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Language Hacking Guide
The Language Hacking Guide explains exactly what you need to do to speak a language quickly.
Rather than read through the guide to find out my one major ‘secret’, I can tell you right now. You need to speak the language from day one.
No years of studying grammar, no expensive and complicated software, no “magic pill” to master a language while you sleep, you just need to speak it. Speak it regularly, speak it confidently, and speak it immediately. The more you speak, the quicker you will improve.
Even though this may be obvious, how you actually speak a language that you have just started to learn seems almost impossible to many people. So they’ll wait until they are “ready”. That wait may be years, or they may simply never even try.
But it’s not actually that hard! That’s what the Language Hacking Guide is about.
Rather than read through the guide to find out my one major ‘secret’, I can tell you right now. You need to speak the language from day one.
No years of studying grammar, no expensive and complicated software, no “magic pill” to master a language while you sleep, you just need to speak it. Speak it regularly, speak it confidently, and speak it immediately. The more you speak, the quicker you will improve.
Even though this may be obvious, how you actually speak a language that you have just started to learn seems almost impossible to many people. So they’ll wait until they are “ready”. That wait may be years, or they may simply never even try.
But it’s not actually that hard! That’s what the Language Hacking Guide is about.
129 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 3, 2010
21 people are currently reading
445 people want to read
About the author
Benny Lewis
18 books356 followersBenny Lewis is a digital nomad and founder of the largest language learning blog in the world, www.fluentin3months.com. He is a world traveller and after travelling non-stop for 21 years, on the road to this day with everything he owns travelling with him.
His internationally best-selling book Fluent in 3 Months, published by HarperCollins, discusses how adults can learn any language from anywhere at any age. He is a polyglot who speaks over a dozen languages (7 of which are at a fluent level or higher), though he could only speak English when he started his travels at age 21.
He has also published multiple language courses with John Murray learning.
As a result of his travels and his focus on integrating himself into local cultures through language, Benny was named National Geographic’s Traveler of the Year in 2013.
His internationally best-selling book Fluent in 3 Months, published by HarperCollins, discusses how adults can learn any language from anywhere at any age. He is a polyglot who speaks over a dozen languages (7 of which are at a fluent level or higher), though he could only speak English when he started his travels at age 21.
He has also published multiple language courses with John Murray learning.
As a result of his travels and his focus on integrating himself into local cultures through language, Benny was named National Geographic’s Traveler of the Year in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 9, 2012
Aptly summed in four words:
Speak from Day 1
Beyond that,
1. You need to know why you want to learn this language (I want to learn French because I love the language, for example, and because a lot of book exchange books are in French— these are long-term reasons. Benny talks about not only long-term, but short-term ones, like "Get from the airport to the hotel using only French," which help you get fluency fast)
2. Know that you will make mistakes. Accept it. Then go out and make them.
3. Know that it is okay to make weird signs and sounds while trying to communicate.
4. A few vocabulary tips (like visceralizing a word, using google to look words up, etc)
There's much more, but that's the gist of it. And the most important part is… immerse yourself in the language.
Speak from Day 1
Beyond that,
1. You need to know why you want to learn this language (I want to learn French because I love the language, for example, and because a lot of book exchange books are in French— these are long-term reasons. Benny talks about not only long-term, but short-term ones, like "Get from the airport to the hotel using only French," which help you get fluency fast)
2. Know that you will make mistakes. Accept it. Then go out and make them.
3. Know that it is okay to make weird signs and sounds while trying to communicate.
4. A few vocabulary tips (like visceralizing a word, using google to look words up, etc)
There's much more, but that's the gist of it. And the most important part is… immerse yourself in the language.
January 20, 2013
This isn't a book that will teach you how to speak a particular language. Rather, it's kind of like a pep-talk/motivator, to get you in the right mindset or set you on the path to successfully learning another language. Or several.
March 9, 2011
One of my many recent endeavours is to learn how to speak French fluently. This book is a must have for anyone that the serious intention of learning to speak another language. This is not just a book, but a guide. The book includes activity workbooks and interviews conducted by Benny Lewis with other language learners.
March 24, 2014
في هذا الكتاب قصة لشخص يتكلم 40 لغة حية مع انه لم يسافر لجميع البلدان المتحدة بهذه اللغات
تجارب رائعة لتعلم اللغات العالمية عن طريق الانترنت و الكتب الالكترونية و المحادثة عن بعد
تجارب رائعة لتعلم اللغات العالمية عن طريق الانترنت و الكتب الالكترونية و المحادثة عن بعد
September 2, 2015
Je ai trouvé le livre très agréable et il m'a aidé à améliorer mon processus d'apprentissage d'une langue étrangère;P
February 29, 2012
Interesting but nothing ground breaking.
October 4, 2012
Great book for people which are closed in themselves.Highly recommended for shy people.Easy tricks how to improve your foreign languages learning process.
April 2, 2014
طرح الكاتب افكارة لتعلم اكثر من لغة فى وقت قصير بأسلوب ممتع و سهل مخترقا حاجز الروتينية و الملل , اعتقد انه ادى بشكل جيد بناء على خبراتة فى تعلم اللغات وجارى العمل بها
August 28, 2014
useful and amazing book for learn any language
January 22, 2016
A great guide to a different approach to learning languages.
January 11, 2021
This book came with (and understandably goes hand-in-hand with) the Fluent in 3 Months Premium membership. Although I've seen many of those videos and heard these lessons countless times, it's nice to have a refresher even if I am taking the vast majority of this year off from language learning.
#SelfTaughtLanguages
#SelfTaughtLanguages
July 10, 2021
As a person who knows a few languages I must tell this book is for beginners only. He gave much more advice than I expected..>Of course Benny has right to be named a genius but if you need something more than thing you know , you must buy other book
December 26, 2012
The Language Hacking Guide is a great little book with lots of pro tips for aspiring language learners. The material has little to do with specific learning strategies, opting instead to focus on mental attitude training and behavioral exercises designed to help you plan, stay motivated and stay committed to your language learning plan. You might find a lot of it to be pretty much commonsense, but it's very easy to overlook how much of learning anything, including languages, is about attitude and preparation. In that sense, everything in here is a welcome reminder and a talisman to protect you from a descent into despair and depression when you screw up the first time you have to conjugate a verb in a live setting. Definitely worth a read to anybody interested in language learning.
July 9, 2011
Some ideas in this book were very interesting but other parts/ideas weren't so useful/interesting to me. I guess everyone needs to find out what works for them anyway. I love to read so reading is a good way for me to learn/improve my language skills.
As long as you can learn and enjoy yourself at the same time, you can't go wrong :-).
As long as you can learn and enjoy yourself at the same time, you can't go wrong :-).
October 21, 2016
ممتاز بيني لويس مشهور جدا يتحدث ١٠لغات وذكر تجربته بتيدكس وعنده مدونة
..هذا الكتاب أقدر انصح الطالبات أنهم يطلعون عليه
..هذا الكتاب أقدر انصح الطالبات أنهم يطلعون عليه
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews