'This word must mean this, right?' You must approach every detail with the same reverence and curiosity as you would a brand-new concept.

How to Avoid These 'Beautiful Traps'?

So, what should we do? Should we abandon this 'shortcut'?

Of course not. The right approach isn't to avoid them, but to change your mindset.

Treat this new language like a relative who 'looks a lot like you, but has a completely different personality'.

Acknowledge your common roots (similar vocabulary), but even more so, respect its independent personality (unique pronunciation, grammar, and cultural nuances). Don't always assume 'it should be just like mine'; instead, be curious about 'why is it like this?'

When you encounter confusion, for instance, chatting with a Spanish friend and unsure if a certain word's usage is the same as in French, what do you do? Guess?

Fortunately, we live in an era where technology can bridge gaps.

Instead of quietly agonising in your mind, directly leverage tools. For example, a chat app like Lingogram comes with built-in real-time AI translation. When you communicate with foreign friends, it can instantly help you bridge those misunderstandings that arise from 'too much similarity', allowing you to communicate confidently while learning the most authentic usage from real conversations.

Ultimately, the true joy of learning a 'kindred language' lies not in how 'simple' it is, but in how it allows you to understand language itself more deeply — how it has common roots, yet has blossomed into so many different beautiful flowers in its own soil.

Let go of the arrogance of 'taking things for granted', and embrace the humility of 'so that's how it is'. Only then will this journey truly become easy and fascinating.