Here is a very brief summary of the video.
00:20 Start off by introducing yourself.
(He studied electronic engineering. Has been travelling for 8 years. Started his blog 1.5 years ago with a language focus. Every three months or so travels to a new country to learn the language.)
1:45 Why three months?
(It is not a magic number. It depends on the person. Three months is good for him.)
2:01 What is your job?
(He has had over 40 jobs in the last 8 years. Three years ago he decided to get more direction in his career and combined language learning with engineering to start technical translation work. He wrote his language hacking guide in May and it is now enough to cover all of his expenses.)
4:28 What kind of advice do you give in your guide?
(You have to speak the language from day one. Waiting until you are ready is a feedback loop of never being ready. You are never going to be 100% ready.)
5:19 You are a very outgoing person. That must have a big influence on your ability to learn languages.
(He was very shy when he started travelling. He forced himself to become an extrovert. A language is a social means. It is a way to communicate with people. It is something anyone can learn.)
7:00 Is your language guide giving you a full-time income now?
(Yes, he is still selling 1 or 2 a day even after the initial burst.)
7:40 Can you give us an idea of your travel expenses?
(Less than 1,000 euros -$US1400. Speaking the local language and knowing some tricks of the trade can help you get very good rental rates.)
8:25 Is 1000 euros enough in more expensive countries like Spain or Italy?
(If you are living in a capital city in the center, you definitely can’t get by on 1,000 euros. If you stay for three months, are charming enough to get a good price and do it in the local language you can haggle the prices down much better.)
9:34 Can you give us some advice on how to be successful online?
(He likes to be as social as possible. He replies to every single comment on his blog. He writes separate status updates on Facebook. He engages with people; he likes it to be a two-way conversation.
11:28 How important is meeting people in person to being successful online?
(It has been very important this year. Meeting people face to face makes them much more likely to help you.)
12:18 Any plans to settle down?
(He is currently enjoying his lifestyle but probably won’t keep it up for the very long term but he is only planning for the next three months.)
13:19 If you had to choose one country to live, do you have a favorite now?
(Absolutely Brazil. The people are the friendliest in the world and they have genuine happiness and warmth.)
Links
Fluentin3Months.com
Fluentin3Months on Facebook
Follow Benny Lewis on Twitter
I just met Benny for the first time last night in Medellin — the world should know he’s also an amazing dancer. Glad he’s sticking around town for awhile!
Hi Dave! Thanks for the comment.
I can definitely imagine Benny as a great dancer. He is a very fun person to be around.
Nice video interview! Feel inspired to also start doing those, right now I just do personal video updates on my own site (cool to update the folks back home). But one thing that I learned is that sound is very, VERY, important for video. The sound of your interview is a bit soft and dull. Maybe crank it up a bit in iMovie or invest in a small microphone.
i’ve come across Benny a few times now and it’s great to see an actual interview with him. Very impressive dude indeed
that’s nice video interview, I new dropping here, thanks
Thanks Martijn,
Sorry about the sound. We were using a small camera without a mic plug. I did record it with a better microphone but syncing the audio to the video with all the editing I did would have been a nightmare.
I didn’t bring my real video camera on this trip, but I will get it this Christmas.
Thanks for the comment Johnny.
Benny is definitely making a name for himself. His intense language focus everywhere he goes is brilliant from a blogging perspective and very inspiring .
Hey Hans,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Now you are on my radar. 🙂
Hello,
I like this Benny fellow. I read some revealing comments in his article, “17 Cultural Reasons Why This European Never Wants to Live in America.” I realize that Americans (I’m one) are more transparent than many of us would care to believe. I think that article drew almost 2,000 comments. That, in itself, tells me a lot. Nearly 2,000 people came face-to-face with a cultural mirror. Many will ask, “Do I like what I see?”
Hi Dianne,
Benny is a great guy. He’s definitely built a massive following.
Americans take most of the criticism because of their success in the global economy, however I think that Canada and the UK are in similar situations.
John,
Thanks for showing up, even though my comment came a year or so later. Yes, globalization has its ‘high profile’ players, doesn’t it? I’m not sure how I stumbled across the article that Benny wrote; but, in some perverse way, I like to know what non-Americans think of Americans.