I believe he has passed those exams in Spanish and French. He speaks these two languages very well, but as Steve said in the video, it’s obvious he didn’t do it in 3 months. Also I think his use of the European language levels to describe language ability is confusing people. I can bet that some natives couldn’t even pass the C2 exams either, they need to prepare for the exams in advance. I’ve looked at C1 exams from mock papers for my target languages, and I’d probably pass the reading and listening parts, and I’m far from fluent. But passing the exam, and actually using the language and speaking it are two very different things
“It’s possible he had spent last year studying Mandarin, but if he’s done so, he has hidden it very well.”
He has admitted to getting a copy of Michael Thomas “Total Mandarin” last year. Not that it will do him much good…
He also seems to have assembled some reasonable enough resources in his first morning. Sure none of them came with him on the plane?
@iaing: “…He would not be a smart businessman if he hasn’t spent a big chunk of last year learning this language.”
Yes. And let’s remember that Benny has been caught pulling this ‘pitcheroo’ before - with German.
He claimed to be starting in Berlin as a complete beginner, when in actual fact he had studied the language at school for 5 or 6 years and passed exams in it!
I wouldn’t have any problem with him if it weren’t for the fact that he makes money (seemingly enough to fund an exotic travelling lifestyle) by telling people that they can go from zero to expert level in any language in three months!
In my opinion it’s just plain wrong to make money based on untrue claims.
@IMY - I’ve been told that if I pass a French C1 exam, then I never have to prove my ability in French if I ever want to go work or study in France, ever. That’s a pretty good reason for me.
@wieworka - I REALLY doubt he has passed C2 exams in French or Spanish. Even if his comprehension is good enough (as is the case for many of us), he would have to be able to understand and demonstrate the subtleties, be spontaneous and fluent (in a reasonably broad range of topics), and be able to read and write with very few (if any) mistakes. THAT, is not easy.
Even if he had spent a year before hand studying, getting to C1 level in a language such as Chinese in 1yr 3 months is still very impressive. Doesn’t make it right to lie about it though, and I guess it’s something we will never know.
Steve,
I just watched your video. I don’t find it easy at all to build up Chinese vocabulary, because the sounds are so similar. To me the sounds of Chinese words have so little uniqueness. My girlfriend for example can never remember names of Chinese cities when I am on business trips and I think that goes back to the same fundamental problem, the tonal ambiguity of Chinese.
Why Benny thinks social conversations are somehow easier than functioning in your job is beyond me. I still find those situations the hardest when Chinese in a group, at dinner or so talk with it each other and I try to hang on and follow what they are saying.
Finally, I find Chinese so incredibly rich and deep (博大精深), more than any other language, incredibly rich in vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, extremely compacted and concise, yet full of subtlety and each little phrase brimming with shades of meaning.
Yes, he says he passed the C2 in Spanish:
He also passed the B2 in French (which was apparently much too easy for him): Taking CEFRL tests for quality European language certificates with no classes » Fluent in 3 Months
He said in one blog that he was in Spain at the time for months when he took the exam. His Spanish is pretty good now, so I believe it could have been even better when he was living there.
I’m very interested in this Mandarin mission of his, I hope he does really well. I’m especially interested in how well he does with the characters.
Hi Friedemann!
Nice to see you back - it sure seems like a long time since you last posted at the forum! 
I dont believe in that!
The only thing that really annoys me is that he and presumably many other people misunderstand what C1 level is all about.
To quote from CEFR, person who is on C1 level “can express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions; they can use language flexibly and effectively for social and professional purposes; they can formulate ideas and opinions with precision and relate my contribution skilfully to those of other speakers”.
Compare with B1 level - the person on this level “can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. I can enter unprepared into conversation on topics that are familiar, of personal interest or pertinent to everyday life (e.g. family, hobbies, work, travel and current events)”. There is an enormous difference between these two levels - at least a few months (if not years) of studying.
I believe that Benny, by his “social fluency”, really means level B1. If he achieves that, I will still be impressed. However, talking about reaching C1 in 3 moths is pure nonsense and everyone who worked with their languages professionally knows that. But the only people he needs to convince are his potential customers…
BTW
I see from the comments box of Benny’s youtube video that he is aware of Steve’s latest video. Unsurprisingly he doesn’t even try to rebutt what Steve said - instead he just calls him “an a**hole”!
