Fluent
in 3 Months

How Anyone at Any Age

Can Learn to Speak Any Language
from Anywhere in the World

Benny Lewis

FluentIn3Months_10p.indd 1 12/30/13 1:26 PM

 Copyright

fluent in 3 months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere
in the World. Copyright © 2014 by Brendan Richard Lewis. All rights reserved. Printed in the
United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews. For information, address Harper­C ollins Publishers, 10 East
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first edition

Designed by Terry McGrath

Library of Congress Cataloging-­i n-­P ublication Data

Lewis, Benny (Brendan Richard)
Fluent in 3 months : how anyone at any age can learn to speak any language from
anywhere in the world / Benny Lewis. — First Edition.
pages cm
isbn 978–­0 –­06–­228269–­9
1. Language and languages—Study and teaching. 2. Language and languages—Self-­
instruction. I. Title. II. Title: Fluent in three months.
P53.77.L49 2014
418.0071—­dc23
2013034559

14 15 16 17 18 rrd(h) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Contents

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S   vii

I nt r od u ction
My Story, Your Passion  1
Your story, like mine, begins and ends with passion—­
the surest path to learning a new language.

C h a p te r 1
Destroying Twenty Common Language Learning Myths  15
Stop making excuses. There’s simply no reason you
“can’t” learn a new language, and I’ll tell you why.

C h a p te r 2
Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It  49
Do away with vague daydreams, such as “learn Spanish,” by setting
specific end goals within specific time frames and incorporating
new language learning techniques to achieve concrete results.

C h a p te r 3
How to Learn Thousands of Words Quickly  67
If you don’t have the memory of a supercomputer, don’t worry.
This chapter explains why we forget things and teaches a much
more efficient—­a nd fun—­way to remember foreign words.

C h a p te r 4
Immersion Without Buying a Plane Ticket  87
You don’t need to be in a foreign country to learn the language.
You can do it from the comfort of your home or local community.

iii

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 C h a p te r 5
Speaking from Day One  107
Start speaking a new language right away with easy-­to-­follow
“cheats” for when you don’t know the words you want to say.

C h a p te r 6
Tips for Starting Specific Languages  137
Learning a specific language is easier than you think.
Here I tell you why.

C h a p te r 7
From Fluency to Mastery  177
Strive toward fluency and beyond by coming back to the academic
aspects better suited to this part of the language learning process.

C h a p te r 8
How to Get Mistaken for a Native Speaker  199
It’s time to go beyond fluency by adapting to the local
culture, until a stranger mistakes you for a native!

C h a p te r 9
Hyperpolyglot: When One Is Just Not Enough  217
Take language learning to the next level. Speak
multiple languages without mixing them up or
forgetting the one(s) you’ve already mastered.

C h a p te r 1 0
Free and Cheap Language Learning 2.0  233
Study a new language beyond spoken practice sessions
with invaluable—­a nd mostly free—­resources.

Conclusion  247

a b o u t t h e a u t h o r   249

iv

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