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Benny Lewis | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4952 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 113 of 164 03 May 2012 at 3:50am | IP Logged | ||
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To me much of this discussion is irrelevant because languages is a passionate hobby of mine, but it is still a hobby. I don't really need it to survive (even as I am considering some university study that takes advantage of my hobby).
I actually enjoy grammar and figuring out on my own how it works and how a language is put together. Most people do not enjoy grammar for its sake, they just study it as a necessary plinth in language learning. I do believe full immersion and a positive attitude (in other words, wanting to learn), does wonders. I have read and listened to so much German, French, and Portuguese in the last 18 months since I began hardcore learning (plus a fair bit of writing plus extensive grammar), that I really am confident that if I could be in those countries just for 3-4 weeks I would be fluent. And I'm not one to make claims (never have here or anywhere, I just go where my learning takes me). The first time I spoke either German or French was because I ran into people that happened to be natives, and in the most unexpected places. I was nervous, but I held crude conversations in both languages for 45 minutes to an hour. Remember, I never had spoken before to anyone in those languages, and both situations arose suddendly and unplanned, therefore I had no time to "mentally prepare" (which perhaps, after some thinking over, was a blessing). Based on my own experiences with languages (and now that I have three experiences I feel to have some amount of foundation to ratiotinate an opinion), I think I personally could reach some fluency in three months with full immersion and some grammar and vocabulary building. It does take fortitudinous pertinacity. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tmp011007 Diglot Senior Member Congo Joined 6072 days ago 199 posts - 346 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 114 of 164 03 May 2012 at 8:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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this guy has the same level in Spanish than Benny in mandarin.. a pretty good lvl for 3 months if you ask me
spanish in 12 weeks http://youtu.be/P4sHt_0x_lE 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6871 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 115 of 164 03 May 2012 at 9:40pm | IP Logged | ||
Not too shabby. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mountains Newbie Norway Joined 4596 days ago 12 posts - 43 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian | Message 116 of 164 05 May 2012 at 1:10am | IP Logged | ||
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I have been reading Benny's blog for the last 8 or so months. His blog was probably
one of the first I started to read, and also helped to bolster my new found passion for what everyone here loves; languages. I learnt a lot of motivational techniques and ways to overcome hurdles as I was new to the whole language learning process. His never say die attitude certainly has given me a good foundation to which my study patterns and speaking habits are based around, and I thank him for that. However as of late, and what seems to have become a growing trend, I dislike the way he treats some people on his site. His extreme distaste for any criticism directed to him and sometimes arrogant and humiliating retorts to those said critics, have led me to feel somewhat disillusioned to what he preaches. Nearly all critical comments are branded as "trolling" and users slammed if posts or comments are misread or misinterpreted. As I have learnt from this site, language learning is totally subjective and depends on a variety of variables. There is no right or wrong methodology, and everyone's learning methods differ from the next. This is by no means a stab at Benny, and I've never critiqued his methods on his site (as I clearly don't know enough to say anything) but rather constructive criticism which can either be taken or not. 25 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4932 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 117 of 164 05 May 2012 at 1:43am | IP Logged | ||
I'm still new to the community of internet language learners myself, and it's a different dynamic here. People have all sorts of agendas and sometimes can be very rude when they talk about others. For example, one internet language maven has a fighting background so his posts are somewhat aggressive in tone. Others have years of experience speaking many languages, so while they may not have an academic credential, they have a lot of experience that has worked, for them. Others suffer from personality disorders that have them claiming expertise in an impossible number of languages and then lashing out at any others who may question their claims. It's a very mixed bag. But then again, you have some really humble, talented, hard-working people who are not selling any particular book or method or point of view who selflessly share what their own experience is while learning about languages and learning about themselves. Those people are the real treasures of this website. They have a tremendous wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm, talent, and passion for what we all share. I'm not one for joining clubs or associations, but I'm truly happy to be a part of this forum. As for Benny, he has a tremendous enthusiasm for learning language which he shares on his blog. He's convinced a lot of people to pursue their passion for studying a language. He's not a professional linguist, philologist, or educator, but he's a guy who loves languages, like all the rest of us. Take him for what he is. 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5535 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 118 of 164 15 May 2012 at 12:23am | IP Logged | ||
Benny was really cranky during the first 3 months of his Chinese project, and I agree that he was fairly rude to several people, both here on HTLAL and on his site. You could see him working very hard to keep the conversation positive, and occasionally snapping. This kind of cranky irritability is a classic symptom of burnout, which is what happens when you push yourself too hard for too long. Been there, done that, don't like the way I snapped at people over nothing. Check out this photo of Benny. Not a happy camper, there. That's the thing about avoiding your native language: You learn fast, because you're painfully desperate. If you immerse around high A2, you'll basically have the language skills of a toddler for a month, and you'll have some very rough days. As far as I can tell from his blog and (and the French translation of) his book, Benny loves immersion because it's a terrifyingly effective motivator. Me, I'm perfectly happy to finish Assimil before trying to talk, because then I'm not totally at a loss. But there comes a time when you just need to dive in and do it, even if we all disagree on when. As for Benny, I'm happy that he's over the hump. He can talk. He can socialize. He can probably make jokes. And instead of grinding away in agony, he's travelling around China and having some fun with his Chinese. 13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| translator2 Senior Member United States Joined 6922 days ago 848 posts - 1862 votes Speaks: English* | Message 120 of 164 22 May 2012 at 8:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Benny's method probably works if you like people, you are an extrovert, and your goal is to be able to chit-chat about languages and traveling.
However, if you are like me and you do not even enjoy talking to other people in your native language and you are interested in languages solely from a scientific viewpoint and to be able to read books and translate, then his methods are not very useful. However, I do like his articles about grammar and the links that he posts on his website and FB page. Edited by translator2 on 22 May 2012 at 8:17pm 7 persons have voted this message useful |
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