How very intelligent…
I’m pretty sure Benny knows what the C1 level is, as he’s taken at least 3 tests that measure CEFR levels. Why he would say he can get to that level in Chinese in 3 months I’m not sure, but he does know what it means. I agree that what he is describing is the B1 level.
@ Peter
You think that someone could pass a C1 or C2 exam without having that level?
@aybee77: “…You think that someone could pass a C1 or C2 exam without having that level?”
The main issue here is whether you can do it in three months, having started as a complete beginner.
It’s possible Benny genuinely has a C2 diploma in Spanish. But personally I would want to see hard documentary proof of this, because his Spanish seems to be somewhat lower than C2…
Put it this way, if he pulls this off, then he will be the most talented language learner (polyglot) of our generation.
@wiewiorka: “Put it this way, if he pulls this off, then he will be the most talented language learner (polyglot) of our generation.”
He’s taken on some (arguably more) difficult languages before in his three month missions. He would have already been declared “the most talented polyglot of our generation” by now, I would think.
I expect this mission will play out like his other three month missions.
R.
He’s taken on some (arguably more) difficult languages before in his three month missions.
Ahaa! Including his “three months” of German preceded by five years of “not counted” learning (a university-course) and even after those 5+“three month” followed by no certificate attained and a pronunciation making think that he needs another five years)
eugrus: "Ahaa! Including his “three months” of German… "
I’m not counting German. He admits to studying German before, whether he believes it helped him or not.
I was thinking of his Thai, Hungarian and Turkish (albeit 2 month) missions. The FSI ranks both those at less than Mandarin in difficulty.
R.
@angela - The impression I have is that there is a big gap between C1 and C2. I find it very hard to believe that he has passed C2 exams in Spanish or French. I could be wrong, and I could have completely misunderstood what a C2 exam is like. My understanding is that you need to have a similar level to that of an educated native. It would be interesting to hear from anyone who has passed a C2 exam.
Let’s look again at what we are talking about here.
‘C1 Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.’
‘C2 Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations.’
I do not believe that it is possible to achieve this level in a number of different languages. It requires a concentrated effort in one language. Benny probably passed the test, as he claims he did, for Spanish. I agree with Peter, however, that this does not mean that he masters the language at this level. Just living in Spain and speaking Spanish with people, and using his “language hacks” would not enable him or anyone else to achieve the level described in the paragraph above, not even C1.
To suggest that he could attain the level described as C1 above in 3 months of study is just silly. C1 and all the more so, C2 require massive amounts of reading and experience with the language in a variety of contexts, in order to acquire the vocabulary and sense of the language an educated and well-read native has. That way of learning, by his own admission, is not Benny’s style. There are no shortcuts.
You have to remember that exams are just exams… they don’t hang out with you for a week to check out how you manage and they don’t peer into your brain to determine how well you really understand things. As for the fact that you’re supposed to understand the subtlelties of the language, I also suspect that they don’t tell you jokes then pass or fail you on how much you laugh. It’s just an exam, albeit, no doubt, an extremely difficult one.
I’ve done the Esperanto exam at C1 level and I must say it’s not all that difficult. Yes, I know, Esperanto is really easy, but they don’t demand all that much from you. In other words, I suspect that the description of C2 is much more demanding than the actual exam. Again, I’m not saying the exam is easy. My point though is that there are some saying Benny couldn’t have passed the exam because they don’t think his Spanish matches the description of C2 as per the definition. This is the nature of exams, they don’t necessarily do a good job of testing what they’re supposed to test. (I’m not having a go at Benny here, I’m just saying you can’t accuse Benny of not having passed the exam on the basis of how you perceive the quality of his Spanish.)
The other thing is that these tests are all done within the target language itself. You do an essay and you just use words you know, you read a passage and you understand it despite not really knowing exactly what every word means. I suspect a more rigorous exam would be translations from the person’s mother tongue. That would really indicate which words the person being examined does and doesn’t know. But that would require hundreds of different exam papers so that’s not how it’s done.