@summer I’m back here on these forums aren’t I? That’s a clear sign that I seem to enjoy punishment!
Here is what Benny claims in his own words.
"Most people take years to learn just the basics of a language because they do it so wrong, so of course a claim of “3 months” would sound arrogant to them.
(My blog) is called “Fluent in 3 months” because I move to a new country, usually for about 3 months and I tend to aim to speak the local language fluently. The name of the blog is from my objectives in both travel and language learning. This blog documents my own language learning journeys and shares the ideas that make it all possible. The title of the blog is an objective not a promise of a magic solution for all.
Three months is not some magic number, it just happens to be the time I like to spend in a country, so whatever I do, I have to reach whatever my target is by approximately this time."
So the target or goal is fluency, and Benny does whatever is necessary to reach that goal, i.e. fluency. Most people are wrong and can’t learn, but Benny knows how to do it, and achieves this goal.
And here is his definition of fluency.
"Fluency is being able to do everything in my life that I would in English through the language. Simple as that. "
So the question many people like to ask is, in which languages, and during which 3 month stays in which places, did Benny reach fluency, as defined above, in three months, starting from scratch, just by talking to people, after a brief review of phrase books on the flight over?
@ Steve
@ Benny
“I think that the pleasure of speaking and reading other languages will always be there, at least for some people”
You both have the same perspective.
You are both saying the same things.
You both believe in having fun learning a language.
You are both saying that fluency don’t mean being 100% perfect all the time.
I’m sure I could find citations where you both express exactly the same idea, again and again.
You could have a unified voice…
…that fluency doesn’t mean being 100% perfect all the time.
@Centigua
There are undoubtedly many areas where we agree. I have regularly pointed out that Benny is an accomplished language learner and that his promotional activities help to promote language learning.
We are certainly not, however, saying the same things on a number of issues related to language learning, in particular the importance of input. This is not unusual.There are usually areas of disagreement amongst people on subjects that they share an interest in.
I am happy to continue disagreeing on the relative merits of input based activities versus output based activities, and see no harm in such disagreements.
Where we come apart is in Benny’s claims about himself and others, and his dismissive discussion style which usually elicits a corresponding response from others, like me.
People in this forum are excellent at digging out quotes 
So here’s a challenge to you all! Please dig out the quote where I say I have reached fluency in 3 months? I started with the idea of a great definitely achievable objective when I started the blog. Here’s a list of what I’ve done since:
- Actually did aim for fluency in Czech in 3 months. Reached a pretty good level after 2 months, but got into debt and had to work double time without leaving the house for my last month. Not a success, but a good start.
- Aimed to speak Portuguese with a carioca accent in 3 months. Succeeded when focused, but without maintenance or constant exposure to Brazilians am back to fluency.
- Aimed to sit the C2 exam in… yes, you guessed it 3 months!
So far there’s a pretty consistent pattern of 3 months here. Did I aim for fluency each time? Nope. Not going to re-register my domain name for every mission. - Conversational Hungarian in 2 months. Succeeded.
- Speaking all my languages while in Colombia. No time line. Succeeded.
- Tagalog; wanted conversational, but got less than that. Can’t win 'em all!
- American Sign Language: wanted basics in one month, but got MORE than that. Am now basic conversational and will be back to improve on it later this year.
- Fluent Dutch in 2 months: current mission.
I also had a Thai mission to read and speak basic Thai during my stay. I was successful in this, but once again financial problems meant that I couldn’t do as much as I would have hoped.
That’s what I’ve been doing since the start of the blog. I don’t have any magic formula for fluency in 3 months Steve, and I’ve never claimed to have done this. If I have to repeat this for the 37th time in these forums I do believe my head will explode.
The problem is when I do reach fluency in 3 months when starting from scratch in a non-related language (which I will be aiming for later), this won’t end the abuse. If I’m successful in reaching fluency in 2 months in Dutch nothing will change.
