#76 Ben Phillips on How to Live and Study Abroad for Free

19-year-old student, Ben Phillips, talks to Benny Lewis and
Elizabeth Bruckner about his experience of doing a highschool
German exchange programme, and how he stayed focussed and
motivated enough to reach C1 level after just a year.


Ben explains how, after unsuccessfully dabbling in Japanese,
Greek and Mandarin, he was able to excel at German in such a
short period of time, how and why reading is so integral to his
learning, and the ways he has been able to travel and live abroad
more or less for free.


Featured Resources


Anki

italki

LingQ



Mentioned in this Episode


Ben’s article on the Fluent in 3 Months blog

Anki

italki

LingQ

Memrise

Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX)

Workaway

Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)



Episode Overview


Some of the topics brought up during the interview are:


High school language exchanges and language camp with the
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange

Attending a German school and the joy of finally being able
to participate in a class discussion

Taking and passing the C1 test in German after only a year of
learning

How to make the most of opportunities to learn a language
while living abroad

The importance of keeping your goal in mind

How speaking with people and learning about a culture in your
target language is its own reward

Overcoming the temptation to slip back into English while
living abroad

How to set monthly goals and why they’re useful

How to find time to study and still do the things you enjoy
in your free time

Tracking your accomplishments, like finishing a book in your
target language

Reading as a key part of your language practice - novels,
Twitter, and using LingQ

Finding motivation to study when you don’t have the pressure
of being in the country

Scholarships and work exchanges as ways to travel and have
enriching experiences abroad for free



Podcast theme: “A New Beginning” by Shannon Kennedy


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