Ok – if you look at the date of the last (first) post and now, quite a bit of time has transpired. In the next couple of days I’ll be uploading a bunch of posts that I’ve meant to do for a long time now. Happy reading!
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