Become Fluent in 3 months
I’ve never really been good at languages. In fact, to put it bluntly, I suck at them. Part of it is effort and part of it is the fact it takes me 3 weeks to learn to pronounce “how are you?” correctly. I’m always amazed at people who can learn languages well and I’m even more amazed by Benny from Fluent in 3 months who speaks 7 languages fluently, plus is conversational in a few more!
Benny didn’t learn a second language until he was 21, which makes his accomplishment even more impressive. Now he put his tips into a huge ebook, complete with worksheets and interviews. Everybody has an ebook lately and I try hard to limit the amount I review to those that I think are applicable to travelers. Learning a language is something we all want to do so I was eager to read Benny’s book and see what I could learn. This is how Benny describes it:
What did I think?
I thought the book was a great motivational tool to get people to rethink how to learn a language and get them into the proper mindset for doing so. Benny does a good job through his personal stories on giving people a new approach to language learning.
This book isn’t about picking up a textbook and doing grammar. It’s about getting past that thinking and into immersing yourself in a language through conversation and listening. Having taught English in Asia, I am always disappointed when companies have me focus on grammar and writing. Most Asian students could write a grammatically correct essay that would make a high school teacher proud. But they can’t speak the language. They are never taught to focus on talking and communication so they become excellent at grammar rules but awful at expressing themselves.
And that’s not learning a language. After all, what good is it if you can write a sentence in French but can’t ask for directions or order food? What I liked about Benny’s book was that it focused on getting people to learn how to speak verbally and communicate more so than have people focus on learning from a textbook. When you take a language class, you learn, you repeat, you take a test. You don’t live the language and incorporate it into your life. I never let me students speak Thai in class and I always told them to speak English outside of class. Learning a language doesn’t stop at the door and Benny gives us ways to bring the language into our lives easily.
What didn’t I like?
Well, for starters, the layout is pretty bad but I know how much it can cost to design an ebook and I don’t fault him for just starting with a self designed PDF until he made some sales. I did the same thing. In terms of content, I wished for a bit more graphics, especially when it came to accent reduction. Maybe a graphic of two showing how people roll their “R” or make a certain sound in German would have helped. (Note: Benny has a newly designed version out that is much prettier and so my original critique on that front is no longer valid)
Would I buy this book?
Yes, I would. This summer I will be studying French and Benny’s book gave me some good motivation and different ways to think about learning French than just going to class and doing grammar. Even if I didn’t know Benny, if I saw his introduction and read his summary, I would buy the book. If someone who didn’t learn any languages until he was 21 can speak 8 languages, then there is hope for us all.
Despite what the title says, Benny doesn’t promise fluency. If he did, I would be skeptical. But he does promise that his book will help you learn a language quickly, give you tips to do so, and get you confident about learning and speaking a new language.
The book has 3 hours of interviews, 7 worksheets, and is 200 pages long, and you get free updates. The book is available in 7 languages too so even if you aren’t a native English speaker, you can get the tips in your language. We all want to learn languages- now you can in your native tongue! The book costs $49 USD. It’s a worthwhile investment if, like me, you really want to learn another language but can never seem to quite get the hang of it. I plan on using it and you should too!
20 Comments
Oh man, I am very keen for this. Having been in Thailand for 3 weeks, I would love to be able to understand the language. And Ive always wanted to speak latin american spanish and japanese.
Benny learned more Thai in the first month he was there then I learned in the 3 yrs I’ve been going there!
Sounds like an interesting book, but I’ll say $40 seems quite pricey for a book that only puts you in the right ‘mindset’ to learn a language. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for the comment Matt! Actually the book isn’t just about mindset, there are lots of immediate practical ways to start speaking now. In the beginning of the book I encourage people to be more confident with their level, but the bulk of the book explains the actual techniques I use to speak from the first week.
The price tag would indeed be too expensive for an e-book, but this is actually hours of interviews with some of the world’s most famous polyglots, worksheets, free multilingual updates… and THEN a 3-format e-book. You can see from the testimonials that people say it’s well worth the price.
Really enjoyed (Nomadic) Matt’s review!
The current price is $97 (up from the $49 stated in the review). Looks like an awesome package, but alas is WAY out of my price range. There are enough free sites out there that I can use. Too bad. I would have loved to use Benny’s book.
Very useful for adults – it can seem harder to learn a language as we get older.
“seem” being the key word of course
I always like to remind people that I was the worst language student in school and convinced that English was the only language I would ever speak. A change in attitude and learning style means there are no limits
I have 70 year old readers of my blog telling me that they are learning new languages quite well
Every person want to become good and successful life only can happened to use good command in different languages this help out to you
Great posting! Seems like a good (and cheaper!) alternative to some programs, like Rosetta Stone.
Benny you dazzle me with your brilliance!!! Thanks for the helpful review.
Thanks for the review, Matt. My husband and I are studying Japanese via Rosetta Stone right now, and I already feel frustrated by the sheer volume of what we’re being taught and the course’s emphasis. For example, I have no idea how to exchange basic pleasantries with someone beyond “hello” and “goodbye” but I know how to say “the goldfish is swimming.” Weird, huh? I’ll definitely check out Benny’s blog.
I tried learning German with Rosetta stone and all I could say was the dog is under the table. What a useless program. It teaches you random words not useful phrases. I’d suggest Benny’s book and website. He doesn’t speak Japanese but you can use his tactics for the language.
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Okay, I’m not going to lie – I was skeptical, and I still am. I speak Italian fluently, and a little bit of Spanish, and I very much want to learn Portuguese (which I figure won’t be too difficult given what I know of other languages). While I love learning grammar and structure, I do find my own little tricks and shortcuts, so I’m not entirely sure I’d need an e-book.
That being said, that video is amazing, and Benny is kind of adorable (plus, his mastery of Italian and Spanish are fantastic, as are his accents). I might actually have to check this out.
Sceptical is to be expected
While I like Matt using the name of my blog in the post, the Guide actually doesn’t promise fluency in 3 months (even in the title: Language Hacking) 
It’s a walk through for how to speak as soon as possible, and the techniques that allow me to attempt my 3 month missions. 
Nothing to be sceptical about there 
Glad the video is convincing. Thanks for the compliment
Just saw this as I set a goal for myself to become fluent in Spanish by the time I go to Mexico for a week in December (I already have a basic knowledge)
Definitely going to check this out!
I’m using the book for learning french. so far, so good!
Benny is full of shit! He’s just a lowlife con artist ripping people off. None of his conversations in his videos are real conversations, they’re just market jabber. It’s the kind of crap anyone can pick up in a month or two, but it isn’t fluency.
Oh, by the way, how much of a kick back do you get for helping to sell his book?
There had to be 1, lol.
I have used Pimsleur for learning both Thai and Spanish and found the program particularly useful.