Benny Lewis
Skype Me Maybe - sung in 30+ languages by 17 polyglots!
updated
And I know the sound cuts out after 15 seconds. Every time I come back to YouTube shorts, I'm disappointed that they are still way behind TikTok (and even Instagram Reels). They don't let you add music beyond 15 seconds unless you risk using pirated sounds. Dumb!
Follow me on those platforms @irishpolyglot to see much more frequent uploads!
I know some people can go further and can travel with just hand luggage AND not have a base to leave their stuff at. I don't know if I'll get that far because I have technology like a second monitor and bulky laptop for livestreaming and editing videos I want to travel with that makes that harder.
The catch with this lifestyle though, is that if the airline loses your bag, it's kind of like your house with all your worldly possessions in it getting "lost". Quite stressful indeed!!
This summer is a really crazy time to get back into travels; with airlines and airports understaffed, bags are going missing, sometimes for weeks on end, and loads of flights are getting cancelled. Fortunately, I ended up getting my bag back after a few days of wearing the exact same clothes, just when I was about to give up and go buy and entire new wardrobe. Phew!
Topics covered include:
02:15 Start of presentation
06:00 Benny's Story
07:58 Traveling Hacks
08:20 Reducing Expenses
08:30 Finding cheap flights
15:08 Finding cheap accommodation
20:04 - Points and Miles (reward schemes from credit cards)
25:57 - Internationally Friendly ATM card
27:43 - More expenses reduction tips
29:50 - Practise your language learning with locals
36:30 Making Money while Travelling
36:34 - Positions that Benny has had
42:25 - Positions held during budget travels
45:39 - Ideas and Advice - Traveling Careers
53:28 - Global Work and Travel
56:50 - Q and A
Also, if you want to take stress out of all this planning and paying for your own trips, I highly recommend the sponsor of this video, Global work and travel:
fluentin3months.com/gwt-webinar
The pandemic has been a tough time for many people, so I know a lot of you may be struggling with your own life challenges. With that in mind, I’ll try my best to share what’s worked for me to get to a better place in dealing with my own challenges.
In today’s first video of the mental health series, I took on PACE.
The question of how long it takes to feel better can be on many people’s minds, so I did my best to share my views on this. I hope some of you find this helpful!
00:00 Intro
00:12 Recovering from my 4 big Ds
01:13 Series coming
01:33 My struggles with pace
02:59 Encouragement for your pace
03:15 Timeline of my recovery: Early stages
04:00 Thinking about pushing myself too soon
04:52 Where I currently am
05:16 Takeaways
05:54 Conclusion
Languages I covered include European and Latin American Spanish, European and Canadian French, European and Brazilian Portuguese, German and Italian, while trying to act out as close as I could get to the original animated version, almost frame-by-frame at some places, playing all characters while I'm at it.
I actually recorded this two years ago, and it was a great creative outlet to help me cope with some difficult changes I was going through in my life, but I only managed to get around to the editing part of it this year! Hopefully the audio isn't muted by YouTube!
If you enjoyed this, definitely check out "One Jump Ahead": youtube.com/watch?v=pOHblFi3YCw
Hopefully, you like this idea of mine. I organized all the contributors (with help from Tetsu Yung and Richard Simcott), coordinated their submissions, and did all the edits (yes, all those effects were by me). Thanks to Jonathan Seabolt for gathering the footage of Moses used and music is by Jordan Grigg.
I got the inspiration to do this video from this one: youtube.com/watch?v=ahv_1IS7SiE . In my version, we each translated our lines to our assigned languages, of the poem "Oh, the places you'll go" by Dr. Seuss, which has that optimistic sense of adventure in life that I always associated with Moses. He will truly be missed, and I hope this tribute is worthy of the legend himself.
Don't forget to subscribe to my channel for a different spin on language learning and foreign language videos, as well as a series of upcoming videos about recovering from hard times to get your mojo back. Or check out my other links below for my content elsewhere.
Leave a comment if you'd like to translate the subtitles file, so the video is more accessible in other languages! Also, please feel free to share your favourite Moses moments, or what you most enjoyed about this video in the comments too!
