Learn a language (B1 Level) of your choice in 60 days completely on your own!

“The LLS Program is a newly innovative approach developed by the military during the Cold War to help spies learn foreign languages for infiltration purposes in only 60 days, but now the DVD containing all its secrets is available to you for only 3 easy payments of only 99, 99$, but wait!, if you call now we will throw in the second DVD showing how to get even more fluent! Call Now! "

Its easier than it looks!

If you have ever encountered such claims online, please don't even bother wasting your money on secret techniques. If there was an efficient way to teach someone a language faster, the education system would have adopted it already. All those secret methods used to advertise language schools are a great addition to train specific aspects of the language but are overall supported by good old-fashioned study, cram and practice.

My secret program:

The ingredients (in your language):

- 60 minutes of your free time, every day for 60 days. Split into 3x 20 minutes sessions.

- 1 extra hour of your free time on the weekends.

- An empty notebook for notes (on paper so you can carry it around with you)

- Pimsleur Audiotapes or a similar product. (An mp3 player or your phone)
(Get it here: http://thepiratebay.se/search/pimsleur/0/99/0 )

- A beginner and intermediate text book (A1-B1)

- A grammar compendium (a book or source containing all the grammar for reference)

- Google Translate (or any other translator of your choice)

- Anki (Get it here: http://ankisrs.net/ )
- Rosetta Stone and a Microphone (Get it here: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5210152/Rosetta_Stone_3.4.5___Crack(VasiaZozulia) )

Follow the recipe!

How to do it:

1- When you wake up in the morning take 20 minutes before work to do 1 colored segment of Rosetta Stone. The colored segments are the ones presenting new material unlike the white ones which only serve as a review.

2- On your way to work, listen to 1 unit of Pimsleur (which vaguely lasts 20 minutes) until you reach your destination.

3- Work all day

4- On your way back home, listen to 1 unit of Pimsleur until you reach your house.

5- Go out and get a beer (ideally with native speakers).

6- Do this from Monday to Friday.

7- At the weekends, take some time to cover and write down the main essentials of the grammar in your notebook. Take your newly learned grammar and create Flashcards using Anki for quick daily revisions. This is what grammar you should be reviewing:

Weekend 1:

A list of essential phrases used on a daily basis (How are you? and so on)

Weekend 2: 
A list of essential vocabulary covering situations (your room, your kitchen and so on)

Weekend 3: 
Verb tables (What is the rule to write and conjugate your verbs)

Weekend 4:

A list of essential verbs used on a daily basis (to go, to do, to make, to eat and so on)

Weekend 5: 

Questions (How to ask them and how to build them)

Articles and plurals (What are the endings and which article does what)

Weekend 6: 
Comparatives (An example: I am happier than you are)
Superlatives (An example: He drinks the most in my family)

Weekend 7:

Relative Clauses (An example: The man who was here, left)

Weekend 8:

Habits (How to say "I used to", "I am used to", "and I will get used to")

Modal verbs (How do they work and what do they do)

Conditionals (What is the rule and how do I apply them)

8- Carry your notebook everywhere and glance briefly at the grammar, whenever you have the chance.

9- Every Weekend, do 1 or 2 units from your student's book.

10- Go out and meet people in order to practice the spoken language. You can also hire a private teacher or attend some kind of language exchange tandems. Speaking has a tendency to bind it all together which makes it more accessible in your head.

Warning: If you don't practice orally with others (ideally in a party-like environment after a couple of beers), you will advance at a much slower pace.

If you follow these steps accordingly, I promise B1 level in 2 months’ time without actually struggling with old school learning methods. The key is to simply do it everyday.

Peter.M


LanguageLearningShortcuts! by Peter Masalski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://languagelearningshortcuts.blogspot.com/.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available athttp://www.pmls.pl/Disclaimereng.htm.

Watching movies to learn a language? You're doing it wrong!

It came to my attention while teaching, that certain students boast about their efforts to study a language with how many movies they have been watching lately. The problem isn't that I am complaining, but rather the way in which they do it.

I do believe that movies are a great way to get additional vocabulary and to hear the language in action. At the same time, there are some who don't do it properly by mixing two different languages; one for the sound and the other for the subtitles. No matter how hard you try to simplify certain things by putting your mother language at the bottom of the screen, you must understand that without struggle, there isn't much one can learn. Ideally, you should even consider having Google translate and a dictionary present as you watch your movie. The moment your auditory senses get confused about what the protagonist of your movie just said is the time where proper subtitles should cure your misunderstandings.

