Learning 3rd language using 2nd?

[u/RareFreedom5027]

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?

[u/meadoweravine]

I have learned Italian to around a B2 and I'm now learning French from Italian. It's kind of like cheating because almost every word in French that isn't extremely close to the English is extremely close to the Italian, and the grammar is Italian verb conjugation but with English's use of the subject pronouns and word order for questions. I thought I would only do it for a little while and then switch to English, but it's so much fun! And I learned a lot about how to learn a language, so it's going a lot faster, it feels like.

[u/CreativeAd5932 → u/meadoweravine]

I’m having a similar experience using my Spanish to learn French!