Otherwise, see all the other excellent contributors to this project and how to find them, in the table of contents:
00:00 Intro
00:09 Irish
Benny Lewis (me, this channel), fluentin3months.com , twitter.com/irishpolyglot , instagram.com/irishpolyglot , tiktok.com/@irishpolyglot
00:20 Welsh
Gareth Popkins, howtogetfluent.com
00:25 French
Tetsu Yung, @asktetsu
00:35 Mandarin
Xiaoma @xiaomanyc
00:44 Aramaic
Patrick Khory @Patrick.Khoury
01:00 Scots
Maureen languagelearningjourney.com
01:09 Nahuatl
Anja Spilker zaloalanguages.com
01:17 Thai
Stujay Raj jcademy.com mindkraft.com
01:26 Catalan
Matias Barmat polyglotassociation.org
01:41 Lao
Andrew Gibler
01:46 Arabic (MSA)
Jeff Netto youtube.com/JNatAlkhimia
02:00 Slovak
Lýdia Machová languagementoring.com
02:10 Esperanto
Peter Baláž polyglotgathering.com
02:23 Romani
Trisha Dunbar
02:30 Northern Sami
Georges Awaad youtube.com/channel/UCgALwHyYx-EdIMh40CQUMSA
02:42 Hakka
Michael Campbell glossika.com
02:57 German
Heidrun Tóth-Loesti
03:05 Swedish
Steve Kaufmann lingq.com
03:16 Tibetan
Tim Keeley https://kyusan-u.academia.edu/TimDeanKeeley
03:37 Macedonian
Richard Simcott polyglotconference.com
03:49 Foochow
Marcus Thang
04:04 Croatian
Shannon Kennedy eurolinguiste.com youtube.com/eurolinguiste
04:14 Circassian
Jonty Yamisha optilingo.com
04:23 Portuguese
Diogo Pereira Almanacy
04:32 Taiwanese/Hokkien
Israel Lai rhapsodyinlingo.com
04:44 Guarani
Lindsay Williams lindsaydoeslanguages.com
05:00 Hawaiian
Jared Gimbel
05:14 Afrikaans
Lindie Botes lindiebotes.com @LindieBotes
05:25 Miskito
Kolby Palmer
05:32 Icelandic
Derek T. Allen
05:39 Tagalog
Dean Gocon
05:48 Swahili
Khadydja N'doye
06:05 Klingon
André Müller
06:24 Spanish
Miguel Ariza multilingualbronxite.wordpress.com
06:35 Kurdish (Sorani)
Andy Cordery
06:47 Japanese
Yemi
06:58 Turkish
Imaddedin Fatah
07:04 Polish
Luca Lampariello lucalampariello.com
07:12 Hungarian
Alex Rawlings alexrawlings.co.uk
07:19 Ladino
Carlos Yebra López ladino21.org
07:27 Greek
Judith Meyer learnlangs.com
07:33 Cantonese
Sara Maria Hasbun youtube.com/c/misslinguistic
07:49 Russian
Susanna Zaraysky createyourworldbook.com
07:57 Hebrew
Paul Jorgensen @Langfocus
08:05 ASL & English
Frankie Light youtu.be/eA3dUjyI8Jc
08:13 Norwegian
Mark Pentleton radiolingua.com
08:22 Serbian
Daniel Ferguson
08:36 Italian
Elisa Polese speakfromdayonewithelisa.com
08:48 Romanian
Bajkai-Fabian Robert
09:04 Tamil
Christine @PolyglotStories
09:16 Outro
#Laushu505000Forever
To show that, I grabbed snippets from 8 of the non-English editions, put them into one audio and digitally put myself in place of Agatha in some of her scenes from this iconic and super catchy ending to Episode 7 of the show.
I'd say "spoilers", but that's kind of unavoidable given the title of the song. Hopefully, you've had the weekend to catch up, and if not, you are avoiding social media until you do 🤣. I saw #agathaallalong trending on Twitter on Friday, so the Internet is spoiling this regardless!
(Correction: In the burnt in captions, I should have put が instead of は for the Japanese part)
If you like this style of fun short video, don't forget to follow me on TikTok where I upload stuff like this regularly: tiktok.com/@irishpolyglot
In today's very personal update, I explain why I haven't been uploading much in recent years. I decided to be vulnerable and share some major life struggles that I've been going through. The timestamps in the video are:
00:00 Intro
01:21 Burnout
02:42 Debt
04:50 Divorce
06:57 Depression
09:15 Conclusion
Follow my other social media for more frequent updates:
instagram.com/irishpolyglot
twitter.com/irishpolyglot
tiktok.com/@irishpolyglot
My absolute lowest point was in 2018. Fortunately, I've been able to turn things around and am feeling better and on the road to recovery from all the separate issues I've had, with varying degrees of progress on each.
I wanted to give some context around my struggles before I share ways that I've dealt with these issues to help me get to a better place.
I know this isn't the content I typically used to upload, but I imagine a lot of you are struggling in your own unique ways in 2020, so maybe my upcoming "actionable" videos on this theme can help.
I also am very much aware that other people have had their own difficult struggles, so I'm not trying to use this video to say I'm worse off than others, since I am aware I am lucky in some other ways. This is just my story that I wanted to share, to help reduce stigma against being open about mental health issues and difficult times.
These rough years also sapped energy from my language learning projects and they were mostly on hold for several years, but I've finally started re-activating them this year thanks to the progress I've made. So, all of this does ultimately tie back into having that mental energy to learn languages, that you may have originally followed me for.
Hopefully, this series helps some other people struggling. Thanks for watching!
* Apple Podcasts: fluentin3months.com/apple-podcast
* Stitcher: stitcher.com/podcast/language-hacking
* Spotify: languagehacking.com/spotify
Here are the questions we tackled in this live edition of the podcast:
2:30 I’m learning Spanish & my target is 1 hour per day which I’m meeting. Sometimes I struggle to know the most effective use of this time, in particular, how much of this time should I spend reviewing previous learning, and how much should I spend on new concepts?
Or is it perhaps better to have a routine like 3 days of learning new concepts, then on the 4th day review these concepts? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
5:35 Am I alone in thinking: I can’t learn, Past , Present and Future???
Can’t I get by an easier way?
