Speak Right Now: An Interview with Benny Lewis of Fluent in 3 Months

Posted on 23. Oct, 2011 by Steph in Advice, On the Road, Resources

The Spanish Language Challenge Part Three! 

I have always thought of myself as kind of a language dummy. I’ve had roughly 6 years of formal language education (4 in Spanish, 2 in Italian) and nothing has ever stuck. I started to think it just wasn’t possible. When I first met Benny Lewis, who is known internet-wide as a language guru, he knocked my theory right out of the water. Anybody, he told me in his charming Irish brogue, can learn to speak another language.

That’s why I knew I wanted to interview Benny, even though I rarely do interviews on this site. He has such an upbeat, everyman attitude about language learning. He speaks around a dozen languages, he’s lived all over the place and he’s also just a totally awesome fun guy. If anyone can inspire language-phobes like myself, it’s the kind of positive energy he creates.

Picture courtesy of Benny Lewis

When we first met at TBEX last June, I told you I was just no good at languages, and you told me there was no such thing as being “bad at languages.” Can you elaborate?

When you say you are “bad at languages”, it’s kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. You have to take the leap, and just speak it. It will be frustrating but you WILL learn. I’ve never met anyone with any excuse that makes this not valid. If some people do it faster than you, then does that really matter? You can do it, this cannot be disputed when argued logically.

But logic has nothing to do with most people’s arguments. They are simply being too lazy. Being too old, or not having the language gene have certainly not stopped millions of people from succeeding all the time. Why should it stop you?

What made you decide to become “the language guy?”

I had such an incredible experience in Spain once I tried to get to know locals outside of the university educated elite, by learning their language, that I decided to keep the theme up for future travels. I still don’t consider myself the language guy though – to me, languages are a means to an end. I see them as a tool, and don’t get obsessed with the nitty-gritties, and this is the most efficient way to learn them in my opinion.

What do you think of language learning programs like Rosetta Stone?

Rosetta Stone are very clever in their marketing skills, but their product simply doesn’t produce real results. The only times I’ve heard success stories were from people who were doing something else at the same time, and the only reason Rosetta Stone motivated them so much was because of the huge amount of cash they poured into it. There are way better ways of finding such motivation, such as being public in your language learning attempt for some accountability.

In short – don’t pay for any course more expensive than a standard language learning book.

picture courtesy of Benny Lewis

What is your language hacking guide? How does it help?

I genuinely believe that no money needs to be spent to learn a language. While it’s shooting my bank balance in the foot, consistency and honesty is important if I’m to send out the right message. Buying my guide will not be the magic pill that solves your language learning woes.

What I did was to write a book with all my thoughts on how I feel someone should learn a language. The premise is that you need to speak it from day one, and if you are having trouble visualizing how such a thing could be possible, then I give many suggestions in that book. A huge amount of those who have bought it have been telling me how it has transformed their language learning experience. If you need that extra bit of motivation, then it could indeed help you. But keep in mind that millions and millions of people learn languages without mine or anyone else’s product to save the day. It’s hard work that really makes a difference.

How many languages do you speak now? What’s your favorite language to speak?

It’s a hard question to answer since it doesn’t really define what “to speak” means. But if you mean high level conversational or “fluency” in that I can do pretty much everything I do in English in that language, then I’d say seven or eight. There are others I can get by pretty well in, and half a dozen others that I’ve learned but don’t maintain.

In person you have a lovely Irish accent- how do you manage to lose it when speaking other languages?

There’s not really such a thing as an “Irish” accent when speaking Spanish or German etc. There are some components indeed, but it’s mostly just an anglophone accent, where you would be confused for a Brit, Ozzie or American just as easily.

To lose this accent I worked hard in the early stages to reduce very typical sounds, such as the R one. These take some practice but are indeed achievable even as an adult. It’s also important to match the musicality and tonnes of a language. A music teacher or voice trainer or speech therapist may help you with this, but in general having a native who is eager to correct you can be the best thing!

What’s the first thing I could do, right now, to put myself on the path to becoming fluent in say, Spanish?

Spend a few hours learning some phrases from a pocket phrase book and then find a native and use them immediately. When the language has a context of real-life communication for you from the start then you will be on the path to improving it much quicker.

Picture courtesy of Benny Lewis

What’s the WORST thing you can do when trying to learn a language?

Too many approaches have the flawed suggestion of closing you up in a room and studying the technical aspects of speaking perfectly, which don’t aid actual communication. They treat language like a right-or-wrong academic subject in school. There is no right or wrong. Make mistakes and your point will still be gotten across.

The worst thing you can do is study “until you’re ready”. Just speak it now.

Any tips on mastering that pesky rrrrrr tongue roll?

Americans have a sound that is quite close to it in the “tt” sound of “butter”. Rather than try and change your English R to a rolled one, try to change this sound first. The English and Latin rolled Rs are too different to try and change one to the other – it’s like trying to convert a b sound to an h sound.

A full explanation can be found online in many forms, but basically relax your tongue and let air flow over it as you hold it to the roof of your mouth. Once again, the best thing you can do is to sit down with a native and go through it until you have it better.

Be sure to check out Benny’s site: Fluent in 3 Months for a lot of great language tips. And if you are anything like me, stop being such a wuss and go out and speak some Spanish!

Tags: interviews, language learning