iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 06/10/2025

After completing my all-contiguous-states adventure, I'm heading to #AustinTexas for the next 6 weeks to catch up with friends and practise my ASL with the sizeable Deaf community there!

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 06/10/2025

So glad to have ticked off a major bucket-list item of visiting every single contiguous American state! It was a very long project, since every few years, I'd do another road trip to add around 6-10 more. It's been a great adventure!

100

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 01/09/2025

Just moved to #MadisonWI for a month. Let's see what living in Midwest US is like for a Eurotrash like me 😋

100

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 12/07/2025

Back in the US 🇺🇸 for a few months. I'll be working on my ASL🤟 and doing what may be my last ever big road trip here, so I can have visited all 48 contiguous states!

110

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 11/06/2025

"I'm 100% certain that that word is either 'elephant', or 'salary'... or 'marijuana'" - me when trying to recall Indonesian vocabulary

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 26/05/2025

All notification sounds on my phone are often from whatever TV show I'm currently watching. Right now it's Doctor Who, so the TARDIS landing, using a sonic screwdriver, dugga doo, bingle bongle dingle dangel, exterminate etc. are individual notifications for apps or specific people messaging me.

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 22/05/2025

Last year I was in the Amazon rainforest & next week I'll be in the Borneo rainforest 🌳🌧️🦧. Rather than quick in-and-out trips, they're part of huge explorations of respective countries (all states of Brazil + 6 months through the Indonesian archipelago) while speaking to locals in their language.

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 02/05/2025

This weekend say goodbye to 2 language learning tools: 1. Duolingo, since they are switching their language courses entirely to AI-generated slop. I already wasn't a fan of their app, but now I'll actively advise against using it. Language learning is too human an activity to replace with *pure* AI.

110

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 26/04/2025

Starbucks; where I have a thousand names across the world. Here, in Indonesia, Benny➡️pen. Mr. 🖋️ is actually a great name for a writer though 🤔

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 16/04/2025

If you think German's "hand shoe" for gloves was crazy, wait until you hear about Indonesian's "foot t-shirt" for socks! 🧤=✋👞 🧦=🦶👕 #languagelearning

090

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 05/04/2025

So far, I'm loving Java! Everyone is so friendly and very patient with my Indonesian! Here is a quick sample of a bunch of places I've visited in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. One thing that's different to other places I've been is that I'm addressed as "Mister" a lot. Not "Mr. Lewis"😊

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 06/03/2025

Another way I'm using AI with my language learning; using AI generated images to help me with mnemonics. "Wortel" (carrot) is a hotel made of carrots in the middle of a war

120

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 06/02/2025

I got a couple of requests, so here's the example prompt I use with AI for mnemonics. After the first prompt, I simply write "Now X for Y" (X is target language word and Y is translation). The result then gives me 3 word association examples, in languages I speak.

110

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 05/02/2025

I slipped and sprained my ankle a week ago and am now finally feeling closer to normal again (attempting a dance class tomorrow). If it had to happen, I'm so glad this happened during a sedentary study week!

100

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 28/01/2025

𝘖, 𝘣𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘢 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘪! (Oh, you speak fluent Indonesian!) It seems like I'm going to be hearing that a lot. Indonesians are extraordinarily generous with their compliments, especially to someone who is definitely just barely beginning (10 days in, so far) 😂

050

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 27/01/2025

Learning Indonesian, and discovering that Timur is East, which means... Timor-Leste / East Timor, means "𝙀𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩" (even though the u changes to an o, it's still the word origin). The Indonesian western part of the island is West-Timor (Timor Barat), or West-East.

130

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 23/01/2025

A week or so into my stay in Bali, and I've settled in and gotten into my routine! Eating healthy, exercising often, and studying Indonesian during the day most days. It's just one of those places in the world I know I can buckle down and focus, while also living healthily!

030

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 20/01/2025

I'm the only one in this co-working space using books and paper instead of a laptop (studying Indonesian). I've gone full circle and have become... an analogue nomad 😂

050

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 16/01/2025

Day 1 learning #bahasaindonesia - so pleasantly surprised by everything! This may well turn out to be the easiest language I've ever learned (after Esperanto). I've booked sessions with teachers every day next week, so I'm cramming what I can to Monday then will speak every day for the next months.

130

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 15/01/2025

Hello from Indonesia 🇮🇩; my home for the most of the first half of 2025! I'm in Canggu/Bali first, which is very busy but has lots of creature comforts. This is so that I can buckle down and do two things exclusively for the next 2 months; study Indonesian and write a large chunk of my next book!

090

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 13/01/2025

I've never drunk alcohol throughout my entire life, so technically yes, I am participating in dry January

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 10/01/2025

My first days of 2025 were in Luxembourg, my 48th country visited! Amazingly, all public transport throughout the entire country (not just the city); all buses, trains, trams etc. are completely 100% free! I've definitely never seen that before!!

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 07/01/2025

I've had the worst cough since I arrived in Bangkok. It didn't feel like the virus kind of cough, so I looked into it and I've found the culprit. Red-level air quality alert here. My small-town lungs weren't built for a place like this because of its #airpollution

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 07/01/2025

I'm jetlagged & just arrived in Thailand without basic Thai refreshed, so I spoke English in the hotel restaurant at breakfast and asked for honey🍯. The waiter confusedly blushed and I'm pretty sure he thought I was calling HIM honey and flirting. Nice miscommunication to kick the year off! 😆

130

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 05/01/2025

Fun couple of weeks back in the EU! Now I'm off to Thailand 🇹🇭 and Indonesia 🇮🇩 for a while ✈️

110

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 03/01/2025

In this brief trip back to Europe, I got to experience those new infuriating plastic bottle-caps that you can't take off. Can't say I'll miss them or see the point, since I'd always dispose of them with the bottle anyway. Did people casually throw them on the ground before 2024?

