4 ms·

Just by observing his work within the polyglot community. He sells a self-published book called "The Way of the Linguist" that promises to teach you deep wisdom

Just by observing his work within the polyglot community. He sells a self-published book called "The Way of the Linguist" that promises to teach you deep wisdom on language learning. But the initial part of the book is exaggeration about his own knowledge of language learning. Much of the latter half of the book is just completely random anecdotes about his travels in Europe that have nothing to do with language learning at all. Again, this man is obviously no authority on anything but how to be successful in self-publishing and "sign up for my course!" scams.

wenc 6y ago
I see. Well, I'm not as inclined to use uncharitable labels such as "scams" and "flim flam" though you are certainly entitled to your opinion based on your own values. My view is that he has his own methods which clearly work for him, and he has achieved a level of fluency that I can confirm is quite good (I speak several of the languages that he does), so there's something there. I think his general prescriptions are correct and track with my language learning journey. As to the specific prescriptions he makes, like the use of mini-stories on LingQ, I've not found them to work for me. Or his prescription to read and listen a lot before attempting to speak -- I don't agree with that, though it seems to work for people with his cognitive style (i.e. more introverted rather than extroverted). I don't think either of these detracts from the points I made above though. As for self-published books, I'm not sure I have such expectations of self-published authors that I would be affronted if they didn't deliver on their promises, but I haven't not read anything by him so I can't assess. He has a business (LingQ) but I don't get the sense he's really peddling it any more than any other business (most YouTube creators do the same -- self-promotion on YT is just part of the game), but I guess perceptions differ. Again you're entitled to your opinions, but I do feel they are rather strong compared to my own assessment.

wenc 6y ago

I see. Well, I'm not as inclined to use uncharitable labels such as "scams" and "flim flam" though you are certainly entitled to your opinion based on your own values. My view is that he has his own methods which clearly work for him, and he has achieved a level of fluency that I can confirm is quite good (I speak several of the languages that he does), so there's something there. I think his general prescriptions are correct and track with my language learning journey. As to the specific prescriptions he makes, like the use of mini-stories on LingQ, I've not found them to work for me. Or his prescription to read and listen a lot before attempting to speak -- I don't agree with that, though it seems to work for people with his cognitive style (i.e. more introverted rather than extroverted). I don't think either of these detracts from the points I made above though. As for self-published books, I'm not sure I have such expectations of self-published authors that I would be affronted if they didn't deliver on their promises, but I haven't not read anything by him so I can't assess. He has a business (LingQ) but I don't get the sense he's really peddling it any more than any other business (most YouTube creators do the same -- self-promotion on YT is just part of the game), but I guess perceptions differ. Again you're entitled to your opinions, but I do feel they are rather strong compared to my own assessment.