I'm sorry that happened to you. I was a mod on Matt's server for a couple years. A really hard working guy who deserves all the success he got in language learning. Also insightful and gives great language advice. Also, a truly garbage human being who only cares about himself. Having spoken to him one on one many times and seen how he treated the people who were helping with his site, I think he is an actual definitional psychopath. He also had a really bad habit of stealing other people's ideas with no acknolegment.
I have to say as an additional comment, I'm touched by your concern for him. I don't think he deserves it though. I don't think he made a mistake, sadly I think that is who he is inside.
i had a bad feeling he was some type of narcissist seeing his videos years ago. he just had this holier than thou attitude that struck me as off, even for a TH-camr.
@Waste-Water-Management if George says his wife uses them, they probably aren't as difficult as he thinks (no Japanese person uses "difficult" words in real life unless they're a economist or something). They are just lower frequency which means it's gonna take 20 years to learn those if you don't read, but if you've had a daily reading habit in place for a couple years most likely you know them. Reading is by far the fastest way to expand your vocabulary. (now I'm nostalgic for my mod days lol)
@@clipper-x5u I did notice that matt seemed to have something of an ego in his older, unscripted videos. Though ego and high-achivement often go hand in hand so I brushed it off. It puzzles me why he didn't just try and double down on content creation, patreon, and merch for revenue instead of this sketchy sounding fiasco with ken.
I'm on the LearnJapanese reddit sub and there are posts going back 3 years ago, that warn about Matt and Ken. They're grifters. I wouldn't apologise, they appear to be great bedfellows (metaphorically speaking). They have probably made money doing this, so they have no incentive to change. Unfortunately scamming can be lucrative. Happy New Year btw.
It's not usually that easy. Many times suing is more costly than it's worth. You have to prove damages to collect on someone. Is George going to sell less books because some TH-camr the average Japanese learner will never watch said something? George probably makes the majority of his money off book 1 considering most people will drop Japanese if they find it is not really worth the time sink in their average life (this isn't to say George's book is bad, it's individual time sink analysis). Most of these people will never watch Matt vs Japan, so it is unlikely his message would be usable to prove substantial damages/losses. Than if you actually get a judgement, you have to hope someone actually has the money to pay it out. Most people (not going to mention specific ppl ever when discussing finances) might be overleveraged and have debt notes tied to all of their possessions.
I have watched Matt for years, the thing that sent my alarm bells ringing was once he announced the course. It confused me because his whole philosophy was SO strongly about not needing coursing and just immersing as much as possible, it was his mantra, no course no study just listen and read, then brings out an expensive course? then once you heard the leaked audio call you knew he hadn't changed from when he was a cocky teenager.
I bought the Ken and Matt course for $500 and feel so scammed. I also had access to the protocol 80 course and going through it I was in disbelief. Halfway through they stoped one of best parts of the course because it was too much work. I could not believe that was allowed to fly with the people. I can’t believe I took that bs course and wasted all that money. For some reason I trusted Matt coz I had watched him for years and ignored all the gross marketing and upselling they were trying to do. I guess that was a expensive lesson on my part, don’t trust TH-camrs
@@aHazyWorld Hello, I think when learning a language or whatever you wanna learn, never trust influencers with no books nor background experience, I guess you know now but 500 dollars.... I took some courses in my local language school for 18 hours and that cost me half of it, for physical courses...that's insane.
@ well I trusted Matt vs Japan as I watched his videos for years and got a lot of good results from following it and multiple people have said he is amazing at Japanese so I trusted his ability. On top of that he was one of the most known TH-camrs in Japanese language community and greatly furthered the idea of immersion learning. Another reason I choose to do that course was coz I bought the statement that mastering pitch accent from day one would help acquire new words much more effectively when listening, improving language acquisition at a faster rate. At that time there was not that many recourses on pitch accent either and I had been doing a pimsular course for 6 months at that point and didn’t see as fast improvements as I wanted (I am intermediate level of Korean so I also may have misjudged how long it would take me to pick up Japanese) In terms of what they were selling, part of it was live lessons where they would correct pitch accent in real time and give feedback, from what I remember (it was 2 years ago now) it was around 10 units and each one would have a couple hours live lessons), however units for the course was taking months to come out which was one of the biggest issues.
