Articles


Learning enough of the language to get by on the flight over

written by Benny Lewis

In my travels I always try my best to speak a language fluently (or better), but sometimes this is not possible, since I may be only spending a few days in a country. As well as this, you need to start somewhere if you want to eventually speak fluently, and “enough to get by” is […]


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Reading time: 7 minutes

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Mission: Read and speak Thai in 8 weeks

written by Benny Lewis

From the blog’s origin era (2009–2014) — kept as lived proof of the method. See all the missions. Note: Posted in 2010 Sceptics beware; as always I’m going for an ambitious goal 🙂 In a few short hours, I’m going a complicated route (Krakow –> Prague, Prague –> Amsterdam, Amsterdam –> Bangkok; it was the […]

Blending in with Cariocas in Rio

written by Benny Lewis

Rio de Janeiro

I am absolutely amazed by this city. It has a fascinating cultural history, an active music and dance scene, some of the most outstanding scenery I’ve ever come across, the world’s most famous Carnaval, samba, enough to inspire judges to have it be the host of both the 2014 World cup final and the 2016 Olympics, and, most important of all, Cariocas – its residents.

I came here in September of this year, with the mission of trying to become more like them (me carioquizar), and I got so much more than that from my time there!

3 months in the marvellous city

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Reading time: 8 minutes

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Mission complete! Partial success – What will Benny’s next mission be?

written by Benny Lewis

From the blog’s origin era (2009–2014) — kept as lived proof of the method. See all the missions. 4 gold stars for partial success My most recent “mission” has been to try to become Brazilian in 3 months, i.e. reach the stage that several Brazilians would think that I too was Brazilian. And I can […]


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Reading time: 4 minutes

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Instantly Learn Thousands of French Words

Instantly Learn Thousands of French Words

written by Benny Lewis

There’s no such thing as starting from zero Great news! You’re already a polyglot! Seriously, if you can read this post, then you can understand and say (albeit with an accent) words in hundreds of languages! It is impossible to say that you don’t speak anything in a language. Any modern language spoken by a […]


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Reading time: 6 minutes

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Luck of the Irish? Or can anyone can learn to be lucky?

written by Benny Lewis

Hi! I’m Benny – a long-term world-traveller, I speak several languages, work my own hours at a job I like, have many interesting adventures, meet lots of cool people nearly all the time and am a generally happy and positive guy. There’s only one way all of this can be possible, right? I must just […]


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Reading time: 9 minutes

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How to survive as a travelling vegetarian

written by Benny Lewis

I’ve been travelling for about 7 years so far, and have lived in places like beef-crazy Buenos Aires, shrimp-hungry Brazil, fish-famous Donegal, paella filled Spain, and foie-gras-loving France. My own way to get to know the culture of these places involves learning and hacking their languages and spending my time almost entirely with locals, but […]


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Reading time: 11 minutes

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