For many years, I had a ritual every time I flew to China or Hong Kong. I’d leave with an extra empty suitcase, knowing it would return home stuffed with books. * In Beijing, I’d head straight to 北京语言大学 (Beiyu) bookstore, once the famous Beijing Language Institute. * In Shanghai,
Teachers are scared — and if they’re not, they probably should be. There are fundamental changes that have been happening since AI went mainstream which mean the role of the teacher must pivot, or risk becoming extinct. I saw the writing on the wall and thought deeply about what the
Here’s a truth: the entire AI “token burn” I accumulated while building CLF up to soft-launch level was USD $5.47. Yet, I regularly see tech companies burning tens of thousands of dollars per month on the same thing. How is that even possible? It comes down to how—
One of the most important insights that shaped Cracking Language Fundamentals is this: Your linguistic and cultural background determines the fastest route to mastering a new language. Yet most courses and syllabi ignore this. They push every learner through the same tunnel — the same units, the same chapters, the same
For centuries, universities and academic institutions have acted as the gatekeepers of education, knowledge, and accreditation. They controlled access, dictated syllabuses, and defined what was considered “enough” to certify competence. But here’s the problem: the world has changed, and their model hasn’t. Static Syllabuses in a Dynamic World
For years I watched good learners get trapped inside bad containers. A static textbook. A fixed syllabus. A teacher repeating the same five examples because that’s what the book has on page 37. You can be smart, motivated, and disciplined — but if the container is rigid, your learning is
Last time, I shared the story of how in 2000 at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, I grew frustrated with teachers telling learners “It’s just like that.” That refusal to explain why is what drove me to design Cracking Thai Fundamentals in the first place. At the heart
Back in 2000 I was approached by members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand. They were journalists, diplomats, NGO and UN workers – people who needed Thai not as a hobby, but as a tool to survive in their work from day one. The problem was always the same. They
Many years ago, I wrote an article covering 20 of the most common Pali and Sanskrit affixes in Thai. We use affixes all the time in English, and knowing these from Latin or Greek helps us work out the meanings of unfamiliar words. For example, un- in unhealthy acts as
In a Thai language specimen from a learner I received recently for a Speech Analysis, one of the sentences that jumped out at me that he used a couple of times was: ผมเอาเรียนภาษาไทย pǒm ao rian paa sǎa tai "I want to learn Thai." To
In this post we'll see all the key types of noodles in Thailand, what they're called - how they ended up being called that and learn some amazing history along the way that explains a lot in today's modern Thai society.
When looking at Barry Harris Half Diminished Scales in music theory, we see he adds a b6 to normal scales - both Major and Minor resulting with8 notes per scale. 🎵 Standard Major Scale Vs. Barry Harris T = Tone = 1 S = Semitone = 0 Standard Major 1 2 3 4 5 6
Chinese
Over the past few weeks, a music video for the song 'Fragile Heart' 玻璃心 by Malaysian Chinese singer / songwriter / producer Namewee (黄明志 Huáng Zhì Míng) and Australian Chinese singer Kimberly Chen (陳芳語 Chén Fāng Yǔ) has gone viral all over the world - especially amongst Chinese communities living
If you've been following over the past few months on YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn or Jcademy.com, you will have noticed some big changes are afoot. If you're receiving this article in your inbox, you too are a part of that big change, and I'd
When speaking Spanish, Thai, Indonesian, Italian, why can some people roll their R's with their tongue and some find it impossible? In this clip not only will you once and for all be able to roll your R's... or explain to someone else how to do
How to learn any Language There are many theories of how we as humans learn languages, and going through all the data it seems to come down to two key ideas: 1. You can't learn what you don't understand. 2. You can't repeat what
In this clip I answer many of the questions that people have been asking about MINDKRAFT, including: * What actually IS MINDKRAFT? * What skills will I / my children learn from the course? * Will you be actually teaching any specific languages? * What if I want to learn a language that's
Stuart Jay Raj is an author, public speaker and multinational business management strategist. He holds a degree in Cognitive and Applied Linguistics from Griffith University, Australia and has fluency ranging from competent to native in over 15 languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Indonesian, Spanish, Sanskrit, Danish and other languages predominantly
Mind and Brain
Wire your Brain to Learn Languages Exploiting Brain States for Enhanced Neuroplasticity Mindkraft Language - Brain Builder I is the first in a series of 'Brain Building' programmes developed by linguist Stuart Jay Raj that are designed to not only give you a robust foundation in key languages
Thai
I mentioned in the 'politeness' post the other day that I have been coaching a friend who is getting his Thai citizenship, so that he can get through the Interview process in Thai. Another part of getting Thai citizenship is having to assume your new Thai identity under
Thai
I have been coaching a friend lately who is going for their Thai citizenship and is drilling interview scenarios to make sure that: 1. He responds appropriately; 2. He projects the right 'image' of himself through HOW he responds in Thai; YOU MAY BE A SUM OF THE
Thai
In the spirit of controversial and thought provoking posts, I hope that the discussions spurred from this post will act as memory pegs for everyone and by the end of it, nobody will use the Thai word กว่า 'gwà' interchangeably with the '-er' (big, biggER
Thai
Why doesn't Thai use spaces? Surely it would be easier to read if spaces were put between words? Really? ... maybe you'll have a different opinion after watching this clip. If you haven't watched part 1 yet, here's the link https://stujay.com/
Thai
There is one clip on Youtube that has probably done more to destroy the spirit of people learning Thai than any other. 'The World's Most Complicated Writing System' (Thai) by Youtuber Xidnaf came out about 6 years ago and while at first the clip just frustrated