Language & Travel Hacking

Elizabeth Bruckner failed ten times to learn French. It wasn’t until she began exploring the online language community that she finally learned French... in her 40s. She’s since gone on to successfully learn German and Spanish and is now one of the coaches of the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge.

In this episode, we chat with Elizabeth about her experiences learning a language in her 40s, the brain and language learning, how to overcome our inner gremlins and Elizabeth gives you a taste of what it’s like to get coached in the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge.

We actually guarantee that anyone who completes the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge will have a 15-minute conversation in their new language after 90 days of learning. You can find out more here.

Featured Resources

• Speak in a Week
• Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
• italki

Mentioned in this Episode

• Elizabeth’s failed attempts at learning languages
• Benny’s Rosetta Stone review
• Speak in a Week
• Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
• italki
• Assimil
• Anki
• Michel Thomas
• Goldlist Method
• Elizabeth’s Instagram
• Elizabeth’s acupuncture practice

Episode Overview

Some of the topics brought up during the interview are:

• Learning languages later in life
• Finding the desire to learn languages
• Using neuroscience to help with learning
• How to stop making emotional excuses and finally learn a language
• The biggest language learning gremlins to overcome
• The importance of community in language learning
• Creating systems and paths to push you towards your language learning
• An inside look at coaching in the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
• Advice for the most common stumbling blocks for language learners
• Finding language giants
• Why there’s no one path to learning a language

Podcast theme: “A New Beginning” by Shannon Kennedy

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How much does living in different countries shape your personality and influence your personal development?

In an episode packed with cultural exploration anecdotes, writer, translator, and educator Kelsey Lechner shares her experience with learning six vastly different languages, keeping her career tightly related to languages in unexpected ways, and adapting to new cultures while living in countries like Tanzania, Japan, and Bangladesh.

Kelsey also shares her flexible language learning strategy pointers, which she developed while learning Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Swahili, and Bengali. She and Benny discuss how social acceptance works when trying to adjust to new cultures, how to take missteps in cross-cultural communication in stride, and how to deal with culture shocks.

(Psss... Wait until minute 28 for a funny anecdote about how mixing up Bangladesh and Spanish led Kelsey to hit up on someone without meaning to!)

Mentioned in this Episode

• Anki
• Kelsey’s posts on Fluent in 3 Months

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Podcast theme: “A New Beginning” by Shannon Kennedy

Language coach and French teacher, Carine Lemaire, shares about her experience growing up trilingual, being a language learner with ADHD, watching 300 hours of TV, and the pitfalls of language apps.

Carine’s approach to teaching is very student-led, and she has a great understanding of how important it is to learn in a way that suits you and your personality. She talks about how her ADHD impacts her study routine, and ways to manage “type A” students’ expectations.

Featured Resources

• italki
• LingQ

Mentioned in this Episode

• Carine’s website
• French Chatter podcast
• Carine’s italki profile

Episode Overview

Some of the topics brought up during the interview are:

• Growing up trilingual (French, Italian and Swahili), and losing a language when you stop practising it
• David Bowie and other British music as a motivation to learn English
• Pros and cons of teaching groups and one-to-one
• How to solve language learning “emergencies”
• Watching 300 hours of TV to improve listening skills
• The importance of trust between teacher and student
• How to learn languages as a “type A” person
• Benny’s daily language learning routine (or lack thereof)
• Working with, and around, ADHD
• The pitfalls of gamified learning apps
• Becoming a writer in a non-native language, and learning by making mistakes
• Differences between French in France and Belgium
• Carine’s French Chatter podcast, and learning from intermediate French speakers
• Persistence, variety, and being fearless in your language practise

Podcast theme: “A New Beginning” by Shannon Kennedy

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Enjoy the podcast? Subscribe to our Patreon to get access to bonus content and monthly exclusives.

Jonathan Huggins first discovered his love for learning languages when he started diving into his father’s language learning library. That passion brought him to France to study music and continues to be a part of his life as he teaches English online while living abroad and raising his kids to speak multiple languages.

In this episode, we chat with Jonathan about why classroom learning worked for him, how to learn languages in the age of distraction, and how to create sustainable language routines.

Featured Resources

• Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
• 30 Day Speaking Challenge

Mentioned in this Episode

• French in Action
• Pimsleur
• Toefl
• Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
• 30 Day Speaking Challenge
• Jonathan’s site
• Jonathan’s Instagram
• Jonathan’s YouTube
• Jonathan’s Facebook

Episode Overview

Some of the topics brought up during the interview are:

• How he excelled at classroom learning
• Learning in the age of distraction
• Sticking to one method and system
• Raising multilingual children
• Studying music abroad and in another language
• Creating sustainable language routines
• Recommendations for the first few months of language learning
• Common misconceptions and stereotypes about language learning
• Parallels between learning languages and learning music
• Using Instagram and social media to learn languages

Podcast theme: “A New Beginning” by Shannon Kennedy

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Enjoy the podcast? Subscribe to our Patreon to get access to bonus content and monthly exclusives.

Benny shares his advice about how to prepare for a 1-1 language lesson, and his method for note taking before, during, and after lessons.

To ask Benny a question, please email [email protected]

Join Our Patreon

Enjoy the podcast? Subscribe to our Patreon to get access to bonus content and monthly exclusives.