So you want to speak French like a local. Perhaps not exactly like a native speaker, but like someone who lives there. You can sound like a French speaker even though you’re a complete beginner in the language. It’s possible. I’ve done it in Portuguese. My knowledge of Portuguese is extremely limited. I only know […]
MOREHow I Learnt Spanish, Italian and Portuguese for the Price of a Beer
I sat in the sunshine in a cafe in my new adopted city of Seville, chatting to a Spanish friend about life in Andalusia. We talked about southern Spanish traditions, the prospects for young people and of course, the fiestas of the month that we would attend. And I did this all in Spanish. A […]
MOREHow to Use the Teach Yourself Language Hacking Community
How to Use the Teach Yourself Language Hacking Community Several months ago, I published four Teach Yourself Language Hacking Courses: French, Spanish, Italian and German. Many people don’t know that my Language Hacking courses Teach Yourself come with free access to the italki Language Hacking community. As you work through a Language Hacking course, you’ll […]
MORE15 “So Bad They’re Amazing” Hilarious Spanish Puns
Humour is often hard to translate. This is especially true when the humour comes from wordplay; puns rarely work in more than one language. In this article, I’ll share and explain some Spanish puns that make no sense in English. Why bother? Well, the fact that Spanish puns are hard to understand is precisely what […]
MORE24 Time Hacking Tips from Language Hacker Benny Lewis
For busy language learners, it can feel like your constant thought is “I don’t have enough time!” I’d like to share some simple shifts you can make in your life so you can manage your time – and have more time available for language learning. Many of these we’ve shared on Fluent in 3 Months […]
MOREDead Languages: How (and Why) to Learn a Dead Language
What is your “why” for learning a new language? Maybe it’s because you want to feel a greater connection with people around the world. To have improved travel experiences or immerse yourself in a different culture different from your own. But what if you find yourself looking for a greater connection to history? To a […]
MORESentence Structure: How to Build Sentences and Use the Correct Word Order in Your New Language
“What’s the best way to learn difficult sentence structure and word order?” This is a question me and my team get asked a lot here at Fluent in 3 Months. No matter which language you’re learning, sentence structure is a common stumbling block. Thankfully, there are some general principles that can help you learn sentence […]
MOREThe Language Learning Curve: What’s the Best Way for You to Improve Your Language Skills?
Becoming fluent in a new language is a journey… and in my research with language learners I’ve discovered a “language learning curve” that most people follow. Before I share that, here’s how the language learning journey went for me. After 5 years of learning Spanish at school, I was only able to remember the bizarre […]
MOREConversational Spanish: 88+ Spanish Conversation Starters and Questions
How can you speak Spanish in a more conversational, everyday way? Textbooks can be surprisingly unhelpful in this regard. They might teach you useful grammar and vocabulary, but it’s often presented in an unnatural, forced way that doesn’t reflect how people actually speak in real world, conversational Spanish. “What are the days of the week?” […]
MOREHow to Improve Your Spanish Accent: A Spanish Pronunciation Guide for Native English Speakers
Would you like to lose your Spanish accent and be mistaken for a native Spanish speaker? That’s the “holy grail” of language learning, after all. Yet people can spend decades living in a foreign country and speaking the local language without ever completely losing the twang of their native tongue. Clearly, a convincing accent isn’t […]
MORE10 Incredible German Sayings: The Inspiring, the Funny and the Just Plain Confusing
One really effective way to make your German sound more like a native’s is to learn Redensarten. These are the everyday German sayings that German speakers use to express emotions, actions and thoughts. You probably know them better as turns of phrase or idioms in English and you use them every day. You know, expressions […]
MOREBilingual Baby: How to Teach Your Baby Two Languages
This past year, my husband and I welcomed a new addition to our family. While we were awaiting his arrival, we discussed whether or not we’d raise him to be a bilingual baby and speak multiple languages. For this article, I’ll call the little guy our “Little Linguist”. First things first: Is it beneficial to […]
MOREWhen Online Polyglots Disagree – Much Ado About Something
Benny Lewis, is, I think, the most successful polyglot blogger on the Internet; the one with the greatest reach. With this website, Fluent in 3 Months, he was one of the earliest language learners to use the Internet to encourage others to learn languages, and to talk about it. I too am what you would […]
MOREHow Speaking from Day One Helped Me Conquer Love and The Spanish Language
When you think back five years ago, did you ever think that you would be where you are now? Maybe so, maybe not. However, I most certainly didn’t. Five years ago, I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would be living in Colombia with my wife, speaking Spanish. But here I am […]
MOREInternational Greetings: How to Say “Hello” in 29 Languages
What’s the first word you learn in any language? “Hello”, of course! “Hello” is the way you’ll meet new people, make new friends, and start conversations. Even if you’re not aiming for fluency in a language, just learning this one little word will endear you to any native speakers you meet at home or abroad. […]
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