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Benny’s Book | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5312 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes  Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 25 of 91 11 January 2014 at 2:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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Congratulations on the book deal! I look forward to reading it.
On your site, you write:
But the "here" is just an underline, not an actual link. Do you have a copy of the table of contents online yet? I'm always very interested in how different people handle the advanced stages of language learning. I've struggled with this myself—I've spoken French at home for almost two years, and I'm normally fluent in social matters, but I'm still a very uneven speaker when it comes to professional and academic subjects. You're written a lot about your language learning process, which I appreciate, but you mostly focus on inspiring people to take the leap and get started (an eminently worthy cause). But even in your Language Hacking Guide, you don't talk much about your approach to C1 and up. For example, how did you get from your DELF B2 exam to the point where you are now? (I seem to remember you claiming C2 somewhere, but I may be wrong!) Do you cover these subjects in your book? Or are you mostly focusing on your inspirational goals? Edited by emk on 11 January 2014 at 2:14pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4313 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 26 of 91 11 January 2014 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | ||
Well lots of diet books seem to follow a similar marketing plan: The Perfect Plan - How to lose 21 kilos in three months The 5-Second Flat Belly Secret - Lose 2-3 Inches from Your Belly in Less Than 1 Month Tips On How To Lose Weight In 3 Months Lose Weight in 1 Week - The Simple Proven Plan on How to Lose Weight in a Week ETC. No many people want to buy a diet book that tells them they need to make long-term lifestyle changes, and that good health takes years not weeks to achieve, it's much more effective to promise a revolutionary method that will allow fast and painless weight loss in a short period to time. Edited by patrickwilken on 11 January 2014 at 4:33pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| schoenewaelder Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5340 days ago 759 posts - 1197 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 27 of 91 11 January 2014 at 4:42pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well done to Benny, having a book published is fantastic. Good writing and hard work outpoint [edit] any negative aspects.
[edit] i must abide by forum rules i must abide by forum rules i must abide by forum rules i must abide by forum rules i must abide by forum rules . . . Edited by schoenewaelder on 14 January 2014 at 1:18pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5210 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 28 of 91 11 January 2014 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think we should all congratulate Benny. He did it. He scored a coup with a major publisher. And that's a lot
more than what most of us have done. We can quibble about the title and even the contents but the way I look at it publishing is a game. The goal is for those involved, the author and the publishing house to make the most money in the shortest time. The audience for the book is the general public not language specialists or maniacs like us here. A catchy title sells. A whole one-man industry was launched on the title, "The 4-hour workweek." The was real hype, but it worked. Whether one can learn a language in three months, in my opinion, is irrelevant. It's what works as a title. What does Benny bring to the table that we haven't heard before? I think we should reserve judgment until we read the book. I intend to buy it to support the cause and Benny. Who knows, I might learn something or see things from a different perspective. Edited by s_allard on 12 January 2014 at 12:59am 11 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5312 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 29 of 91 11 January 2014 at 6:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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(This isn't in response to s_allard, schoenewaelder or patrick.)
We've already discussed the name "Fluent in 3 Months" several times, and it was a rather unproductive discussion. Benny's explanation can be found on his blog if anyone is interested. Some people are OK with this slogan, and some people feel that it promises too much. And the last two or three times we discussed it, nobody changed anybody else's mind. So I think that further discussion in this direction will prove unproductive—and doubly so, since nobody here has seen the book. And for those of you who are new to HTLAL, please remember: Everybody who posts on HTLAL, including irishpolyglot, has the right to be treated civilly. This is one of things that's special about this place: People with a wide range of goals and abilities can share the joys of language learning without needing to tear other people down just because they value different things. Edited by emk on 11 January 2014 at 6:34pm 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 3879 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 30 of 91 11 January 2014 at 6:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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The issue for me, as I've said several times now, isn't the title in itself (which is what those particular old threads are all about).
It's a matter of the way the title is used in this particular medium that is, in my opinion... I don't want to say unethical, but that's the closest that I can get to what I wanted to convey at this moment. I'm not going to keep saying "I know that it sells" or "I understand why they did it", "but I don't think it's right", just to have people keep explaining capitalism to me or how what I think is unethical business practice makes money. As emk said, that's not going to change anyone's mind about anything. But I really don't think that discussing a book title and a blog title are the same thing, even if they are the same title, given that there are widely different cultural expectations and connotations on the two media. 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5413 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 31 of 91 11 January 2014 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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@emk
Fixed the link! Thanks for the heads up! You can see the table of contents (American version) now. I actually interviewed Richard about learning multiple languages, Luca about perfecting accents and several people about reaching C2 level, to include their thoughts beyond my own experiences. (Clips of those video interviews will be watchable to anyone who buys the book) This book goes well beyond my ebook (which was indeed more of a beginner to B1 theme) to discuss language mastery (using the CEFRL scale, C2) and speaking multiple languages. I only had one chapter to devote to getting from B2 to C2, so I tried my best to explain all I could about it in there, although I urge the reader to experiment and find ways that work for him/her. I also used another chapter as a chance to discuss cultural integration, which I have always felt is ignored way too much in language learning. I agree that the discussion about the title has been done to death, and everything I have to say about it has been given in that link you gave. If people have any questions about the book, then shoot! Otherwise you'll find out this time in 2 months if you like it or not. As s_allard rightly points out, the audience is not the members of this forum, many of whom already have approaches that work well for them, but for people who need some guidance, and inspiration. Having said that, only the start of the book is inspiration - it gets into meat very quickly. - Thanks to everyone else who appreciates that publishing a book is a huge task. My ebook went from idea to reality in just 6 weeks, and was a very simple case of clicking buttons and doing it my way. This book, on the other hand, has been over 18 months in the making, between logistics and publishing bureaucracy, and writing, proofreading and pre-launch prep. It's been one hell of a ride, and I'm looking forward to getting the book in people's hands! 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4487 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 32 of 91 11 January 2014 at 7:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hey Benny, I'm very proud of you! I'm glad to see public recognition for your work in
language-learning! Your blog has always been an inspiration for me as an aspiring polyglot, whatever some other people here may say! One question, though - how will people outside of anglophone regions have to buy your book? Simply through Amazon? 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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