Poder Conjugation: All Tenses, Explained Simply (with Examples)
Learn every tense of the Spanish verb poder with clear conjugation tables, example sentences, and an explanation of when to use poder versus saber.
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How to create a realistic timeline for your next language project (Why 3 months?)
As I continue on the book tour, I have been getting asked many questions face-to-face with people, many of which remind me of things that I can talk about on the blog more. One of the biggest ones by far is Why 3 months? You see it in the title of the blog and the […]
Benny Coaches a Beginner to Learn Esperanto in Six Weeks [Video]
Watch Benny introduce a beginner’s 2014 six-week Esperanto mission, then see the final social-use result at the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin.
Time to Level Up! Examples of how you can use your language anywhere
The most famous example people know of me (and my friend Moses) levelling up, is when we went to a mall in Columbus Ohio and spoke over a dozen languages. I’ve had people email me to ask where are good places to level up, as if a list can be compiled. Actually, you can do […]
9 Reasons You’re Hitting Language Learning Walls (& How to Break Through Them to Finally Become Fluent)
It’s the feeling of stagnation, like sitting around and waiting for something to happen because you know you’ve been putting in the work.
It’s what happens when you feel a huge rush of demotivation because you’re really tired of studying this language every single day and not seeing much of a return for it.
Benny Lewis has definitely hit them before and so have thousands of other language learners.
BRICK WALLS. At the end of the day, some get through them and some don’t.
Ridiculous translation blunders that cost millions of dollars (and why you should learn a language for better business)
In the 1960’s, Pepsi took its “Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation” slogan to China, which was not well very well received. The reason? In Chinese, this translates to “Pepsi brings your relatives back from the dead.”
Clairol and Canadian Mist’s German Blunder
Canadian Mist, a brand of whiskey, failed in German markets because “Mist” in German means “manure.”
The same happened to Clairol when it attempted to sell a curling iron called the “Mist stick” to German markets. Who wants to put a shit stick into their hair?
Coors Spanish Blunder
4 language learning revelations from a Ms. World contestant
Karen who runs Immersia offers these words of encouragement – I love seeing the same realizations from such a wide range of people, and am happy to share hers with you today, especially since she has such an interesting and different background. Over to you Karen: ——— I was born in the Ukraine and my […]
5 crazy ways to get over shyness immediately, no drink/drugs required
My philosophy in language learning is, always has been, and always will be to Speak From Day One.
But for many people, this is terrifying! And because I have been talking so much about how effective I’ve found using video calls and language exchange websites, or in-person meetings early on in a language project to chat with native speakers right away, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about what to do if you’re too shy to speak from day one.
So today I’m going to answer these questions.
24 quirky cultural tidbits about Japan from this Westerner’s perspective
After almost eleven years of travelling the world, I finally had the time to learn some Japanese and visit this unique country. I had a whirlwind adventure over several weeks, and am right now in as opposite a culture as I can imagine, in Texas (to launch my book Fluent in 3 months when it […]
When projects don’t go as planned (Biting off more than you can chew)
What a whirlwind few months! Rough start, but a good first two months Back in September after announcing my Japanese project, I jumped in and started speaking spontaneously my first weeks, and was able to share a prepared speech pretty confidently. But I quickly ran into a hitch of being desperately sick, just when I […]
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