Benny Lewis, also known as the Irish Polyglot, is one of my heroes. Not only has he demonstrated that it’s possible to reach conversational fluency in a matter of months, not years as most believe, but he lives his life as a full-time traveler, language learner, and technomad, and has managed to build the most popular language learning blog on the planet along the way. Benny’s philosophy on self-guided immersion is right in line with my own, as exemplified in the following quote from his new book:
“…where you are isn’t what decides whether or not you’ll be successful. Attitude beats latitude (and longitude) every time. It’s more about creating an immersion environment, exposing yourself to native speakers, and doing everything you can in that language.”
Podcast: (Duration: 46:10 — 63.7MB)
In the interview, we discuss:
1) The release of Benny’s new book, .
2) Benny’s language study plans for the coming year.
3) Benny’s favorite places to find native speakers (including and ).
4) 5 common language learning myths and destructive attitudes (of the 20 detailed in his book) that hold would-be learners back:
5) How Benny juggles multiple languages.
6) “Immersion Without a Plane Ticket”
7) Useful language learning hacks:
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out Benny’s award-winning language and travel site, , as well as his comprehensive resource toolkit, .