How I’m learning Mandarin in 2026: My Daily Routine in Taipei
This is what I'm doing this year to make sure my Mandarin is strong, so I'm better prepared to travel deep through Taiwan
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The only way to get far quickly is to get out of your comfort zone (my typical day learning Mandarin)
One problem with seeing the end-result of any feat, is not understanding the processes that went on to get to that point. As my friend Khatzumoto said to me once; Olympic coverage really ticks me off… you can’t just go up to a person on game day and say how talented they are. So I […]
Benny’s first video attempt in Mandarin: 2 weeks after starting
[Captions in English, Traditional Chinese (native written) & Simplified Chinese (automatic conversion). If you live in China and Youtube is blocked, then check out this video on Youku] As I’ve explained in great detail before, uploading a video of yourself speaking just after you’ve started to learn a language can be very beneficial. So with […]
My First Week Speaking, Reading and Writing Chinese
It’s the end of week 1 of what has definitely been the mission that has stirred up the most interest and discussion since I started the blog! I can confirm that after this initial exposure to the language, I have not quite been “humbled” into saying what I’m attempting is impossible just yet, despite what […]
Language Mission: Mandarin in 3 months!
Note: This mission has ended – I reached a lower intermediate level of Mandarin after 3 months and used it to successfully travel China and interview people! This video shows the level I had just before leaving Asia. As explained in the video, I was in Taipei, Taiwan, and this was day one of my […]
Quechua: Quick overview and Benny speaking it with natives
So here it is! Ending the year on a positive note of another successful language mission completed! 😀 I had only aimed to learn the basics of Quechua in the few weeks I was here, and I think this video shows that I did indeed get something out of my experience with it! Like with […]
What does Quechua sound like? Traditional fabric/dyeing presentation in “runasimi”!
My mission to learn a little Quechua (a.k.a. “Runasimi”, the language of the Incas) has been so fascinating!! I’ve recorded lots of video footage about my experience here in the Andes, including my four day adventure hike towards Machu Picchu that I’ll edit to share some time in January, and even footage of me using […]
Benny’s 2011 music video
And… that’s a wrap for 2011! It’s been a fun and very hectic year! I’ve been in so many places and met so many people, so I wanted to give you an idea of how the whole year went over just 4 minutes! This video collects some fun video clips and photos from each country. […]
The “flow” of fluency: How to freestyle rap in a foreign language
While many guest posts here are from people I’ve met in my travels or been in touch with online a lot, occasionally I’ll be sent a topic so damn interesting that even if I don’t know the person yet, it’s definitely worth sharing. Today’s is an excellent example of such a topic, which takes a […]
How much time does it take to learn a language?
One understandable misconception from people when they first arrive on this site is that I would think it takes exactly three months to learn a language. To me the question and answer “How long does it take to learn a language?” “X months/years/lifetimes” is ludicrous, as it leaves far too much undefined and only caters […]
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