274: From Zero To Fluency: How To Master A Foreign Language – Benny Lewis
Benny has been a nomadic polyglot for over 20 years. He speaks over ten languages, several at the fluency level. He runs the largest language blog in the world called Fluent In 3 Months, which receives more than 1 to 2 million unique visitors every month. He is the author of multiple books, has given a number of TED talks, and is a National Geographic Traveller of the World.
In today’s conversation, Benny shares his insights from decades of language learning and world travelling experience.
TODAY’S CONVERSATION WITH BENNY LEWIS
- Hear the inside story of how Benny found himself going from a degree in engineering to becoming a language expert.
- Learn how Benny was able to learn Spanish by refusing to speak anything else for months!
- Find out which of the most commonly promoted language learning methods don’t really work well at all.
- Listen to Benny I dig deeper into some of the “dirty dozen” excuses people use for not learning a foreign language.
- Hear why you “have to feel like an idiot” in order to truly become fluent in a new language.
- Learn about the unique ways that Benny has turned “killing time” on social media and technology tools for learning multiple languages.
- Find out why I believe there is a concerted effort to make access to the Russian language difficult for political reasons.
- Hear about how Benny switches between two different “modes” when it comes to learning languages.
- Uncover Benny’s top strategies expats can use to learn the language of a country they are preparing to move to.
- Lastly, find out Benny’s favourite countries he’s travelled to – we have a few in common!
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RELATED EPISODES
169: Best of Foreign Languages 2021
114: How To Memorize A Foreign Language – Dr. Anthony Metivier
083: Olly Richards – Secrets to Learning a Foreign Language Quickly
HOW TO FIND BENNY LEWIS’ WORK
CONCLUSION
I was so glad to have Benny Lewis on the show. Believe it or not, I’ve been wanting to get him on since I first started this podcast over five years ago! As you can see Benny’s approach to learning a new language is vastly different from that of many of the language apps and programs you’ll typically find out there.
At the end of the day, there is simply nothing that can replace just getting in there and speaking the language, and the sooner you can start doing that regularly, the faster you’ll become a fluent communicator.
Heck, if you start now, you could be well on your way to mastering a new language by next Wednesday’s episode!
About The Host, Mikkel Thorup
Mikkel Thorup; the host of The Expat Money Show, has 20+ years in continual travel around the world, visiting more than 100 countries including Colombia, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Iran.
His goal now is to help Expats just like you to generate additional streams of income, eliminate your tax bill, and take advantage of offshore structures so you can travel the world freely and never have to worry about money again.
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