9:48 What's the best routine to have to learn the target language in both of yours opinions.
15:32 Based on your extensive language learning what format, method or additional support (flash cards, software, etc.) would you NOW include and recommend for Full Immersion to get the maximum benefit?
21:18 My question is: How can you pick up a language even if you can't practice speaking it very often? For example, will you pick up parts of a language if you listen to music/watch television shows in that language frequently, despite not being able to speak it very often?
26:10 Is it possible that people can learn language fluently in three months? How it will happen?
37:53 I took a three-year break from learning Spanish. Do you have any tips for getting back into studying a language after a long break?
46:32 What do you recommend to maintain languages you have previously worked on?
50:47 Can someone learn a second language for the first time in their mid 40s and be fluent? Have you seen this often before?
53:17 Do you have any suggestions about study methods for a stay at home parent with three young children, as well as ADHD?
I sing the actual lyrics from the non-English official Disney versions in European and Latin American Spanish, European and Canadian French, European and Brazilian Portuguese, German and Italian, while trying to act out as close as I could get to the original animated version, playing all characters while I'm at it.
I really hope you enjoy this!! Please share it with a Disney fan or fellow language learning friend, and let me know your thoughts about it in the comments below!
After a long break, I'm relaunching my channel, which has JUST passed 100k subscribers, and I figured I'd make this video to explain the actual origin of the term "Luck of the Irish". Enjoy, let me know your thoughts in the comments and subscribe!
While I didn't upload my first video immediately, it still marks an important day for me, as I entered the YouTube world, started engaging with others online (several years before I had a blog or twitter) and thought about what kind of message I could start getting out there to encourage language learners.
Join me in this livestream, where I will go back and re-watch some of my best videos with you, and give you some backstory to them, and answer any questions you may have had about them!
---------------
A month ago, I was enjoying Nice in the south of France, and next week I'll be in Montréal for Langfest, so I figured while I'm deep in French mode, I'd help you guys out with any issues you had with the language yourselves.
Looking forward to your questions!
NOT learning French? Then join the stream on my other channel as soon as this one ends, where I'll take questions about any language or language learning issues in general: youtube.com/watch?v=hq3DOVp00CA
Let's investigate how solid this claim is, and find multiple holes that show some pretty weak ways they reached this conclusion.
Join me in this livestream, where I pick it apart with several arguments, and join in on the discussion!
Immediately after this, I'll open things up to you in a separate live video on my other channel, youtube.com/fluentinthreemonths, so make sure you're subscribed over there, and/or click this link and use the "set reminder" option so you don't miss it: youtube.com/watch?v=m2uqtyR3FrE
If you want to prioritize your own question being answered, then that video would be better for you than this one, but if you just want to hear good language learning questions answered, join me here!
I'll be happy to take follow-up questions expanding on anything I discuss in this live session, but new questions should wait until the stream on the Fluent in 3 Months channel!
This isn't exhaustive (I've a more detailed video that goes into the rules in more depth here: youtube.com/watch?v=DU9w9qLynwE ), but it should help you most of the time to fix the biggest problems you might face when it comes to how to say names of people from Ireland!
Please keep in mind that I had to skip a LOT to make this video as short as it is, so feel free to leave comments on my more in-depth video (already more than a half a million views!) if I don't cover it there!
I referenced some other links, so be sure to check out my page on Irish resources here: fluentin3months.com/irish-learning-resources
And here is a playlist of videos about learning Irish and videos that I've made IN Irish (with subtitles):
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSQr1fqNSIPJcNw0OwoTZwn9_tf9VtafW
Enjoyed this video? Subscribe to my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=irishpolyglot
Watch me speak at TEDx: youtube.com/watch?v=0x2_kWRB8-A
Follow Benny on Twitter: twitter.com/irishpolyglot
Join thousands of language learners around the world at the Fluent in 3 Months Facebook community: facebook.com/fluentin3months
Thomas Frank makes videos about learning, studying, life hacking and more over on his channel: youtube.com/user/electrickeye91
This video was inspired by a clip from Ellen in an interview with Hugh Laurie where he tests her on British slang. Original clip here: youtube.com/watch?v=wYmrg3owTRE
And here is a playlist of videos about learning Irish and videos that I've made IN Irish (with subtitles):
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSQr1fqNSIPJcNw0OwoTZwn9_tf9VtafW
Enjoyed this video? Subscribe to my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=irishpolyglot
Watch me speak at TEDx: youtube.com/watch?v=0x2_kWRB8-A
Follow Benny on Twitter: twitter.com/irishpolyglot
Join thousands of language learners around the world at the Fluent in 3 Months Facebook community: facebook.com/fluentin3months
I've learned many things, and I'd like to share them in this live video. I'll be happy to take questions, while I share my thoughts. Feel free to join and you might pick up a tip that helps you with your own project management issues!
