Fluent in three months
By Benny Lewis
– A language should be lived, not taught.
– Languages are not a barrier rather a bridge to cross in order to communicate with others.
– Check your motivation concerning the language you want to learn. Is it because you think you will be impressive or is it because you want to communicate with the people?
– You don’t know a language, you live it.
– If you have a passion to learn the language, you will do what you need to do and no obstacle will stop you.
– Don’t believe the myth that you are too old to learn a language. There’s no proven age limit for language learning.
– Not having an accent is not your goal. You can still learn the language and communicate well.
– Talking trumps technology. Just because you can translate something on your phone does not mean you cannot or should not learn a language.
– Successful language learners continue on despite the challenges.
– You will likely not learn a language in three months, but the point is to set a goal. You do not have to say fluency in three months, maybe say “understand” or “be conversational.”
– Most people do not learn a language because of laziness or staying in an ex-pat bubble.
– The world is a book and those who don’t learn the language are reading only one page of the book.
– Life begins where your comfort zone ends.
– You need virtual immersion as well. Find news, TV and radio in the language you’re trying to learn.
– A stranger is just a friend that you have not met yet.
– There’s no such thing as “ready” when you are learning a language, you just have to begin speaking with what you know and learn more from there. You will never be completely ready. You learn by doing, and the next time you’ll make fewer mistakes.
– Don’t talk yourself in shyness. Just open your mouth & try instead of overthinking it. – It’s not about blending in perfectly but standing out less.
– Even with a good accent, if you do not learn the visual rules of how people look, act, and move, you will always still be seen as a foreigner.