I also see no problem in disagreements and discussing methods. But most mentions of me in this forum are character attacks based on misinformation and have little to do with my language learning advice. You all make claims about the claims I make. I’d love to see a discussion about one of my proposals (and reading my blog you’ll find a lot) with no venom attached, even if they are entirely disagreeing. That’s a discussion I’d actively participate in. But attacking me personally as misleading people and using misleading evidence when you do that is hypocrisy, and that’s why I’ll probably end up disappearing from contributing to these forums and letting the echo chambers just sound out.
Benny, why am I blocked from your blog?
Benny.
Popište mi prosím vámi zmiňovanou úroveň 2. Velice mě to zajímá. Podle jaké stupnice určujete úrovně dovednosti v českém jazyce? Byl by jste schopen mluvit o nějakém tématu 5 až 10 minut česky? Za odpověď předem děkuji.
Benny, I think you’re forgetting Steve’s philosophy. Everyone can do what they like, except you. You disagree, are a clown and because you’re trying to sell something which you cannt make a recurring payment towards like LingQ, you are therefore also a conman. Hopefully, I’ve summed up everything 
“There are undoubtedly many areas where we agree.”
Exactly!
Fundamentally you both agree. 
You both agree on:
(1) Reading, be it through LingQs, phrase books on the plane or whatever.
(2) Listening, be it through simultaneously reading LingQs, an iPod while doing the kitchen chores, or a native speaker in the country you are visiting
(3) Communication, be it with native speakers in the country you are visiting or through Skype conversations
(4) Both of you think that grammar is not the bee-all and end-all.
@Steve That’s explained in detail here: LingQ Review: Is This Language Learning Tool Helpful? (Honest Review!)
I’ll happily lift the block if you were to stay on topic in future posts and argue what I discuss in the post, even if you disagree with it entirely, rather than arguing against my entire site like bringing up things like my “promise” of fluent in 3 months that we’ve discussed to death and challenging missions that were months old. You brought up your scepticism about my carioca accent in the comments; what did that have to do with a review of LingQ? It’s just inviting what you would call an “interesting discussion” and what I would call totally irrelevant to the topic at hand.
In my LingQ post, many of your many comments were not about my review of LingQ, or even LingQ in general. It was aggressive and took focus away from an important discussion.
You actually said in the link I’ve given that it’s not a problem if I block you, so I did. If you request that I lift the block I will. If you stay on topic in future I will have no reason to ever ban you again.
Good grief! Haven’t you guys fixed that link problem in these forums yet??
Here is the working LingQ-proof link: LingQ Review: Is This Language Learning Tool Helpful? (Honest Review!)
Tak co Benny? Umíte vůbec apoň něco česky? Začínám pochybovat.
Makacenko: těžko ptal jsem se ho jednou na jeho foru a napsal, že se češtinu kdysi učil, ale už zapomněl …těžko by rozuměl něčemu :)…tak je jasný, že tyhle věci si může hodit do translatoru a přeložit…to si člověk může přeložit jakýkoliv jazyk …a nemusí o něm vědět absolutně nic
Makacenko: těžko ptal jsem se ho jednou na jeho foru a napsal, že se češtinu kdysi učil, ale už zapomněl …těžko by rozuměl něčemu :)…tak je jasný, že tyhle věci si může hodit do translatoru a přeložit…to si člověk může přeložit jakýkoliv jazyk …a nemusí o něm vědět absolutně nic
sakra, se to poslalo dvakrát škoda, že tu není tlačítko na mazání zpráv nebo alespoň ošetření kódu proti psaní více zpráv :)…to se mi nestalo poprvé
James123
Steve disagrees with many on this forum on many points, including me. Why does his disagreement with Benny have some special status for you? Especially since you have hung Benny out to dry a few times here yourself.
@idragon Personally I hope you stick around and participate in the forums. I read your blog, am on your email list and follow you on twitter and watch your videos in the same, hopefully openminded, way that I do for many other keen language learners. You have a very different take on language learning and I think that’s interesting.
I like people that are passionate about language learning and isn’t that something that everyone here has in common?
Dooo, I hope you still hate me too…
Jardo díkes za info.