**OTHER LIVE VIDEOS THIS WEEK**
Note that from now on, *general* language learning Q&As will be on the official Fi3M YouTube channel (not this one), so make sure to subscribe here: youtube.com/fluentinthreemonths
Other upcoming live videos include:
1. General Language Learning Qs*: Monday 12th 4PM New York / 1PM San Francisco / 8PM London / 9PM Paris
youtube.com/watch?v=7hOjXftlkhc
(This is on the fluentinthreemonths channel, and the next two are on this channel)
2. Time management & project completion tips: Tuesday 13th 6PM New York / 3PM San Francisco / 10PM London / 11PM Paris
(This video)
3. St. Patrick’s Day / Irish language Q&A: Saturday 17th Midday New York / 9AM San Francisco / 4PM London (& Dublin!) / 5PM Paris
youtube.com/watch?v=OE-CgENcpkE
If you want to be sure that the next time I do one, I won't miss your question (I tend to answer all the earliest Qs and then only a few of the later ones), just click the 🔔 icon and you'll be a part of the "notification squad" to not miss the moment I go live in future!
01:08 When I pronounce the Spanish R sometimes it sounds like an English “d” sound. Is that normal sometimes?
03:26 Have you noticed some changes within the languages you’ve learned? I know sometimes language adapts to new modern ways.
05:51 What are some tips for learning Korean?
07:45 What are some tips for learning French speaking and pronunciation, especially for someone who has already learned Spanish?
10:24 Will you come to Bratislava again this year for the Polyglot Gathering?
12:09 Sometimes I know what I want to say in Spanish, and I can think of it during a group conversation…but not fast enough to say it out loud. Is that still making progress?
15:21 Will there be more Language Hacking books in other languages?
18:36 How much practice do you put into maintaining your languages?
20:29 How do I learn how to read Irish?
23:01 I've plateaued in my Mandarin learning. My busy schedule is limiting me to lots of passive input (mostly listening, reading and basic speaking). Any advice?
25:56 What are some examples of intermediate goals? I speak four times per week. speaking easily is my top priority but I don't know what I should focus on.
29:20 Do you mix up your languages when you speak? What can you do to keep them separate?
33:08 How many languages can a well-prepared person learn in a year?
36:42 Any tips for learning ASL (American Sign Language)?
39:02 Do you have any tips for advancing from conversational level in Spanish to closer to mastery?
41:53 Is it better to learn the language first and then learn to read?
44:19 How do logic skills, such as the skills you use to solve puzzles, do math, and other stuff, help with language learning?
46:31 What are some tips to learn noun genders in French?
50:43 What's the best French Grammar book in English in your opinion?
52:33 If I can't talk to anyone and I want to learn Japanese, could I talk to myself?
I haven't had a good go at a language learning project for some time, and the reason is that a few obstacles have stood in my way, the largest of which has been bad time management!
So, rather than announce a new learning project and hope for the best, I'm starting this year with a series of projects specifically to fix these issues ahead of time, and that way when I start my next language learning project, it can run smoothly and efficiently!
Join me as I discuss my plans for my "routine reset" project, and see how some of what I'm doing might apply to you!
This is loosely based on an article I wrote on my blog years ago that has been warmly received by Brazilians: fluentin3months.com/why-i-love-brazilians
Tim makes videos for Brazilians learning English, and you can check out his stuff here: youtube.com/channel/UCGxIAAnrhkCy6H2DRz-t6Qw
Here are other videos Tim & I have made together:
youtube.com/watch?v=vReqG39g4xk
(More soon!)
If you like this video, please subscribe and click the bell icon 🔔, so you don't miss other videos. Tim and I have another video coming up soon!
02:22 Do you ever get "brain fog" while studying?" Similar to "writer's block", where you want to be productive, but just can't complete anything.
5:05 Can you update us on your Mandarin mission?
7:13 What activities do you like to do now IN another language? (not study)
10:42 Have you ever felt really close to giving up on a language? How did you manage to turn those feelings around to keep going?
14:06 What resources do you recommend for Dutch and Korean?
15:51 What's the most efficient way to get better at speaking English, especially pronunciation?
20:10 I teach beginners, so do you think speaking is the most important thing at that level?
24:01 How do you manage your language learning time with other projects if you're a full-time student? Specifically for learning a completely new language.
26:43 Do you feel that you became less nationalist/patriotic after a learning other languages and communicating with other cultures in their mother tongue?
29:51 How long do you think it would take to learn German from A1 to B2 or C1
35:03 I can speak very fluently and understand almost everything, but when I try to read something, I realize that I need a lot of vocabulary. How do I fix this?
38:38 How do you decide "okay, I'm not going to learn any more languages. I'm instead going to focus on what I've already taken on." When do you decide enough is enough?
41:20 How do you keep from feeling guilty when you give up a language because it isn't a good fit? You can't get back those hours.
45:03 Once you feel pretty comfortable with your level in a language, how do you go about learning some of the local slang? Especially if you don't live in the target country.
48:49 Tips for practising listening and speaking and applications and platforms to improve these skills?
49:37 I have been using memory tricks for learning words like you did for la gare and Garfield in the train station :). I find that it works well for nouns and adjectives, but I'm having trouble applying that to verbs and the conjugations. Any tips to help?
51:10 I'm currently living in Paris while learning French. However every time I try to speak French, people hear my accent and switch to English. How do you deal with this?
52:04 What do you think of Second Life for speaking practice?
53:32 Are you thinking to make a WhatsApp language group?
54:42 If I know very little Spanish, and want to learn more in a nursing world, would your new hacking Spanish book help me speak to my patients at the clinic I work at?
