“If you live with people and you share a life with them and you speak their language, they trust you.” – Peter Rohloff, MD, Wuqu’ Kawoq (Maya Health Alliance) I have always found languages to be beautiful. Having learned to speak seven languages – some of them fluently, and others at a more basic level […]
MORELearning Two Languages at Once: Can You Learn Multiple Languages at the Same Time?
Is it possible to learn two languages at once? Yes! Learning two languages at once is certainly possible. That said, it’s not a mission I’d recommend taking on lightly. I’ve been learning languages for over 10 years. In that time, I studied over seventeen languages and became fluent in 10. And I’ve never tried to […]
MOREHow to Learn Swedish: 37 Lessons from My 6 Months Living in Sweden
When I realized I was going to have the chance to spend six months working in Sweden, I naturally got interested in the Swedish language. More so, when I started getting work emails I needed Google Translate to read. Even more so when I landed and couldn’t read the signs around me or understand anything […]
MOREFrench Idioms Crash Course: How to Sound Like a Native French Speaker
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 […]
MOREHow to Get Over the Fear of Rejection
Rejection hurts. It’s painful. So it’s no wonder so many people are afraid of rejection. But how can you get over the fear of rejection? Let me tell you a story about one time I was rejected. It seems small, but it really hurt. While doing my fieldwork for my Master’s degree, I traveled through […]
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 […]
MOREHow to Say “Good Morning” in Spanish (and 88 other Useful Spanish Words and Phrases)
Knowing even a few Spanish phrases is really useful if you’re planning to visit a Spanish-speaking country. Even more so if you’re living in such a country. There are lots of good reasons to learn Spanish, and if you want to spend any length of time in regions where Spanish is spoken, here are some […]
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 […]
MORE10 Must-Try Russian Podcasts and YouTube Channels (and more!) for Russian Learners
When it comes to practicing listening in a foreign language, one of the first questions most of us have is ‘What should I be listening to?’ It’s pretty easy to find good listening resources for popular languages like Spanish, French or German. But what if you’re learning Russian? Good Russian listening materials might be harder […]
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?” […]
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