Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

How Many Languages Can You Learn in a Year?

Let’s put YouTube polyglots and my own brain to the test.

If you’re like me, you’re reading this because you’re a wannabe polyglot. You’ve been dazzled and drawn in by dozens of YouTube polyglot experts who claim they speak 25 languages fluently and a dozen more conversationally.

You might fall into one of these categories:

• You’re interested in linguistics in general and want to broaden your horizons.
• You’re ADHD (heyyyy), and learning languages satisfies your need for constant intensive deep-diving; or you like the feel of a new language in your mouth. Uh is that weird to say?
• You want to stave off cognitive decline, and you’ve heard language learning is a great way to do it (it is).

Whatever the reason the headline drew you in, you’re burning with curiosity. How many languages can a person realistically learn in a year? How much can you realistically fit into your brain meat?

Strap in ladies, gents, and others because we’re going to find out! Test subject: me.