58:00 Any suggestions for cheap-free language learning for a time pressed grad student? Focusing on Italian, Spanish and French.
59:35 When language programs such as Teach Yourself or Assimil say you'll get to B2 level on completion, do you believe this is the case or an exaggeration?
1:01:19 How do you decide when to start learning another language?
I like to do specific themes in my livestreams, so once in a while I'll do a "free for all" on language learning issues, in a stream like this one, where you can ask anything related to language learning. By letting you guys get it out of your system, this helps us stay on topic in other streams :D
Make sure you've clicked the 🔔 bell icon next to the subscribe button, so you get notified when I go live in future videos, and you can join in!
Thanks for watching :)
And make sure to check out Idahosa's brand new courses that he's just launched:
ki236.isrefer.com/go/Benny_FR_MC_Sales/Fluent3M (French)
ki236.isrefer.com/go/Benny_SP_MC_Sales/Fluent3M (Spanish)
ki236.isrefer.com/go/Benny_GR_MC_Sales/Fluent3M
(German)
ki236.isrefer.com/go/Benny_PT_MC_Sales/Fluent3M
(Portuguese)
These are referral links, which means I'll get a small commission on any sale, but the price is the same for you. Appreciate the support, and I'm genuinely sharing these new products with you guys because I just love Idahosa's stuff and am so excited he has new tools for language learners out. Go check it out!
(Original description of the talk)
By popular demand, I updated my 2015 Polyglot Conference talk and gave it right here on YouTube, live! You'll be able to clearly see the presentation slides (harder on the original one), and I pause to answer questions that my live viewers had.
Click the pinned comment for clickable timestamps to go straight to the part of the video you'd find most useful!
If you've wondered about the many kinds of jobs you could find while you travel, that involve languages, or that can help fund your language learning adventures, or are just interested in hearing how many careers work, then you won't want to miss this!
That way, I save you the time, if you can't watch the entire hour ;)
********OTHER STREAM THIS WEEK********
(Times all in Eastern (New York). -3 for Pacific, +5 for London, +6 for Paris/Berlin/Madrid, +14 for Sydney)
- Friday 3pm: Professional Language Learner: How to Earn from your Passion
Make sure to subscribe to my channel and click the 🔔 icon to get notified when I go live for these.
Language Hacking Spanish 🇪🇸
This stream was originally live, so you can see me answer questions about the language hacking method or about the book and its contents.
To make sure to catch me live next time to ask me questions during the streams, make sure to click the 🔔 icon next to "subscribe"!
See the book here: fluentin3months.com/language-hacking-spanish and follow my author profile on Goodreads here: goodreads.com/author/show/4707764.Benny_Lewis
********OTHER STREAMS THIS WEEK********
(Times all in Eastern (New York). -3 for Pacific, +5 for London, +6 for Paris/Berlin/Madrid, +14 for Sydney)
- Thursday 2pm: General Language & Travel Q&A
- Friday 3pm: Professional Language Learner: How to Earn from your Passion
[I'll also be livestreaming my gaming in my downtime, so if you are interested in that, see the links at the end of this description]
Make sure to subscribe to my channel and click the 🔔 icon to get notified when I go live for these.
"Fluent in 3 Months - How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World", and interacted with people for any questions they had.
I read sections from the book, to give you an idea of what to expect from it, if you are curious. Since this was live, I stopped to answer any related questions you may have throughout the stream! Make sure to click the 🔔 icon next to "subscribe" and you'll be able to join me in future live sessions. I'll likely do another reading and Q&A of Fluent in 3 Months before the end of the year.
See the book here: fluentin3months.com/fi3m-book-all and follow my author profile on Goodreads here: goodreads.com/author/show/4707764.Benny_Lewis
********OTHER STREAMS THIS WEEK********
(Times all in Eastern (New York). -3 for Pacific, +5 for London, +6 for Paris/Berlin/Madrid, +14 for Sydney)
- Wednesday 9pm: Language Hacking Spanish book reading and Q&A
- Thursday 2pm: General Language & Travel Q&A
- Friday 3pm: Professional Language Learner: How to Earn from your Passion
[Most of these days, I'll also be livestreaming my gaming in my downtime, so if you are interested in that, see the links at the end of this description]
Again, make sure to subscribe to my channel and click the 🔔 icon to get notified when I go live for these. I can answer very quick questions in comments after a video is up, but I tend to get to them slowly & if a detailed answer is required, I can't really help in a comment, so you should try to catch me live if you can! :)
If you'd like to attend Lang Fest this year (Updated: August 2018, use code BENNY to get 15% off here: montreal.langfest.org
Check out Lindsay's channel here: youtube.com/user/LindsayDoesLanguages
Some events we mentioned that you can find online:
1. LangFest, Montreal, 21-26 August: http://montreal.langfest.org
2. Polyglot Gathering (location to be decided for 2019)
3. Polyglot Conference, Reykjavík in 2017, and Slovenia for 2018: http://polyglotconference.com
Then there's also:
Language Show Live, London 13-15 October: http://www.languageshowlive.co.uk/london, Glasgow 2018 (date TBD) http://www.languageshowlive.co.uk/scotland
ExpoLingua Berlin, 17-18 Nov, 2017 http://www.expolingua.com/en
And you can find worldwide Esperanto Events: esperanto-usa.org/en/node/1488
7:14 - What is your record time getting to a C level, and in which language?