- Why does watching a movie with subtitles in the same language helps?

1. Too much slang, expressions and informal language.

Often, movies have the tendency to use a lot of slang. Rarely do I come across a movie with formal language throughout the storyline. It doesn't matter how advanced you are, there are certain idioms, expressions that one must learn by heart.

Have a dictionary on standby.

2. They speak too quickly.

This is probably the major reason why someone can't watch a movie in the language that he is learning. In certain scenes where more than 2 actors start yelling at each other as they get into conspiracy theories starts putting a toll on your comprehension.

Try four people screaming at each other.

3. Different accents and different dialects.

I don't know about you, but even Americans have sometimes problems understanding the British and this due to some crazy pronunciation. I personally have watched hundreds of British movies and am well acquainted with them so far, but my beginnings were very mind bending.

In Snatch, even the lead actors had problems understanding "Pikey" Brad Pitt.

4. If you see and hear it, you double your chance of remembering it.

Seeing is believing! Don't try to figure out what they said on your own because you will end up cheating yourself. Ego or not, make sure that what you just remembered was validated by proper subtitles.

A language within a language.

5. You can pause your subtitles.

If you're having a hard time understanding anything at all, just slow down the pace and freeze frame in order to get the storyline.

We have them in movies!

It isn't possible to translate everything properly from one language to another for reasons which are quite clear; different idioms, expressions and slang fuel your confusion. It saddens me to say this, but if you don't watch a movie in its original language with subtitles in the same language to support your understanding, your progress will be limited. We are strictly talking about watching movies in order to improve a language and not for the sheer pleasure of it.

Peter.M


LanguageLearningShortcuts! by Peter Masalski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://languagelearningshortcuts.blogspot.com/.
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Is music a good tool to help you learn English?

Back in the days, words and literature established the music industry, but nowadays it seems that the industry invents words as it slowly descends into madness. I don't claim that modern music is bad, but there is visible decline in what musicians had to do to stay on top of the charts in comparison to today’s listen and forget one hit wonders. Despite of our current times being as they are, I can still come across some decent music which clearly had some talent behind it.

Let's compare two famous artists from different eras; Richard Marx and Justin Beiber. Mr.Marx is an avid composer and multi-talented pianist, singer and song writer while his counterpart Mr.Bieber needs the assistance of an entire team to aid him in his career.

I wouldn't be surpised if his mother sang the chorus.

Now let's look at the lyrical value to see whose song would be more educating and might improve our vocabulary.

Richard Marx - Right here waiting for you:


Oceans apart day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice on the line
But it doesn't stop the pain

If I see you next to never
How can we say forever

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

Justin Bieber - Baby Baby:

You know you love me, I know you care
Just shout whenever, and I'll be there
You are my love, you are my heart
And we will never, ever, ever be apart

Are we an item? Girl, quit playin'
"We're just friends," what are you sayin'?
Said "there's another," and looked right in my eyes
My first love broke my heart for the first time

And I was like baby, baby, baby, oh
Like baby, baby, baby, no
Like baby, baby, baby, oh
I thought you'd always be mine, mine


Before you say anything, keep in mind that I am only giving my opinion. I am pretty sure that some of you enjoy contemporary music and perhaps my taste requires a bit more tuning. Who knows? The fact remains, if you compare those timeless hits which were released before the 90's, there are some obvious reasons why modern music is no match for the genius that took place once upon a time. Hip hop was clean without cursing and most rappers actually talked about meaningful things rather than chauvinistic and simple minded rhymes. Sadly, other musical genres suffer the same fate as we progress further into the 21^st century.

Can I still listen to modern music to learn English words?

Believe me when I say that I still have problems understanding certain songs after hearing them on the air regularly. Firstly, most songs lost their deeper meaning; it’s almost impossible to find a second layer behind the initial message of the song. The artists are so focused on boasting about their ability to attract women and make money that anything apart from that; simply isn’t worthwhile. Now, don't get me wrong, i still enjoy some modern bands even if they are hard to find. My advice is to listen to gold classics from Micheal Jackson to The Rolling Stones; As long as it doesn't involve heavy slang and curse words. I have also noticed that bands from the 60s, 70's, 80's and 90's are easier to understand because the singers actually cared about proper pronunciation.

