Category: Fun

Ridiculous translation blunders that cost millions of dollars (and why you should learn a language for better business)

written by Benny Lewis

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

5 crazy ways to get over shyness immediately, no drink/drugs required

written by Benny Lewis

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 Skype 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

written by Benny Lewis

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 […]

A girl in every port? An honest account of a long-term traveller’s search for love on the road

written by Benny Lewis

Ever since my viral post about the 29 life lessons learned in travelling the world for 8 years (over 2 years ago), I’ve started to get more and more questions about finding love on the road. How can a long term traveller have a girlfriend? What about leaving a wake of broken hearts behind? And […]

English words in Japanese: Music video with Japanese learners

written by Benny Lewis

Wednesday was my one month point in the three month Japanese challenge, so to really make my mark I wanted to record one last video with a prepared script before I get into recording spontaneous Skype (or in person) chats for the next two months. To really make it count, I decided to record a music video!

This video is quite an oddity because it is entirely in Japanese… and yet many of you who will have never learned any Japanese will understand quite a lot of it even without reading the lyrics that are edited into the video. And that’s because the video is made up entirely of words Japanese has borrowed from English, but said as closely as possible to the Japanese pronunciation (written in the Katakana script every time).

World’s most useful language learning t-shirt: Let everyone know what language you are learning!

written by Benny Lewis

Now, I knew everyone wouldn’t want it to say “Cunning Linguist”!! That’s just too cheeky for a lot of people (if you don’t get the joke, then say it quickly and you’ll notice it sounds like something else…), especially since a linguist isn’t the same as a language lover. Despite this, I have to say that in some places, especially in English speaking countries where people get the joke, I’ve had so many complete strangers come up to me and compliment me on the hilarious play on words.

But since that may be too risqué for many, I made sure that the options “Language Lover” (generally more understandable) and “Polyglot” (more specific and accurate, even if a less known word in English.. for the moment 😉 ) were available instead, also in the same dialogue world bubble.

Top ten lessons learned in travelling the world for ten years

written by Benny Lewis

Today, July 10th, is my 31st birthday! It is also the day that I decided, exactly 10 years ago, to set off on my travels with no definite date to return “home”. Home is now wherever I lay my hat at the end of the day.

To celebrate this “travelversary” I have created a video that I can truly be proud of, to represent those 10 years, which you can see above.

As you can imagine, this is the long-awaited follow up to my 29 life lessons learned in 8 years post, that has been read almost 2 million times, which I wrote 2 years ago at my 8 year travelversary. These 10 lessons are (mostly) different though, so definitely check it out! To make it much more interesting, I had help to edit it professionally and included the absolute best videos and photos from my entire time on the road!

The 23 strangest habits you’ll pick up after living in 23 different countries

written by Benny Lewis

While I usually blog about language learning, I know a lot of you enjoy my travel and cultural updates as much or more. I’ve been travelling the world since 2003, but even forgetting the time involved, I have lived in twenty three countries (and counting); that’s lived as in, spent at least a month (usually […]

Encouraging quotes, Chinese proverbs with original translations, and inspirational thoughts for language learners

written by Benny Lewis

I asked those following my Facebook, twitter and G+ pages what their favourite encouragement quotes or short inspirational ideas were, to inspire language learners and got some real gems! I also did my own research online and tried to include some sayings on this blog that people have really enjoyed. And finally, I searched long and […]

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