9:40 - How would you go about thinking in a language?
12:21 - Do you recommend learning Esperanto before or after learning German?
15:17 - What language, if any, are you learning or improving these days?
17:21 - How do you practise ASL (American Sign Language)?
BOOSTED COMMENT 19:22 - How do you boost a language that you have studied before but haven’t practised for a while?
23:22 - How can I use your Language Hacking Spanish book to reach B2 in Spanish?
25:05 - How competent in Gaeilge (Irish) is the average Irishman? If I was learning it, could I use it with them?
30:17 - What’s your favourite foreign movie that you don’t think you would’ve known about had you not studied the language?
31:40 - If someone wanted to learn a language like Russian on a severe budget, what tips would you have for them?
36:40 - Will there be any other Language Hacking books coming out?
38:48 - Have you tried using Twitter to find language exchange partners? Sounds like an interesting idea.
40:09 - How long would you say it takes to get back up to your previous level in a language after a couple of years away? I left China two years ago and hate the idea of starting again.
41:29 - I have 5 hours per day to study Italian. What’s the best way to use this time?
44:33 - How much do you read? How? And what kind of books?
46:47 - Have you found Irish speakers in New York?
48:22 - I’m studying French, but getting lazier and lazier about it. How do you study a language without getting bored?
52:48 - How do you get over the fear of talking with people?
57:30 - I’m learning Spanish on Duolingo but don’t have any opportunities to put it to use. Please suggest what to do.
1:00:48 - How would you prepare for a holiday where your target language is spoken?
1:02:43 - How do I not forget my second language while I’m in a foreign country studying a third language?
1:06:54 - Do you use the same approach when learning any new language?
1:08:09 - Is it helpful to learn Latin for studying European languages?
Otherwise, see the following specific topics of "Getting started", "Pronunciation", "Travel/Country/Culture" & "General Language Learning" on my Mixer profile. You should follow that
You can create a log-in there in seconds by signing up with a Microsoft account you’d likely have through an Xbox/Outlook/Skype etc. account. If you don’t, then making a new account takes a few extra seconds.
Here's my profile:
mixer.com/polyglot
When there, click “Sign up” in the top-right to link your account, and then click 💙 on the top-left on my profile, so that you can ask your question(s) once I’m live!
Luckily, audio technology has come a long way in the past few years. And not just for people like me with hearing trouble - there’s TONS of new tech out there for anyone interested in optimising how they hear.
In this video, I summarise my favourite ways to hack your hearing, which you can use to get a better audio experience in all sorts of situations. Here are the products I mention in the video:
‘Here’ Earphones amazon.com/Here-One-Wireless-Smart-Earbuds/dp/B01FWJH4VG/&tag=fluein3mont-20: earphones that can selectively reduce certain noises and enhance others.
Bose noise-cancelling headphones amazon.com/Bose-QuietComfort-Wireless-Headphones-Cancelling/dp/B01E3SNO1G/&tag=fluein3mont-20: headphones that use standard noise-cancelling technology.
focus@will amazon.com/Focus-At-Will-Your-Productivity/dp/B01LZUMHTY/&tag=fluein3mont-20: a music subscription service that finds the best music to improve your focus.
Noise gate: info coming soon: http://www.audacityteam.org
Adobe Audition amazon.com/Adobe-Audition-Prepaid-Subscription-Download/dp/B01N7IN318/&tag=fluein3mont-20: professional audio workstation for precision mixing, finishing and editing.
Sennheiser RS 195 RF wireless headphones amazon.com/Sennheiser-RS-195-Wireless-Headphone/dp/B00SJ4INFI/&tag=fluein3mont-20: headphone system with many adjustable settings, including balance control for those with hearing difficulties in one ear.
Note that I made a mistake because of translating too many phrases too quickly, and the German should read "Ich verstehe es nicht" or "Ich verstehe's nicht". Sorry I forgot that!
And since I don't speak Korean, I found the text online but I really should have double checked with a native speaker, or with Lindsay herself, since I wrote *모르겠습니다* and the correct way would have been 모르겠어니다.
Make sure to check out this video explaining these translations: youtube.com/watch?v=e8RgxvOw0ms
Huge thanks to youtube.com/user/LindsayDoesLanguages
and youtube.com/user/IWTYAL for collaborating with me to make this video happen!
Note that we threw this together at the last minute, and because of that we weren't consistent in the translations we were going for (so "Es tut mir Leid" is "I'm sorry" in German, but I had "Entschuldigung" instead). Sorry about that! Make sure to check out this video explaining these translations: youtube.com/watch?v=e8RgxvOw0ms
Huge thanks to youtube.com/user/LindsayDoesLanguages
and youtube.com/user/IWTYAL for collaborating with me to make this video happen!