Whats wrong with the music?

The lyrics of most songs are predominantly composed of typical party keywords such as “tonight, forever, baby and love” which make all the songs sound the same. It isn’t strange to meet someone who listens to music for the melody rather than to analyze what the composer tried to share. I could literally listen to the radio for hours and barely see any differences in the lyrics between most songs, only to catch myself humming them later on without knowing why.

Another reason why it’s so hard to understand are techniques called word bending. The artist bends the spelling of words as to match more rhymes together. An example of word bending would be to take a word like “dance” and to match it to “science” by changing the tone of the ending. I don't know if its due to laziness, but quickly recorded songs without any additional content to offer, seem to be the way to make big bucks nowadays.

Money is making music when music should be making money.

If you take this famous song and compare how Mr.50 matched the rhymes you can actually see my point.


50 Cents - In da(the) club:


You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub
Look mami I got the X if you into taking drugs
I'm into having sex, I ain't into making love
So come give me a hug if you into to getting rubbed

Supposedly, "bub", "drugs", "love" and "rubbed" rhyme. Stay as far away from modern music if you wish to learn to speak English, unless you are into hardcore street slang and poor diction.

Yo! Karl! What can I rhyme biatches with?

What should I listen to?

Here is a list of bands which have very clear English, a limited use of slang and seem to have something more to offer than what makes the charts nowadays. Not to appear bias, i have decided to mix from different genres.


- The Doors
- Depeche Mode
- Simply Red
- Eric Clapton
- Nas
- Notorious B.I.G
- R.Kelly
- Bob Marley
- Seal
- Sade
- Micheal Jackson

and the list goes on. Just take a look at the past!

Peter.M



LanguageLearningShortcuts! by Peter Masalski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://languagelearningshortcuts.blogspot.com/.
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How to really pick a good language text book?

If you have been a student as much as I have in your many years of pre-university studies, you have perhaps accumulated a pile of useless textbooks scribbled with notes and drawings showing just how much disinterest you had for foreign languages back then. Although you will never use them again, you can still picture the stack of foreign language books hidden away in an old cardboard box between clothes you don't wear and objects you don't need but keep anyway. Every time you sign up for a new semester to learn that language you could never speak fluently, whether you need a new textbook or not, you still feel stupid about at all the money and space wasted. You never had the courage to throw them away. You tried to give them away to family members and friends, but everyone seemed to have a textbook already. As years passed, that old box kept gathering dust. Every time its memory seems to cross your mind, you deeply hope that you would open it up and take full advantage of its wisdom.

Throw them away! 

Don't bother opening that box unless, you want to try to sell it online for a few bucks. The problem with most textbooks nowadays is that none is truly complete. What aggravates the situation is that I can't seem to understand why they keep producing new series of student books every year when in essence it’s all one and the same. If you take a closer look at your average students textbook, it’s always divided into the following units. You can't imagine how many textbooks I have seen which actually follow this exact pattern.

- Unit 1 - Communication
- Unit 2 - Travel
- Unit 3 - Transport
- Unit 4 - Sport
- Unit 5 - People
- etc.....

Publishing houses make lots of money from poor naive students. Private schools often have to select a book based on certain agreements. You can prepare yourself to add more books to your cardboard collection, since every semester is another useless book purchased. The worst is that they can't switch them halfway or make copies. Technically, making photocopies and using additional copied material is subjected to legal procedures. Hence, they have to stay with those crappy books until there is a major policy change. Nevertheless, it’s impossible for them to control everyone, so people still do as they please. Ultimately, it’s but another way for good business.

These books are begging to be put in a cardboard box.

What a good language text book should look like:

A proper and decent textbook should contain the following:

• Plenty of diverse topics covering everyday things

If your book starts getting into specialized topics ranging from modern art to politics, it might be unwise to purchase such book. It could be useful, but then again, there are specialized books to cover those topics in depth. Unless you are an advanced student who wishes to cover bonus content, I wouldn't recommend it. Those topics would include: Nightlife, Dating, The Gym, The Office and things we tend to do during the week.

• A concise list of vocabulary words that actively participate in the exercises

What irritates me the most is how neglected the vocabulary is. How can you give 15 words at the beginning of the unit and not see them again for the remainder of the book. It doesn't make sense! How is a student supposed to remember after a single exposure? At least have the decency to base the speaking, writing, reading and exercise parts on properly introduced vocabulary, and make sure that you repeat it often.