@@aHazyWorldI'm a fellow scamee. If you've signed up for fluency incubator, double check because they will withdraw $160 from you. I hadn't realised that and now they've taken over 1k out of me over two years. It's my fault for not noticing
wow, I never heard of those two smmucks and don't plan on visiting their channels/sites ever either. George you're the best and I'm really glad I found you first earlier this past year as I've been on my learning Japanese journey and I got the first 2 of your books.
George, you are the best! I tried many ways to learn Japanese and nothing worked or intrigued me enough up until I met you and your books. Already finished the 3rd book of JFZ yesterday and you made japanese exciting to learn! Thank you for every video and book you made!
Matt's an immature child who is in love with his own ability and he's been trying to find a shortcut to success in life off of the one thing he has any noterioty for which is his Japanese ability. It took a lot of hard work to get where he's gotten with Japanese and that deserves some respect. The problem is he's got no character or integrity at all.
@@lastninjaitachiHe admits that himself actually. He has said he is good at making himself look really good at Japanese. I forgot where he said this but I know he did.
It's your business I know, but you are the GOAT. I've been learning Japanese and have bought _your_ book. Because your good at teaching and your funny. Don't worry about those other dudes. People do all kinds of rubbish. Don't let it affect your quality of life. You do great, and thanks for your videos! They are great.
I dont usually comment but i want to say your first few videos on japanese grammar and your views on how learning Japanese opens new doors really helped me change my life. Thank you for everything you do. Cheers George🎉
George I’ve been watching you since 2006, flash forward to now and I am fluent in Japanese. A thousand thanks to you and your channel. I also have been learning languages since 2007, I majored in Chinese and Japanese and have lived in Japan for 1 year and China for 12. I’ve also taught myself Cantonese, German and ASL, mad respect for you bro since you have also learn mandarin and Korean and probably more that your not sharing haha. Matt is good at Japanese but from a social linguistic(as I also study social linguistics) POV , Matt got too caught up in his pitch accent studies and tried to market that (poor business decision). He also spoke with you many times and also with Stephan krashen and I just don’t see how he can ever be put on the same level as you two. Extremely bad form (again) on his part. Your fans are always here with you George!!! Love from Phoenix
Such a strange scenario. I actually did originally join Ken's course like 13 or so years ago. The community at that time was actually pretty fun and involved. Then he did disappear. It was very strange. Sorry things had to go down the way that they did. I've been enjoying your course very much George. Totally understand you not wanting your name associated with other folks. Best of luck to everyone in the new year.
You have always come across as being straight forward. I have no clue who those other guys are, but insinuating that you endorsed their course was sketchy on their part. I have enjoyed watching a lot of your videos. Now I am going to order the books (not all at once). Keep up the goid work.
I've had worse happen to me. My courses have been literally pirated and replayed in vocational schools as part of their curriculum! But I'm not bothered. People who do those kinds of things will always exist. George, you're a known quality instructor and author. The scammers will end up working at Wendy's in their 40s, and you'll be on to the next great chapter in your life. So don't sweat it too much. Have a Happy New Year.
So many many years ago I did Ken cannons course and I was one of those people who wasn't refunded. He actually emailed me years later and tried to give me another course which was useless to me and that one wasn't even finished. I'm a bit sad and pity Ken now. He seems like a nice guy from the outside but I guess he hasn't changed at all. So yeah be wary, japanese learning takes years and years of practice and even then you will still be learning and anyone who says so is lying. There are efficient methods, but either way you will still need to put the time and effort there are no shortcuts.
Depends what you need it for. Japan is a great country to live in and a terrible place to work. I'm just learning Japanese to make anime and Japanese videos more fun. So it's pretty easy. If I wanted to live in Japan I would study differently.