Actually, that's not good enough now that I think of it. Let's make it 3! This week I've uploaded the first one, covering the basic phrase "Thank you" - and next week I'll upload the other two. Here's this week's one:
youtube.com/watch?v=PcXwrpCM4Pw
We each decided on a balance of our best languages, favourite languages, or languages the other two didn't know. And then we put them on repeat for 10 minutes, in case you are SUPER grateful to someone and want a video to spend 10 minutes saying as much in many languages :D
Great to finally share these videos with all of you. I hope you enjoy them!
Huge thanks to youtube.com/user/LindsayDoesLanguages
and youtube.com/user/IWTYAL for collaborating with me to make this video happen!
Here's the video that explains what this is all about: youtube.com/watch?v=e8RgxvOw0ms
Next Friday, I'll share the other two videos with basic phrases that we did! Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss that or other videos.
1:57 How do you pronounce the Spanish R?
5:02 How do you pronounce the Arabic letter ع (ayin)?
6:59 Reducing French intonation when speaking English
9:54 Is having an accent bad?
14:24 How do you avoid the ‘laowai’ (foreigner) accent in Chinese?
15:59 How do you deal with regional dialects/accents?
18:55 How do you pronounce the French R?
20:39 How do you deal with multiple vowels together in French?
24:52 How did you improve your tones in Mandarin?
28:41 Tips for practising sounds that don’t exist in your native language
33:14 Do all Irish-English speakers pronounce the TH like a T, or is it a regional variation?
34:55 What’s the difference between European and Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation?
3:00 What’s your favourite part of Esperanto culture?
4:09 How do you choose which language to learn if you really want to learn two?
6:07 How long did it take to learn Esperanto?
6:49 Advice on making and promoting a language blog with tips, resources and material.
8:15 Do you think there are job opportunities for cake decorators in Latin America? (Also general job search tips in other countries)
10:09 Is the rest of South America as friendly as Brazil?
12:16 How many hours a day do you devote to languages during your 3-month challenges?
14:02 What are your thoughts about children’s language ability compared to adults’?
17:05 Should I use Pinyin or Chinese characters when starting to learn Chinese?
18:39 Which language is the easiest for you?
18:58 At what stage would you recommend learning idioms?
20:21 I’m thinking of taking the leaving cert exams (high school graduation exams) in multiple languages. How did you find your leaving cert exams?
22:06 Study tips for Russian, and using the principles in the Language Hacking French book for Russian.
23:48 Are you a polyglot?
24:12 I've found job that is based on a language I’ve learned and am confident in, but still it happens really often that I can't understand newly met people. Would you have any advice for me?
27:27 How do I avoid direct translation (translating directly word-for-word from my native language)?
27:57 What do you find tougher to learn - the technical side of the language or the cultural side? I find it very hard to start Arabic because it mixes with LGBT communities so poorly.
31:00 Do you know Tim Doner?
31:33 I’ve been learning Spanish for the better part of a year and a half. It’s my first time trying to learn a new language. I feel my own language gets in the way.
32:34 Are you familiar with REM method and garnering your own edited target language only audio files? I'm currently working on mandarin Chinese and Japanese at the same time.
33:56 Have you ever tried to learn Turkish?
34:40 How do you memorize all the words? You know a lot of languages, so it must be hard.
In this case, I use the Thai letter า as an example
Hat tip to Stujay Raj for the original idea behind this mnemonic!
Come at 11am EST / 4pm GMT / 5pm CET / 8am PST and I'll try my best to answer as many questions as I can about language learning. See you soon!
1:47 What was your biggest help in learning Irish?
3:23 Do you speak Japanese?
3:50 Do you speak Greek?
4:53 Do you use the same method with Romance languages as Asian languages?
7:32 Will you learn any new languages intensively, or only maintain your existing ones?
9:00 I’m a teacher on italki and I find it more difficult to teach beginner language students than intermediate. Any advice from a teacher’s perspective?
12:27 Do people ever refuse to speak to you in your target language?
15:50 How do you learn a language on a limited budget?
17:31 How long did it take you to get fluent in Esperanto?
18:49 Are you going to attend the Polygot Conference in Iceland?
19:29 What is the biggest difference between learning a language in an academic setting versus teaching yourself?
22:03 I'm currently learning Spanish, but I'm learning the formal type Spanish so it is much more difficult to communicate with the Mexicans here in Texas. Any advice for learning slang?
25:11 Will you brush up your Quebec French before attending the conference in Montreal?
26:38 What resources do you recommend for Russian?
27:22 What’s it like to go to a polyglot conference?
28:49 Any advice for giving a presentation in your target language?
30:43 How many languages is it safe to learn at once?
31:22 How do you maintain your languages? Do you practise them in conversation frequently, or just practise passively?
33:35 What languages would you teach your kids?
35:01 Can you ladder from one Romance language to another? E.g. Spanish and Italian.
35:38 How do you maintain your interest in language learning?
37:58 Do you ever stop people on the street when you hear them speaking a language you speak?
40:31 What to do if all your skills are B2 but your listening is A1?
42:55 I’ve been learning French for a couple of years now and I still can’t understand anything being said to me. Any tips or ideas?
44:08 How do you learn English fast?
44:26 What’s your #1 tip for becoming a polyglot?
To make sure your question is asked next time, don't forget to click the 🔔 icon next to the subscribe button and you'll be notified of when I go live!