• A grammar review

Students often have gaps between the many learning periods of their lives. A good book should have a proper review of the grammar before attempting to jump into the unknown. Such review should have an overlook of what was done before. Students often cover up their lacks of knowledge with grimes and smiles as to not appear worse than assessed. A good textbook should have extra pages for ample review time.

• Grammar must be practiced orally

I hate books which just toss random topics across the book. If you can't stick to one idea, why bother wasting space? Most books make the mistake of placing questions about random topics without using the vocabulary and most importantly without grammar practice. If you introduce conditionals, put a speaking part so students can practice them.

• Essential and well-balanced

There are thousands of expressions, slangs, grammar elements to be learned. As you progress towards proficiency, learning them all won't hurt, but many books make the mistake of presenting non-essential materials. If you take a language, there are probably 30 indispensable expressions without which one wouldn't be able to function properly. Stop playing roulette with the content and start putting the top 30 most used phrases, words, slangs, expressions and whatever else one should know.

Probably the most complete book i have ever seen.

What I do recommend:

I have found "Exam Books" to be the most complete of all. I can't vouch for all of them, but the ones I was the most satisfied with was the "Ready for FCE, CAE and CPE collection" (English text books). If you have the pleasure of learning English, I personally recommend taking a good look at how these books are designed. Another good reason why exam books are so great is that you can attempt to get a certificate at any stage of your life, either for work or for your own personal pleasure. Using a normal book will give you knowledge, but won't prepare you for what many institutions and workplaces consider a prerequisite. Keep in mind, that after completing such book, you can go to take the exam at any time in the future.

No matter how badly you speak, pieces of paper still run the world of today.

Peter.M

LanguageLearningShortcuts! by Peter Masalski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://languagelearningshortcuts.blogspot.com/.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available athttp://www.pmls.pl/Disclaimereng.htm.

Afraid of speaking a foreign language?

There are plenty of reasons why someone is afraid of speaking a foreign language. If you are one of these people, and wonder what brought this curse upon yourself, don't falter because at a certain point you will have to realize that nobody truly cares about your abilities to communicate but yourself. Sadly, words and advice don't fix the problem and many confuse intellectual capability with psychological blockades.

Often students who have been learning and practicing a foreign language for many years blame it on their weak memory and opt for a more aggressive approach as to correct the problem, but what if your problem wasn't knowledge related? The reality is that you have to speak hours and hours in order to improve, as much as musician has to spend countless hours honing his craft. The truth is that in the end, there is no way to escape that fact. If you can't find the self-esteem to do it, your efforts will be all in vain, no matter how many classes you attend per week.

Why am I afraid to speak? There are various reasons why, but let’s cover the most popular ones according to my work experience as a teacher. Read the descriptions below and identify your type.

Fear of being judged by others:

Some individuals get nervous when speaking in front of large crowds or to strangers. If you are able to speak a foreign language unproblematically with close friends but are unable to do so with strangers, you are perhaps this type of individual. The comfort of having someone that you know, makes you more open to the idea that he or she likes and tolerates you no matter how well you speak. If you have ever approached a beautiful person on the street with the hopes of scoring a date, then you understand that the anxiety is proportional to how deep the weakness lies. You must not underestimate the amount of people who have that exact same problem. If I had to make an estimate, I would say that at least 50% of the population suffers from this type of fear to a greater or lesser degree. If everybody were courageous, we would all be dating polyglots.

Fear of imperfection:

This is actually very rare, but some students prefer to be very good at something at first before trying it out which is kind of self-contradictory. Usually it’s the other way around and this is why it makes it so difficult. Firstly, they build a sentence which they correct over and over again until they lose the confidence to continue the conversation often interrupting themselves with "no" and "eh".

Low Self-Esteem:

Logic dictates that if you are a social recluse, the chance of speaking a foreign language is also very dim. When I say "social recluse" I mean that the amount of social interactions are limited to work, school and grocery shopping. If you find that your life is but a routine accompanied by loneliness, don't expect a few hours of English at your local language school to be of any help. Modern psychology has been trying to solve this problem since the beginning of mankind and there simply aren’t any obvious answers to why this happens.

