274: From Zero To Fluency: How To Master A Foreign Language – Benny Lewis

The Expat Money Show - With Mikkel Thorup

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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HOW TO FIND BENNY LEWIS’ WORK

FluentIn3Months.com Benny Lewis on X

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!