About | Actual Fluency

Who is behind it

Actual Fluency was started by Kris Broholm in 2014. Kris is based in Denmark and has been learning languages since his teens - not as a professional linguist, but as someone genuinely trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.

The podcast came first. The idea was to find people who had cracked something - who had learned three, five, ten languages - and ask them how. That turned into 190+ conversations with polyglots, linguists, app founders, coaches, and researchers from around the world. Every episode is really just Kris asking the questions he wants answered himself.

The reviews grew from the same place. There are a lot of language learning products out there, and most of the coverage is either thin or commercially driven. The reviews here are based on actually using the thing, and the ratings reflect that - nothing more.

In January 2022, Kris started the New Year, New Language Summit, a free annual online summit for language learners. It has now run for five consecutive years with thousands of attendees and speakers including Luca Lampariello, Joe Dale, Russell Stannard, and many more.

What you will find here

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