Benny Lewis and Shannon Kennedy chat with musician and translator Jeremy Bardo about his experience going viral with a Spanish language music video. We also discuss the myth of the language gene and finding joy in embarrassing moments.

Featured Resources

• Speak from Day 1
• Language Hacking Spanish

Mentioned in this Episode

• Speak from Day 1
• Language Hacking Spanish
• Memrise
• Stop Making Excuses
• Jeremy Bardo’s Youtube
• Las Flores Se Abrirán
• Jeremy’s Website

Episode Overview

Some of the topics brought up during the interview are:

• The myth of the “language gene”
• Overcoming perfectionism by finding joy in embarrassing moments
• Finding balance in your language studies
• The power of technology in language learning
• Cognates and how they can help you
• Using a Spanish phrase book as a conversation starter
• How learning languages helps you become a more compassionate language teacher
• Important qualities language teachers should have
• Identifying when an error is important and deserves feedback with your students
• Using your interests to learn languages
• Recording music and going viral in your non-native language
• Finding a foothold in a new language with just a few words

Podcast theme: “A New Beginning” by Shannon Kennedy