@@KenjaTimu Even in that context, it still takes a lot of work. No matter what path you take, Japanese is Japanese and language learning no matter how efficient it requires a lot of work and most importantly consistency. Nothing wrong with people wanting to learn it casually so long as they temper their expectations (ie, you can't except to be fluent in 6 months or even a year with only 30 minutes of practicing - especially if your main language is English only). I myself am learning the language simply for travel and making friends plus enjoying my anime, j-drama and karaoke :) I have made Japanese huge part of my life where I am usually talking quite casually with Japanese friends in Japanese or visiting their houses etc. But this took me YEARS and a lot of initial early effort.
@@fooni3606 work is an interesting word. I do spend quite a bit of time learning Japanese. Can you learn Japanese without it being work? Can it be fun? Is it cheating to have fun? To be fair. I do actually study on the bus on the way to work. But I don't feel like that is much of a sacrifice as I don't really enjoy that time all that much regardless. Doing Japanese is about as good as anything. I'm also a little bit of a genius at language. They tell me I spoke like a college graduate when I was 5. But I'm old now so who knows? Lol. I might be stupid now. I do also speak some Spanish. Yo hablo un poquito de Español. Sabe?
@@KenjaTimu It is work. But like with everything, it's either you love that work, or you learn to love it. There are definitely aspects in Japanese that can be fun especially Japanese that you can understand and shadow. If Japanese is fun for you and that fire is burning at the moment - milk it for all that's worth. I do think that fire will eventually burn out (and you will to re-ignite it again from time to time) However, language learning as a whole cannot be fun all the way at least from my experience - there will be moments where you will feel frustrated about your progress (and I actually think that's fine - it's part of the process). But hey, if you find a way to make language learning smooth as a butter and you can practice 8 hours a day every day more power to you ;)
If you can learn 25% of the Japanese language in 3 days, why not learn 100% of it in 12 days? I know that's a big commitment, but it's probably worth it. 😂
I began learning Japanese with Japanese From Zero (still need to get Book 5) nearly three years ago. Since then, I’ve expanded my studies using various resources, including lessons with a private native Japanese teacher. I wish I could say I’ve learned even 25% of the language in that time-let alone in just three days, 😅.
I understand your frustration! Good to see someone still cares about integrity. I never used your Japanese books but I’ve enjoyed watching you as I find you entertaining - I’m now going to use Korean from Zero to begin my Korean journey ☺️
If you keep watching them, it will keep recommending them to you. Although sometimes all you do is click one by accident and now the algorithm ONLY wants to show a certain type of content. All you can do is drown it out by watch tons of content you actually like or clear your watch history entirely and start over. You could start by watching more of Japanese from Zero. 😉 Makes great videos for learners.
you are the best, it is why I stopped making videos. I found you then just started telling people to go to you since you are so much better at teaching.
It sucks because Matt is who got me into learning - and now 4 years later, because of the way he taught and brought all these different influences into his own teachings - I reached my goals. He legit has some of the best interviews and insights on the more philosophical methods of language learning. He never needed a partner. I cannot for the life of me understand why he felt he needed that.
It doesn't suck. It's great the Matt continues to show everyone that he's an amoral person. People who couldn't smell that on him from the start and terrible judges of character
@@properpolymath2097 it does indeed suck since if you separate the person from the method, his methods was really, really effective and a LOT of people reached fluency because of it. Too bad the money caused him to change the course from "creating free content so everyone could get better at language learning" to "use any method possible to make money, no matter how immoral it may be"
@@archiesenol9104 Completely agree. In the end, we're all humans. Capable of making mistakes. Love how empathetic George is through out the video. He WANTS them to be better.
Whoa. Randomly clicked this video after seeing it suggested. I have some of the Japanese From Zero books for study, I haven't studied in a really long time and definitely need to fix that... But I found it really nice to learn from.
I’ve been watching your videos and buying your books (and as of yesterday am now a premium subscriber on the website!) for just about 4 years now… If I EVER received an email saying that there was a program where I could learn 25% of the Japanese language in only 3 days and you somehow endorsed it, I would first laugh because I know from just watching all the videos alone that you would NEVER endorse something like that. I would then proceed to delete it because I know from my own common sense that it sounds like the biggest scam in education lol.
