Articles


New mission: Speak Turkish in two months!

written by Benny Lewis

Hello from Istanbul – my new home for the next two months! My mission is to speak conversational Turkish by mid August! This will bring the total number of languages I’ve dived into this year to four (Tagalog, ASL, Dutch & now Turkish) as I had initially set out to do. I’m only giving myself […]


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Reading time: 3 minutes

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Language Hacking tips for English speaking travellers (My TBEX talk)

written by Benny Lewis

Here it is! My first time ever speaking in front of such a large audience! The video is 30 minutes long and covers some tips and encouragement that I’ve mentioned on the blog at various times and which are covered in much more detail in the Language Hacking Guide of course. Since the audience was […]

Dutch vs. German: What's the Difference?

Dutch vs. German: What’s the Difference?

written by Benny Lewis

Dutch is a fascinating and unique language, and you can find many good introductions to it online. (See the links at the end of this page for a nice collection of resources). What can be most interesting about the language is how it is one of the closest in the world to English, while also […]

Another myth busted: Northern Europeans DON'T only speak English to you

Another myth busted: Northern Europeans DON’T only speak English to you

written by Benny Lewis

There are many myths about language learning that I’m trying to dispel as nothing more than lazy excuses on this blog. The fact that you are too old, your destiny (genes, background etc.) is against you, you can’t afford to travel and there are no opportunities to speak where you live or systems to speak […]


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Reading time: 11 minutes

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Forgetting a language: Why it happens and how to avoid it

written by Benny Lewis

OK, so you have put in the time and can now speak a language at a confident level. But maybe the course that helped to get you there has ended, or your stay abroad is over and it’s time to go home. What do you do to make sure that you don’t forget that language? […]


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Reading time: 6 minutes

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Ask WHY first (not how/what): the most important issue ignored in language learning

written by Benny Lewis

In years of constantly comparing the many successful vs unsuccessful language learners to see what really makes them different, I can share another huge realisation with you today. Many of the major questions most people start asking themselves in language learning are, in my opinion, things that should be coming much later in the priority […]


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Reading time: 4 minutes

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