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Fluent in 3 Months and Benny Lewis?

 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post Reply
laban
Triglot
Groupie
Israel
Joined 5823 days ago

87 posts - 96 votes 
Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English, Italian
Studies: Norwegian, German

 
 Message 1 of 5
14 May 2012 at 5:36pm | IP Logged 
fluent in 3 months

What do you think about this guy and his program? anybody heard of him before / had any experience with his materials?

I snooped a little about this self proclaimed "polyglot", and something just doesn't
"smell" right.
Firstly, I'm not sure to what extant does he actually know all the languages he claims
to speak, if at all.
Secondly, he comes across as someone who is just trying to push his 'nothing' product.
In his displays he keeps stating the obvious and repeating himself.
But then again, the concept is capturing, and if any of what he says is true - then it
could prove interesting.

So, I'm interested to know what do you guys think? or better yet, know.

Thanks.
1 person has voted this message useful



Josquin
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 4845 days ago

2266 posts - 3992 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish
Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian

 
 Message 2 of 5
14 May 2012 at 5:57pm | IP Logged 
You can read this whole thread about Benny Lewis: link
2 persons have voted this message useful



Volte
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Switzerland
Joined 6440 days ago

4474 posts - 6726 votes 
Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian
Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 3 of 5
14 May 2012 at 6:19pm | IP Logged 
His Esperanto is solid.

I've never seen a plausible claim that he's not fluent in a language he explicitly claims fluency in. Bear in mind that he does not claim fluency in every language he's studied, and bear in mind that 'fluency', as it's used on this forum, is not the same thing as the surprisingly common North American concept of "speaks indistinguishably from a native".

Aside from that, he appears to believe in aiming high and achieving something lower than aimed for as a method of achieving more than he would if he aimed lower. This and his style of presentation seem to be the source of most of the flak he gets.

Some of what he says is obvious. Some of what he says is (in my opinion) wrong. Some of it is useful. Personally, I've read his book and didn't think much of it, but it has some ok tips. Where I think his style really shines is in pointing out that people don't need to be silent studying in classrooms for years before they dare say more than a few words - if you already don't have this misconception, great.


Edited by Volte on 14 May 2012 at 6:26pm

9 persons have voted this message useful



laban
Triglot
Groupie
Israel
Joined 5823 days ago

87 posts - 96 votes 
Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English, Italian
Studies: Norwegian, German

 
 Message 4 of 5
14 May 2012 at 6:40pm | IP Logged 
@Josquin - Thanks! if only searching these forums was easier... :)

@Volte - My thoughts exactly! Thanks for confirming it for me. He does seem more
of a 'coacher' than a 'language expert'.
1 person has voted this message useful





meramarina
Diglot
Moderator
United States
Joined 5968 days ago

1341 posts - 2303 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: German, Italian, French
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 5 of 5
14 May 2012 at 6:45pm | IP Logged 
Please use the thread in the Polyglot subforum for this discussion.


1 person has voted this message useful



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