![Singlish: The Singaporean English creole [video interview]](https://www.fluentin3months.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/singlish-150x150.jpg)
For the next few days, I’m in Singapore to host a language lab to train people to speak their target language on day one, and to sign copies of my book. I’m also using this visit to a country that speaks English as an official language, to investigate its other unique linguistic opportunities. In this […]
MOREMandarin level up mission (Singapore edition)
After devoting the majority of this year to meeting aspiring new language learners to give them my best advice face-to-face, I can now get back to focusing on my own goals! I am a strong believer in intensive missions at the start of language projects – it skyrockets us forward at what is undoubtedly the […]
MORETips for Learning Non-European Languages
Now that the summer has wrapped up, it’s time to dive back into language learning, and let’s start with some thoughts on non-European languages! For that, my hyperpolyglot friend Judith Meyer is back and has written up this excellent post for us. I met in Esperanto gatherings and always see her busy answering Quora questions, […]
MOREWhy Cantonese isn’t as hard as you think: following the journey of two learners
Let’s share another “Why a supposedly hard language isn’t as impossible as you thought” type post! This time from Cantonese native speaker Brian, who has guest posted here before and who organizes the Plus 1 challenge. One of the challengers, Jan, took on Cantonese for his project and you can see the result where himself […]
MOREReflections on learning a language remotely: How polyglot Olly Richards is updating his previous in-country learning method
It was all going smoothly until language number seven came along. This time was different. The “method” that I’d applied so well up until this point was suddenly no use to me. I felt like a fraud. The language: Cantonese (the Chinese dialect of Hong Kong). The place: Doha, Qatar.
MOREHow persistence can get a beginner learner to expert level
The decision I made seven years ago to study Chinese at university changed my life. Right from the beginning I decided that I didn’t just want to learn some Mandarin, I wanted to be proficient. I wanted to speak the language to an advanced level and be able to read a newspaper and write characters with ease. It’s fair to say that I got stuck in immediately, and got completely immersed in my studies!
Seven years later, I can’t say that I’m perfect and don’t make any mistakes, or that I understand and know how to say everything. There’s still a lot of room for me to improve, but I have achieved my original goal. I can speak Mandarin fluently, and I know all the simplified and traditional characters other than the really rare ones. I speak and use Chinese every day, and it has really become a part of my life and a second language to me now.
MOREEncouraging quotes, Chinese proverbs with original translations, and inspirational thoughts for language learners
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 […]
MOREFail fast and fail often: why many failures can be the key to success
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan As I wrote earlier in the week, my […]
MOREInterview in Mandarin with TV presenter and Chinese teacher Yangyang
Time for another video in Chinese! This is actually part of the summer project of improving many languages, and as such it is the first in a series of many interviews with natives of the languages in my list of 10. Yang Yang works as the Mandarin speaking presenter for the TV show “Hello Hollywood”.
MOREDid I Really Learn to Speak Chinese in 3 Months?
The big question regarding my Mandarin project that a lot of people have been asking is How well can you really speak it Benny? I’ve been saying it’s about a B1 (lower intermediate), but I’m sure self evaluation (even though I have indeed sat so many CEFRL examinations ) can lead to some scepticism, so […]
MOREKung Fu: My experience learning about it in a Chinese farming village
[Click “CC” to activate subtitles in either English or in Chinese simplified/traditional. Those in China without a VPN can watch it on Youku] After getting a train over 2,000km through China, chatting with random people and seeing pandas, meeting a Buddhist monk, and even climbing a mountainside staircase to a Buddhist temple to try and […]
MORE2,000km train journey video: Benny gets his Chinese name, makes new friends and meets pandas!
Here it is! My video of the epic 2,000km (that’s about 1,250 miles in “old money” as we say) train ride I took to get to Chengdu, starting from Shanghai. This video shares the people (and pandas) I met along the way! 🙂 Click CC to enable subtitles (in English, and traditional or simplified Chinese) […]
MOREWhy Chinese isn’t as hard as you think: Encouragement for Learners
“Mastering” Chinese can indeed take a long time to do, but getting to a very useful intermediate level is well within the reach of most people, and from that point progressing further won’t be that bad. It is indeed hard work, but if you put it side by side with European languages, then saying it’s “damn hard”, or “orders of magnitude harder than European languages” is nothing but an exaggeration
MOREReview of Chinesepod & chat with co-host Jenny
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Note: this video is not an update of my Chinese level, because I recorded it the day after the previous one (John is also a co-host on Chinesepod). [I actually do a little worse with my Chinese than the previous video because I was a sick this day and exhausted because of it.] I interviewed the […]
MOREBenny’s 3.25 month video: questions that waste your time
Here you go! My 3 month and one week Mandarin video! [Video also available on Youku. Click CC to enable captions in English, Simplified Chinese, or Traditional Chinese] My interviewer is John Pasden, who writes at the 10-year-strong blog dedicated to all things Chinese-learning, Sinosplice. He is a co-host at Chinesepod (which I’ve been listening […]
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