Welcome to new Irish readers!

Quick reminder: To get frequent updates about my day-to-day progress and thoughts on learning Mandarin and life in Taiwan, make sure to like my Facebook page, or follow me on twitter or Google plus!

Today’s edition of the Irish times has printed an article about my language learning adventures, and I’ve had some requests for radio interviews on Irish stations this week. While I’m glad to usually write to an international audience, it’s great to see some interest sparked back home! So, welcome to new readers from Ireland!

If you’re wondering about a precise explanation regarding how I learn languages, and some encouragement to make it clear that it has nothing to do with natural talent, the best thing you can do is check out my TEDx talk (17 minutes long).

If you are more curious about how I’ve been travelling for so long, just keep in mind that travel is way cheaper than what you think it is! I’ve had dozens of different jobs to fund this, but at the moment earn from sales of the Speak From Day One package I created that some readers of this blog decide to get (on the link you’ll see a fun video of me speaking my best languages). You don’t have to pay me money to progress in a language though – there are so many ways to learn a language without spending a cent.

Also, for articles more relevant to Ireland, one of the most popular posts I’ve written with almost a million reads has been How to speak English like the Irish, and I’ve also written specifically about learning Irish (Gaeilge), and made a silly video about it. And the book I wrote has been translated to Irish (as well as 21 other languages) by two native speakers from the Gaeltacht and you can see the sales page written entirely in Irish here: Treoir Teanga. Last time I was home I recorded some footage of the Fleadh, since it was in my hometown Cavan!

The biggest article on the site by far has been the 29 life lessons learned in travelling the world for 8 years straight.

About every 3 months, I move to a new country and try to learn a new language. I don’t promise or claim anything, but I do aim very high and share my progress. At the moment I’m trying to learn Mandarin Chinese to a fluent level in just 3 months. It’s pushing me to my limits and I’m working really hard, but sharing my successes and struggles on the blog. So I hope you’ll subscribe by clicking the RSS button, joining the email list (both around the top right of the site) or liking the Facebook page!

And most importantly, I hope something on this site will inspire you to give a second language a try yourself – especially considering that my background may not be so different to yours (I did pass Irish for the Leaving Cert and only got a C2 [For non Irish readers, this is half way between a C+ and a C-] in my Leaving Cert German exam, which ironically is the same name (C2) used to describe the highest level exam you can take in the advanced diploma in German that I sat after trying a second time, with just 3 months to prepare!)

In Cavan, we have a weekly meetup on Wednesdays in the Farnham hotel for Irish speakers to practice their level – check out your local library/paper to see if there is something similar near you to speak a wee bit as Gaeilge, and if you live in a bigger city, say hi to a tourist, or do a search on social networking sites to find a native of many other languages to speak with in person.

If you are going abroad soon and are serious about learning the language, don’t make the mistake that I made for the first six months I was living in Spain, and speak the language immediately! Make mistakes, the world won’t end – extensive research that I’ve done over 8 years has confirmed this!

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave me a comment below, or to join the very active forums on this site to get advice to any specific questions you may have! All the best from Taiwan!

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This article was written by Benny Lewis

Comments: If you liked this post or have anything to say, please leave a comment! I love reading them You don’t even have to write in English! I will reply to all comments in any language listed on the right with the flags.
Just keep in mind that I’ll delete any comments that:
1. Are unnecessarily nasty and mean to me or any other commenter or otherwise totally inappropriate.
2. Are irrelevant to the particular post they follow, or leave a link to a site that is totally irrelevant or are clearly spam. If you have a general language learning question, please ask it in the forums.
3. Use a commenter name of a business or brand instead of a human being or a spammy temporary disposable e-mail service, or a clearly fake address.
But that’s not you, so don’t worry! Can’t wait to see what you have to write… don’t be shy!!

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