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 01/01/2025

And now a happy new year to everyone in... 🇨🇮! That's right, it's just past midnight in... the Ivory Coast! Vive la Côte d'Ivoire !! Oh hold on... [checks notes... turns flag 180 degrees] ALSO, Happy New Year to Ireland 🇮🇪!

010

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 31/12/2024

Where Luxembourg🇱🇺, Germany🇩🇪and France🇫🇷 meet, you have a village whose name you may have heard of, where an agreement was signed that led to the creation of the 𝕊𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕟 𝕫𝕠𝕟𝕖!⁠ In a few hours the #schengenarea is expanding to include Romania and Bulgaria! This is my THIRD triple-border of the year!

010

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 26/12/2024

In a show of true sibling maddening behaviour, I specifically chose socks today that had L and R printed on them, and intentionally wore them on the wrong feet, just to drive my OCD sister crazy.

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 25/12/2024

Even though I'm not religious, I wouldn't miss going home to spend this day with family as a break from my constant nomading around the world, for anything! Only a global pandemic has kept me away over the last 21 years!

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 21/12/2024

Ah yes, the winter solstice. What a great day to have woken up at 4AM thanks to jetlag!

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 18/12/2024

My last day in Rio. When the café on my street sees me coming, they already start preparing my double espresso without me even saying it now 😭. The life of a nomad is exciting and varied, but I do miss being a regular at places!

120

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 16/12/2024

Ireland: I'll be on Newstalk radio shortly after 2:30pm today. There was an article in the Irish Times saying Irish people struggle with languages they want to discuss, so it's time for me to swoop in and save the day with some encouragement! 💪😁

100

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 15/12/2024

Apparently, Einstein's last words were in German to a nurse who only spoke English and may never be known. As such, I've decided that my last words will be in Irish/Gaeilge if outside of Ireland, and similar decades of mystery can follow about what wisdom was missed.

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 14/12/2024

Another map; this time of all my 2024 travels! I visited 7 countries in South America, travelling 29,000km mainly by land and river; bus from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and by boat the entire length of the Amazon River. And I concluded visiting every state of Brazil. Not bad at all!

021

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 13/12/2024

What are #langsky 's favourite resources for learning #Indonesian ? I'm going to be giving it 2 intensive months in the New Year to attempt to get to B1 conversational before travelling deep through Java, Sumatra, Borneo etc. Obviously, my main resource will be spoken lessons with a human teacher.

680

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 13/12/2024

Despite me clicking "show me less like this" over a dozen times, Bluesky's algorithm seems to think I am obsessed with... crows🐦‍⬛. This is the first time I've ever used the word online in my life & I definitely didn't like a crow-related post. So confused!! Why are crows taking over my feed?! 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

310

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 11/12/2024

My 2025 language and travel project will be... Indonesia(n)! 🇮🇩 After 2 months of study in Bali, I'm going to leave the very touristy (but comfortable, so it works for my study period) island and finally explore the rest of Indonesia! Talked about it in my latest podcast fi3m.com/podcast/trav...

fluentin3months.com

Announcing my big 2025 language and travel project!

Benny Lewis shares his ambitious plans for 2025, which revolve around learning Indonesian and traveling across Indonesia.

350

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 10/12/2024

Copacabana on a cloudy day 🇧🇷 The waves in this iconic footpath represent the meeting of the Portuguese Tagus River and the Atlantic Ocean originally placed in Rossio square in Lisbon.

010

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 10/12/2024

"Should I wear flip-flops or sandals when I leave the house?" is today's question I definitely will not be asking myself next weekend in Ireland 🩴

010

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 06/12/2024

My own personal Brazil: One (or more) photo(s) of me in every single state of the country, placed in that state's location on a map!⁠ ⁠ It's an honour that this "gringo" got to visit all 26 states of his favourite country in the world! You can bet that I'll be back again many many times more!⁠

000

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 05/12/2024

This Photoshopped pic of me I made 11 years ago came up in my Facebook memories for how I feel about giving up #languagelearning materials 😁

030

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 04/12/2024

Being an Irish nomad who goes back to his home town once a year after 11.5 months of world adventures is just about the closest you can get in the real world to a LOTR-style Hobbit returning to the Shire after crossing Middle Earth there and back again 🧙‍♂️🧝‍♂️😈🧿🐲🌋

040

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 03/12/2024

Being a nomad means that surviving a literal car crash doesn't even break the top 5 most weird/interesting things that have happened to me in the last month

010

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 03/12/2024

For the last month, I've had a barrier to using time-wasting apps (like social media), where my phone forces me to perform arithmetic every time I access them, often preventing me from mindlessly opening them and getting sucked in for long stretches. It's been an incredible month of mental peace!

010

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 27/11/2024

It figures that WhatsApp would add voice-to-text conversion of audio messages AFTER I spend a year in Brazil getting sent Portuguese *podcast-replies* to quick questions!

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 26/11/2024

☃️❄️🎄🎅 On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... 5 golden rings!🎵🎶 💍💍💍💍💍 .... But they were, all of them, deceived, for another Ring was made. In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a master Ring, to control all others. 🧙‍♂️🧝‍♂️🧝‍♀️🏹🧿😈🌋

020

Benny the Irish polyglot @bennylewis.com · 26/11/2024

After a whole year of South America travels, I finally made it back to #Rio. I'll be walking up to this epic view for the next 3 weeks!!

020