I understand your feeling George. I have been following you for over 15 years and appreciate your hard work. Unfortunately I have not been able to learn Japanese yet but have purchased your products and their amazing. Keep up the amazing work you do. Happy New Year!
I had actually took that Ken Cannon class you mentioned... I'm so glad I pulled out. My father had gotten sick, plus I started to feel some kind of way, after he had the Peruvian guy that lives in Japan (he also had a TH-cam channel, but I can't remember his name) in his class as an interview. It sucks for those people, but Ken had been doing a lot of shady stuff over the years, and many of us had started to pay attention to it. He is a grifter. It started with his "Learn Through Anime" stuff. Anyway, I do have two of your books 😁
Hey, George, A fellow Japanese teacher here. Love your material and teaching style. I use a lot of your material because like you said, you are the best. Thank you and continue to doing what you do. I hope for the best for you.
25% in 3 days is outrageous. I’ve been studying Japanese for like 9 months now and am just now getting to the point I can form proper sentences and have basic conversations
It’s the fanaticism with which he says things. And also that story he told about going to Japan and being anti-social by avoiding invitations to do things with his host family and not interacting with people … the “lesson “ he learned from that, he said, was to spend more time studying before going to a country…
Honestly, as a Spanish-speaker, the only language I could think of is Portuguese (with the pre-existing condition that you already speak Spanish, _and_ you choose Brazilian Portuguese which is easier to understand when spoken than the Portuguese variant is).
@@elprofegrimm And even then, you would recquire more than just 10 hours a day to dominate the 25% of it. As a native Spanish speaker who studied basic Portuguese some years ago, I can say one (native Spanish speaker) can learn it very fast... But no so fast, not to that point. Also, as a Japanese language teacher myself, the first thing I warn my students about is that Japanese is NOT a language you learn fast in the first classes (not for Spanish speakers, at least, although I would say also for Indoeuropean languages speakers), that it truely needs time and patience, but that it will be rewarding.
Thank you for telling us, I just started learning (got your book btw, its been very fun to learn with your teaching method), but I don’t know whos who in the japanese learning world and I know this well keep a lot of other newbies safe from scammers
False advertising in a language course means that when the learner finishes the course and hasn’t achieved that level, they’ll feel like they’ve failed when they haven’t.
This is the difference between someone doing something out of passion and someone doing something for profit. George is fundamentally a teacher. His career does not begin and end with TH-cam. These other guys can't say the same. They dont have the integrity George has because they dont really care if you learn Japanese or not. They are TH-camrs first a formost and their primary goal is to make money not to teach you.
For perspective, I’ve been learning Japanese for almost 40 years, and use it in professional capacity all day, every day. And there is so much I don’t know yet…
As someone who enjoys learning new languages: Anyone who says you can learn *any* language in a short time-period is trying to scam you. Learning languages involves so many different aspects, structures, and dedication to be able to understand it fluently. Any youtubers that are trying to "speedrun" language learning might end up being able to communicate poorly, but they're far from true fluency.
I absolutely agree with you. In my opinion, and as a language teacher myself, language learning isn't about being fast, it's about being effective. It really doesn't matter how "quickly" you can learn a language, without a good understanding of how the language actually works, you won't be effective. Will you be able to communicate? Like you said: Yes, but poorly. In fact, I would go much further and say that whoever tries to speed through language-learning isn't trying to really _learn_ a language, but rather trying to bruteforce their communication in said language. Good understanding takes time, practice, effort, and lots of immersion in order to get a feel for how people actually phrase their ideas. Grammar is great, but it's not enough. You can make grammatically correct statements that no one understands because no one would say them in real life. Cure Dolly gave a great example of this. In English, we'd say: "Some people are like that." In Japanese, the more natural thing to say (the thing you're more likely to hear) is: 「そういう人もいる。」 (The people described as such exist as well). If you're bolting through a language, these nuances get lost, and your communication-once again, like you said-becomes poor. Sure, they'll understand you, but you won't be effective.
