Articles


Standard Arabic or Local Dialect - Which Should You Learn First?

Standard Arabic or Local Dialect – Which Should You Learn First?

written by Benny Lewis

Probably one of the most frequent comments I’ve received on my videos over the last months, usually from people in Arabic speaking countries that are not Egypt, or from elitist academics, all of whom ignored my travel-in-Egypt focus, has been “You should be learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)! It’s much better than dialect!”

Now that I’m actually using what I spent months preparing for, in the country itself, I can confirm that learning a dialect is far superior to learning MSA if you plan to speak the language.

Walking from the Nile to the pyramids, and the people I met on the way

written by Benny Lewis

Don’t worry, video updates in Arabic are coming soon 😉 Today I’ve just recorded the first of many videos to document my time in this country, and it should be on my Youtube channel by Monday (need time to upload HD videos on slow connections, as well as subtitling). But first, it’s time for another […]


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Reading time: 18 minutes

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Walk like an Egyptian: Why Blending in Matters

Walk like an Egyptian: Why Blending in Matters

written by Benny Lewis

I woke up groggy, still trying to snooze off a sleepless night of New Year’s parties, looked out my window and could see that we had just flown over a small bay of some sort that showed the Mediterranean sea part of my journey was done. Our flight had just entered Egypt, and it was […]


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Reading time: 20 minutes

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How I learned to speak Arabic while living in Brazil

How I learned to speak Arabic while living in Brazil

written by Benny Lewis

My three months are officially up! In a few hours I’ll be getting a flight back to Ireland to spend Christmas with my family, then heading to Germany for a few days to celebrate the New Year in Esperanto with some good friends as always. Then, a few days into January, I fly into Egypt, […]

“It’s a big bad scary world out there!” Are you sure North America?

written by Benny Lewis

Edit: I wasn’t expecting this post to cause so much debate, but like the one linked just below, the reason I wrote it isn’t to be “anti-American” as far too many crybabies are claiming, but because you guys need to read a different perspective and understand how us non-Americans think for a retrospective look at […]


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Reading time: 13 minutes

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Dozens of xmas gift ideas to cheer up your language-learning loved ones

written by Benny Lewis

Language learning can and should be free, and there are many ways to do it without spending a penny, which I discuss regularly on this site. However, there is one time when spending a bit of bob can certainly be justifiable – when giving in to the consumerist frenzy that we celebrate just after the […]


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Reading time: 8 minutes

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“Skype me maybe” – Inspiring music video sung by 17 polyglots in over 30 languages

written by Benny Lewis

After a LOT of work to prepare the lyrics, round people together, send way too many emails, have contributors pick verses and languages, give them feedback for several different takes, blend it all together, get through the immense task of video and sound editing, and making sure everyone was happy with it… “Skype me maybe” is finally ready for the world! 🙂

As you can see, the storyline is that I’m a hopeless language learner, ready to give up, when 16 of the Internet’s most famous polyglots show up to give me some encouraging words… in the tune of Carla Rae Jepsen’s “Call me maybe” that was popular this year, and inover thirty languages. Yes, it’s as crazy and as good as it sounds! 🙂


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Reading time: 9 minutes

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Interview #1 with Tim Ferriss: Language Learning

written by Benny Lewis

Today I’m very happy to share an interview I did with New York Times best selling author, Tim Ferriss.

He got his fame initially for writing the 4 hour workweek, followed it up with the 4 hour body, and has just released the third in the series, the 4 hour chef.

The first book was about working well, and he inspired a lot of people to go location independent and start their own businesses after reading it (although I had been travelling for several years already myself when I first read his book), his second book was about living healthily, and to complete his healthy-wealthy-wise series, his final book is about how to learn.


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Reading time: 45 minutes

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