Ultimately, no matter how hard I try separating those definitions, they are all but one of the many forms of social anxiety.

Believe in yourself, because others won't.

How about a drink?

As silly as this might sound, ask yourself a question, is your ability to communicate better when drunk? It’s a known myth that alcohol temporarily converts the monoglot into a hyperglot able to speak fluently from broken drunk English to perfect Arabic. How can that be when alcohol should decrease your abilities? Surely, if alcohol was a performance enhancer, it wouldn't be illegal to drive under the influence.

Without getting into Freudian explanations, the reason is quite obvious. People's language skills decrease when they feel judged and evaluated by others even if the average citizen couldn't care less. Knowledge has nothing to do with it and please stop using it as an excuse to explain your inability.

Below is an interesting article on the topic.

http://www.tigermag.com/2009/10/study-shows-drinking-improves-foreign-language-skills-test-takers-accused-of-%E2%80%9Cdoping%E2%80%9D/

Are you fluent in drunken gibberish after a couple of shots?

Generally, we can consider extroverts to be more adept at learning and retaining foreign languages not because they are more talented, but because their time spent practicing exceeds those of introverts. They are probably used to making fools out of themselves, therefore, maximizing their results.

The cure:

There are 4 steps you must follow in order to get rid of your anxiety while speaking a foreign language. It won't be easy, but you can take small steps.

1- Visualize:

Take a couple of minutes every day picturing yourself using a foreign language in front of a crowd of people which tend to make you the most anxious. Picture them laughing and judging you behind your back until your brain concludes that it isn't all that scary. Do this every day, before and concurrently while speaking. You will be surprised to see how your brain tires of judgmental behaviors after prolonged exposure. Take a look at prostitutes, politicians and strippers. They aren't afraid of being judged anymore.

Haha, who cares, really?

2- Make a fool out of yourself:

Start by approaching people on the street with casual "small talk" in your own language. Start shifting your personality towards a more extrovert one. Try flirting with more people, and get rid of your shyness. You must push your comfort zone limits!

Which is harder? To flirt or to speak a foreign language? Try both at the same time!

I recommend reading the article below:

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/attention-introverts-how-to-become-more-extroverted/

3- Mistakes aren't natural, they are obligatory:

There are certain things in life which are inevitable such as making mistakes. Nobody learns without them. I don't care how talented someone is, there are no ways to escape the shame of making mistakes. All the greatest were once bad, perhaps, some had a better start then other. When you speak a foreign language, make as many mistakes as you can and calibrate as you go. 

Don't think about what you want to say, just say it! A good example would be to compare a prize fighter to a student. A boxer doesn't think about technique, he just does it because he learned different reflex patterns. If he had to ponder on every movement, he would get knocked out pretty quickly. A spoken language is all reflex, grammar just supports the understanding.

Reflex is the reason why we speak our native language so quickly.

4- Practice! Practice! Practice!

Join language tandems, social clubs or start travelling abroad. No matter where you find contact with the language you have chosen to learn, as long as you’re practicing it at least 5-10 hours weekly, you should be fine.

There are language exchange tandems everywhere!

Peter. M

LanguageLearningShortcuts! by Peter Masalski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://languagelearningshortcuts.blogspot.com/.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available athttp://www.pmls.pl/Disclaimereng.htm.

How many languages can a human being really speak?

This is probably one of the few topics which really reveal how ignorant some people can be. Before I start explaining why, I would like to begin this article with a simple proverb:

- "If you don't use it, you lose it"

If you have ever heard this saying in the past, you are aware that it applies not only to languages but to anything else as a matter of fact. Let me ask you a question? Do you remember 3rd grade high school mathematics? If I were to give you a trigonometry exam right now, would you pass it with flying colors? What if I gave you a week to review the basics before the exam, would you pass it then? People don't realize that rumors, gossip and jealousy often sidetrack logic and reason.

Speaking thousands of different languages; fact of fiction?

The truth:

A person cannot know 50 languages or even 15 and keep them active and fluent at all times unless that person is a miracle of nature. This isn't the only dilemma at hand, because the most important question remains; what does it mean to know a language? How well do I need to speak it in order to claim that I know it? 

Today, I will try to create a scale to establish realistic expectations for anyone who wishes to be a polyglot.

Firstly, let’s define "the level at which one can claim to know a language". According to the EU language assessment grid, languages are divided into the following categories. 

