#15 The Power of Friendship in Language Acquisition with Debs Bensaul

This episode features Deb Bensauls, an enthusiastic language
learner who learned conversational French AND Italian in just 90
days with the Fluent in 3 Months Challenge.


We 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.


Debs shares about travelling on her own using her French skills,
using the language at work to create a better experience for her
clients. She also discusses the power of friendship in language
learning, and how being in a learning community changed her
approach to French and gave her the confidence to learn Italian.


Featured Resources


Fluent in 3 Months Challenge

The Courage to Speak



Mentioned in this Episode


Duolingo

Fluent in 3 Months, the book

Fluent in 3 Months Challenge

The Courage to Speak

Drops



Episode Overview


Some of the topics brought up during the interview are:


The power of learning a language with friends and community.

Why being the quiet one in the back makes the language
classroom ineffective.

How to build confidence in your languages and speaking.

How the online language community helped Debs become the
polyglot she was always meant to be.

Why it’s important to share both the ups and downs of
language learning.

The dangers of comparison and how to overcome them.

Strategies for overcoming overwhelm when it comes to learning
resources.

How learning your second language is different than your
first.

How Debs has been able to use her language skills at work in
the medical field.

What happens when a giant spider interrupts your language
exchange.

Debs favorite language learning rituals including mindmaps
and sticky notes.



Podcast theme: “A New Beginning” by Shannon Kennedy


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