I spent maybe more than half or half of my life in a few different countries over seas in the middle East and Asia. But I did spend my last few years of high school and university in South Africa. And yes, I was exposed to quite a few, uh, South African languages, but not necessarily from uh, a direct opportunity of being able to learn them. But I always had friends around me who spoke different languages, and I was always interested in asking people like, can you teach me a new phrase in Tswana? Or how do you say this in Zulu? So I think if anything, the multicultural society that South Africa is, uh, inspired me to continue languages and, you know, be curious constantly and ask people about languages.

It’s a good topic because I think some people like to shy away from controversial subjects, but a lot of people have different opinions on it. So to that extent, maybe a lot of people will find this conversation interesting. And if something is interesting, then you’re more likely to listen and it’s good for your language learning because you’re engaged.

In part two of Benny’s chat with Elle Benny talks about the mental life struggles he has experienced over the past few years, how he is overcoming them and what he is doing to help people going through anything similar.