Articles

25 Must-Know Halloween Words for a Spooky Season

Halloween is just around the corner, and it's time to brush up on your spooky vocabulary with some special Halloween words!

6 Ways for Beginners to Outsmart “Expert” Language Learners

written by Benny Lewis

When you’re a beginner in a language, and you meet someone who’s studied it for years, it can be a bit of a shock. You wonder: “How are they so damn good?” It feels like they’re leagues ahead of you. How can you hope to stay motivated all that time and catch up with the […]

Does Your Personality Change When You Speak Another Language?

written by Ekaterina Matveeva

Have you ever wondered if you have an alter ego? By learning other languages you can find a new identity! That’s right. Learning another language gives you a new personality. If you already speak other languages, you might have noticed this for yourself. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you’ll end up like the case of The […]

Christmas Traditions from Around the World

written by Benny Lewis

As you post Christmas cards, hang up tinsel and glaze your turkey, have you ever wondered about the Christmas traditions in other parts of the world? Did you know that in the Czech Republic, teenagers dress up as devils and go in search for small children? Or that the Christmas festivities in Catalan largely revolve around […]

Deafblind in Japan: My 5 Week Journey

written by Julie Ferguson

Julie Ferguson is registered deaf and blind. She also speaks five languages. Julie shared her story with us before here on the blog as well as in the Fluent in 3 Months book. This is the inspirational story of her recent visit to Japan. Deafblind in Japan I’m nightblind. I’m standing in Akihabara, Tokyo, in the […]

5 Common Mistakes Learning German (and How to Fix Them)

written by Benny Lewis

Learning how to speak German? Avoid these common German mistakes so you can learn German faster. Tips on, word order, word gender and German resources.

The Best Way to Meet People While Travelling (Even if You’re Shy)

written by Benny Lewis

What’s the best way to meet people while travelling? Perhaps you dream of striking up conversations while travelling on a train across Asia. Maybe you’d love to ride a motocicleta down Latin America, meeting all kinds of characters on your way. Perhaps you’d like to while away an afternoon in an Italian cafe, saying ciao […]