The EU Language Assessment Grid.

Since I don't wish to get into exact details I will sum up the levels and their descriptions as to support my article with ease.

A simple overview of the levels:

A1- The person knows introductory phrases, recognizes basic words and structures.

A2- The person can say simples sentences and recognizes more familiar situations such a personal information and surrounding environment

B1- The person can speak more cleary on common and familiar matters and deal with most situations.

B2- The person can interact with a good degree of fluency.

C1- The person speaks fluently.

C2- The person speaks perfectly.

The "B1" level determines whether you can speak a language:

I believe that "B1" level should be the determining point whether someone can speak a language. For a person to reach proficiency it takes years and years, and I doubt that a gifted person could learn dozens of languages and maintain them fluent forever.

I am pretty sure that "B1" level can be reached in a matter of months as I have done it myself in the past. The only thing that seperates a total beginner from a "B1" level are 1000 vocabulary words and 200 hours of oral practice.


I once met a polyglot: 

A good way to support my theory would be to take Switzerland which is fortunate enough to have 4 official languages; German, French, Italian and Romanesh. I met a girl a few years ago who was from Switzerland and she could fluently speak German, Italian, Spanish, French and English. She had just begun learning Polish and it seemed to go very well for her. She was a literature student and spent most of her life traveling from one country to another. She had school in German and Italian at home (her parents were from Rome). During elementary and high school she had obligatory English and picked French as her second language. A few years later, she became fluent and started roaming around Europe as her diplomat parents were mingling with the high society.

More info about switzerland at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland

At the time, this was my evaluation of her language skills:

German C2 (I assume its perfect, since she attended school in German)
Italian C2 (Her mother language)
Spanish B2
English B2-C1
French B1-B2
Polish A2


Is it all hype?

My life experience forces me to conclude that a person could perhaps speak 5-10 languages fluently but not perfectly. A person could even perhaps speak 10-15 languages communicatively (B1) and know the basics of dozens if not hundreds. The good thing is that, once you have studied a language, it’s always easier to get back on track and relearn what have forgotten in a matter of weeks. There are also additional factors we must consider such as similar language roots (Latin, Slavic) which facilitate retaining languages of the same family and, of course, the environment which plays a major role especially if you are a traveller. The polyglot in question could be a linguistics professor brushing up his knowledge on a daily basis, who knows?

To conclude the article I would like to present some famous polyglots who claimed to know many languages and see for yourself if the rumors aren't all hype.

This guy knows 16 languages and i believe him.

Cardinal Giuseppe Gaspardo Mezzofanti claimed to speak hundreds of languages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Gaspardo_Mezzofanti

Harrold Williams from New Zealand claimed to speak 58 languages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Williams_(linguist)

Ziad Fazah who is still alive claims to know 59 languages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziad_Fazah

This guy thinks he knows 59 languages.

Learn a language in 3 months?

Interestingly enough, a guy called Benny who started learning foreign languages at the age of 21 claims to speak 10 languages which I find more believable than what I usual hear from people. Several factors lead me to believe that it's true. Apart from that, he has marketed a method which allows him to learn a language in 3 months which isn't all that if your only trying to reach "B1", without mentioning that he constantly travels and; that’s all he does! On his website, he even says that he doesn't have "a stable job" but works wherever he travels.

Don't bother buying his "Language Hacking techniques" because unless you are a drifter like he is, you won't have anywhere to practice all those foreign dialects. If you take a closer look, you can actually see that apart from English and Irish, he groups languages together in big families as to improve learning speed. Once you know Spanish; Italian is just a few months away.

Read about Benny at: http://www.fluentin3months.com/pro-language-hacker/


Conclusion?

Don't be fooled! If you are a sedentary working man like me, there are certain truths we must face. 

If you had all the time in the world, If you were motivated and well prepared, If you could relocate to a different country every couple of years and If that were all you did? How many languages do you think you would know by now?

In my opinion, with the proper environment and predispositions, a person can speak dozens of languages but not fluently. I had some German, Russian and Swedish here and there, and I am pretty sure that I could say, read and understand everyday speech, but I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a hyperpolyglot.

Peter.M




LanguageLearningShortcuts! by Peter Masalski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://languagelearningshortcuts.blogspot.com/.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available athttp://www.pmls.pl/Disclaimereng.htm.