Yeah, that was a shady as hell e-mail. Name dropping George is unacceptable. Knowing the statistics (helped compile a few myself), it's likely the 25% bit was just covering the words that are used 25% of the time. While "technically" only 70 words are used 25% of the time in Japanese, that's completely useless if you don't know what they're doing in the sentence and context. Have ChatGPT change a story from Japanese to English using only the top 100 words, but translate only the specific words if in the list and none of the grammar. It's ... not very readable. Full disclosure, I got caught up in that drama between Yoga and Matt (dissolving of Mass Immersion Approach) then later Matt and Ken and Yoga (the Uproot mass emailing).
As someone who didn't get into mass input for language learning until recently and therefore wasn't around it for the MIA drama, is there a tldr for it?
I respect the level of Japanese the Matt has achieved but I don't see him as a role model person, he is scummy. He's seems stuck up and prideful as though him knowing Japanese better than natives makes him a god. Props to you for being a likeable person.
While I can't blame you, you should realize that this sort of thing will happen when you engage with other creators and have hour long conversations with these people trying to be their therapist and meeting them for dinners and stuff. Should just do what Tokini Andy does and just focus on the Japanese.
You are one of the most authentic and honest people online… . Your books and videos are awesome! Learning Japanese and Chinese since years, I just can laugh about that 25% thing. That’s just stupid. Hopefully there won’t be many new learners who will recognize that after enrolling in such kind of courses.
I've been learning Japanese off and on for years. I'm glad I learned about you and your channel early on. Not only because I have learned a lot but also because it means that I have no idea who these dweebs are
George, i just wanted to say, you did a great job handling this in such a mature way, im blown back. Thank you for this video and thank you for being you
You're right that Matt is smart and talented at youtube. He never had to resort to the scummy business tactics. Why is he OK with destroying his reputation like this?
Wow I wasn't aware of this guy before, and then I remembered I saw some of his videos in my recs - turns out is the guy I couldn't stand because of how he talked about learners and in general (way before I had your books George). Ffs sue the hell out of it, or at least speak to someone. Your method is so good and logical, your books super varied and on top of that your videos are so entertaining that I remember/retain more than I would otherwise. Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu sensei! ❤
I'm glad I'm learning Japanese from someone with integrity! Your stuff has helped me so much even with the accessibility issues I've had I recommend your stuff to everyone I know! I have been on this Japanese journey since February and the idea of mastering 25% of the language in 3 days is absurd. Only children would believe that's possible. There's just no way. I study for 3 hours every single day and haven't reached that level. Thank you for this video and for shedding light on this very serious situation. Mr. George just know that those who know you stand with you and those like me who don't know you but have engaged with your content heavily know that you stand for truth and for not scamming people!! Hope you have a happy new year and this BS doesn't ruin your holiday! With all my support, Ray
I paid for your courses to teach my daughter, because I love your books. I learned Japan in the late 90s, too, and moved to Japan. We want to move back, so I paid for your courses because they feel the most honest. She is loving them. I am so sorry Matt did that, because I think he burned another group of people before too. If I remember correctly there was a big thing with him and another language learning group that makes podcasts and videos. 😢 Just know that we would never jump from your course to another. I think I am getting my money worth as my daughter is able to speak with her doctor now at her 6 month checks. 😊 I would be so angry if another Author used my names on their books too when I tell them not to. I hope Matt figures this out before he gets into legal trouble.
I will just say this: unlike George, there is always something about Matt v Japan that has struck me as "off". Like when you are having a conversation with someone and you can just tell they are not being honest with you. I don't trust him and never have so this does not surprise me at all.
Sorry to hear that. I came across your story by chance (guy I watch reacted to it), but I appreciate your honesty and integrity. Hope it works out well.
It's unfortunate that it had to come down to this... But people like Matt and this other guy get away with stuff because they're charming, likeable, and great liars. It hurts when you've opened up your home to people who acted like they respected you, but clearly didn't. I honestly don't think they'll learn until everything comes toppling down. And that might mean lawsuits, etc. You were kind, you saw the best in them, and you believed in them. I really hate that this happened to you... I sincerely hope that this gets resolved and don't ever stop being kind. ❤️
Okay, so I know this wasn't the intended effect, but I'm kinda new to Japanese From Zero and seeing you this angry about someone else's unethical behavior makes me feel sooooo much better about investing in your books/courses.
