about Chris Lonsdale
Chris Lonsdale has spent over thirty years researching how the human brain acquires language. He proved his methodology by learning Mandarin in six months and Cantonese in four. His TEDx talk on the subject has been viewed 37 million times and has been in the TEDx top 10 for over twelve years.
Chris Lonsdale is a New Zealand-born psychologist and linguist who has spent over thirty years researching how the human brain acquires language. His TEDx talk “How to Learn Any Language in Six Months” has been viewed more than 37 million times and has been in the TEDx top 10 for over twelve years. It remains one of the most-watched TEDx talks ever recorded.
Chris came to China at 21 with a plan to drive a motorcycle around China, and a conviction that the conventional wisdom about language learning was wrong. He believed adults could learn languages the same way children do: through meaning, context, and embodied experience rather than grammar rules and translation and proved it by learning Mandarin Chinese from complete zero to functional fluency in six months; later moved to Hong Kong where he learned Cantonese in four months.
These weren’t academic exercises. Chris lived, worked, and built businesses in Chinese. He went on to spend decades consulting with Fortune 500 executives across Asia, using accelerated learning technologies and communication processes for conflict resolution and strategic alignment both within and between cultures.
The method: five principles, seven actions
Language learning doesn’t have to take years. Chris’s research identified five core principles and seven practical actions that allow any adult to achieve functional communication in a new language within six months.
The approach is built on how the brain naturally acquires language — the same way you learned your first language as a child. No grammar translation. No memorisation drills. No classroom required.
Five Principles of rapid language acquisition — the science behind why this works.
Seven Actions that turn those principles into daily practice — the practical toolkit.
For 15 years, Kungfu English proved that brain-based language learning works at scale in the Chinese market. The TEDx talk proved the world wants it. Now the method is being delivered as digital technology.
Speech Genie is a language learning platform powered by Cognitive AI — not an LLM wrapper, but a meaning-based system that understands how human language actually works. It functions as a Language Parent in your pocket: listening, adapting, and guiding you through the natural acquisition process.
The demo is live. No signup required. Six exercises in the brain-based sequence.
Read the full story →
Try the method for yourself →
Interested in the research or the opportunity behind this? Learn more at Language Parent →
From the blog
How I Learned Mandarin Chinese in 6 Months
The personal story behind the TEDx talk.
5 Principles of Accelerated Language Acquisition
The science, explained.
Why Traditional Language Learning Methods Don’t Work
What’s wrong with the code model.
What learners say
4.3★ · 537 ratings · App Store
Eleven months in — and it no longer hurts
“I’d tried many English-learning methods and could rarely keep going past two or three months. I started Kungfu English skeptical — and somehow it’s been eleven months. I no longer treat learning a language as something painful, mainly because the design fits the way humans naturally learn.”
— 不喜不忧 · App Store · 2018
Real ability, not a number on paper
“Its method and philosophy are unlike anything I’d encountered before. As a university student, I didn’t want to learn English just for a number on a piece of paper — I wanted ability I could actually use. The platform gives every member a “language parent,” which helped enormously. Your way of thinking decides your results.”
— Start new my life · App Store · 2020
Speaking unprompted — and calmer in life
“Kungfu English draws on psychology and engages all your senses, and it supported me when I hit a wall. Now I speak English with my family unprompted — even a word or a simple sentence comes out naturally, whereas before I had to rehearse a whole line in my head first. It’s improved more than my English; it’s improved how relaxed and happy I feel in daily life.”
— 玥氏 · App Store · 2021
90% of my teacher in three weeks
“Kungfu English is a genuinely scientific system that teaches you to think in English and stop being “mute” in the language. “Brain-soaking” is amazing — it fixed my listening, with no memorizing words or analyzing grammar. With my coach’s help, in just three weeks I could understand about 90% of what my foreign teacher said. I never imagined I’d get there so fast.”
— 醉赏梨花雨 · App Store · 2020
From the TEDx talk to effortless conversation
“I’d seen Chris Lonsdale’s TEDx talk long ago and found it deeply moving, so I signed up. After just two or three months of on-and-off study, my speaking improved markedly — I used to assemble the grammar in my head before speaking; now it just comes out. I couldn’t understand my foreign teacher before; now we communicate almost effortlessly.”
— 道具鸟 · App Store · 2020
Fluent and happy, like dancing to the beat
“This self-study app suits me perfectly. “Brain-soaking” brought big progress — at first I’d get stuck on words I recognized, but once I settled into the right state and kept up with the rhythm, I grew more and more fluent. And it felt wonderful — happy, like dancing in time with every beat.”
— 雨木木木木mu · App Store · 2020
© Chris Lonsdale. Also known as 龙飞虎 (Long Feihu) | クリスロンズデール