1:57 Can you recommend a textbook with lots of dialogue and audio for Egyptian Arabic?
2:59 How do you juggle learning multiple languages? Do you set aside specific days? How do you allocate time to each language to maintain skill and still learn to speak better?
4:42 Any specific recommendations for learning Korean?
6:03 What do you think about using texts with accents for learning Russian? I’ve heard it actually hinders progress in the long run and that it’s better not to use them.
7:08 I want to move and study in another country in 2 year’s time. And the problem is I’m not sure which country it’s going to be. So I need to reach a level good enough for studying at university. How would you go about this? Do you stick to your common advice of reaching B2 before moving on to the next?
9:04 Is it possible to learn Japanese completely free? Or any language, for that matter?
11:30 At what point or level can you include a language on a job application?
13:26 Is taking a language class easier than learning by yourself?
16:10 What’s the difference between French in Canada and French in France?
17:43 Buenas noches aqui en España. Any ideas on how to increase your level from B2 to C1? I’m trying to increase vocabulary for more complex things like art, food, technology, politics, economy.
19:48 For Spanish, how do you know the difference between using por and para? Where can you take the CEFRL test online?
23:08 Does watching subtitled films and shows work for learning languages?
26:11 How do you differentiate between maintaining and expanding languages?
27:49 Are you friends with Tim Donner?
29:08 Apart from your language hacking book are there any good textbooks to learn Spanish that you highly recommend to use?
31:33 Is Tagalog hard to learn?
33:18 Do you still study Mandarin?
35:15 Will you ever attempt to understand Scottish people?
35:55 Would you do any adjustment for learning the language for studying at university if they happened to be related? (Norwegian, Danish, Dutch)
37:55 Right now I’m trying to learn Spanish and Japanese. I can’t decide which approach I should take to learning. Focusing on one or the other or doing both at the same time. Lots of native Spanish speakers in my city, not so much Japanese.
41:13 I’m loving your book Language Hacking: Spanish. I’ve learned more in it than four semesters of college in Spanish.
44:36 What languages do you speak fluently?
47:09 How can I get people to take the time to talk to me in Spanish?
52:53 What’s your favourite language?
54:28 [not a question] Benny lists his upcoming appearances at polyglot events.
56:26 Will you ever learn Modern Standard Arabic so can read and write?
57:44 What should I do daily to learn Japanese, and how for how long should I do each thing?
59:58 How useful have you found being able to speak Irish in Ireland? I assume even fluent irish speakers from the gaeltacht would default to English unless they already knew you spoke Irish.
You can see that video here: youtube.com/watch?v=R9OsMltJItw
Make sure to subscribe and let me know in the comments what you think of my increasingly imaginative ways of waking up my partner!
See an explanation of what this video is all about here: youtube.com/watch?v=JyYLxFVnfmQ
I imagine I got several of these wrong (and I had to re-record the audio for the Hungarian one, since I got my pronunciation & stress totally off on that), since I don't speak several of these languages, but I had this last-minute idea and wanted to throw it together for you!
Don't forget to subscribe & leave a comment if you liked the video!
And since you asked, here's a link to download the audio if you want to make this your alarm clock. You have my full permission to use it privately, but for any other use, please link to this video (not to the audio) for attribution: soundcloud.com/irishpolyglot/wake-up-in-16-languages-looped-for-10-minutes-effective-polyglot-alarm-clock
She just published a new book, "Mindshift", about changing careers & learning things better even if it's not your speciality. She should know, since even though she is Oakland University's Engineering Professor, her background is actually in language learning!
Check out her book here:
http://fi3m.com/mindshift
Otherwise, click the following timestamps to go straight to that point in the interview:
00:35 Are foreign language skills transferrable to different areas of your life?
02:55 What if you don’t have a natural aptitude for languages?
05:12 What would you tell someone who needs to learn a language, but doesn’t feel passionate about it?
06:35 When are you too old to learn something new?
08:36 What’s a simple change people can make to be more successful in learning new skills?
13:32 How can we turn our weaknesses into strengths when learning a new skill?
Make sure to subscribe for more videos, and don't forget to leave a comment and check out Barb's book!
The 7 questions are as follows - click the timestamp to go straight to that point in the video!
00:17 How do you not forget words when you're learning a language?
01:07 Is reading aloud helpful when learning a language?
02:03 How do you learn two languages at the same time?
03:35 How do you maintain multiple languages?
05:47 How do you avoid getting stuck at the intermediate level?
07:35 How do you find time to learn a language?
09:30 How do you reduce your accent in a foreign language?
Definitely check out Olly's stuff to get more tips from him:
Olly's YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/IWTYAL
Olly's website: http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com
The "I will teach you a language" podcast: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-will-teach-you-language-weekly-motivation-language/id983068456?mt=2
Not sure if you'll like it, but here it is. Full honesty from the heart. I hope someone finds it helpful!
For more of my inspirational/encouraging videos, see this playlist I made: youtube.com/watch?v=4RtGmqaM3Zo&list=PLSQr1fqNSIPJEaDoRrjeWChtx5Oj4EXTh
Otherwise, don't forget to subscribe, share this video with a friend who might find it helpful, and definitely leave a comment to share your thoughts. Thanks so much!