Wow you need to educate yourself on how marketing works. You really think someone defending their integrity isn't done for the purpose of building up trustworthiness?
@@AncientGreek-v9f I do think that actually. That, critically combined with anger that appears sincere, is the whole point of my post. He seems to take ethics seriously, which makes me more inclined to trust him and to want to do business with him. What about that is unclear to you?
I speak two languages fluently, use both of them at work, one intermediate, am learner of Japanese. I agree - 25% of Japanese language in three days - bull. Esperanto, maybe, not Japanese, not any other language for that matter, including conlangs. Na-ah, ain't gonna happen. Love the allegory of obaa-san, it's so accurate. No matter how good he is - I sneer at his courses or whatever. He is a kid who accidentally made money on TH-cam because he happened to learn a trendy language. From chat: "Randhrick Time to take some legal action, Matt is freaking basement kid who learned Japanese because he had no life and could afford to only do this for years" - this. So much this. If I had the whole year to just only learn and not be worried about anything else - man, I'd learn Japanese, no problem.
It’s so disheartening as Matt was a massive inspiration. I hate that they keep doing this. Matt had the CLEANEST rise to the top. He was the Ajatt golden boy but he fucked it up
Didn't fuck it up, he had nothing but his Japanese skill - jump in with famous scammer Ken Cannon to sell overpriced courses and make stacks of cash. Shortsighted of him imo but he's gotta be flush now 💸
Depending on which graph you're looking at, it is* possible to learn "25%" of Japanese in 3 days, because 25% word recognition only requires ~50 words. Obviously those graphs are extremely exponential, 98% recognition is usually measured at ~20,000 words and 99% at ~30,000. The wording is really tricky, the pitch should be ”teaching you 50 japanese words in 3 days"
That’s actually so scummy, I hadn’t liked Matt for a while, simply because I didn’t agree with his pitch accent crap and framing it like if you didn’t master it you’re less than/not as perfect as me which rubbed me the wrong way. Recently learned about him scamming some other people with a weird ass course or something now this? Bro is too proud, have some humility or something. You act like just cause you speak Japanese really well you’re better than everyone and act like you know you can teach it which imo I can’t remember a single thing that guy has said, genki has by far been the building blocks MOST people use to study Japanese and it’s great which is why it’s widely accepted to be one of the best textbooks for getting into Japanese and giving you what you need to go further. To act like you’re above the people who have helped so many and who’s methods of teaching have been proven to work is scummy in itself but the added using people’s names without permission on top of straight up claiming you can learn MOST of the language in 3 fucking days is some…word I cannot say SHIT. Just cause you can speak a language don’t mean you can teach it and I stand by that, go flex your Japanese skills and pride bro somewhere else but leave others outta it. I’d honestly sue him, it ain’t right him saying you endorse it or whatever, even if the possibility of winning is slim Id just do it so he knows he can’t keep getting away with this crap forever he’s a SCAMMER and I’ll die on that hill. I would have talked more about Ken but tbh I didn’t even know this guy existed and it’s probably for the best lmao. Keep on giving us some great ass REAL content man you’re someone who I actually respect and look up to because you’re not prideful or arrogant, you’re just a regular guy who’s really helping people learn a beautiful language cause you love it, not cause it can make a quick buck.
Matt's a pointless pitch accent pusher, Ken's a straight scammer - he's been selling bs courses to desperate people for yearrrsss. He got Matt involved a few yrs ago.
Thanks for your continued integrity. I have tried some of the courses by Ken and Matt I didn't think they were bad at all and learned a lot, but every time I saw a new promotion it felt scamy. I wish they would stop this. I feel like there is ligit a lot that people can learn from them and they don't really need to have this crappy scamy marketing. Also, it would be nice if they actually finished their courses and not over promise.
I don’t want to be the one to have to say this but Matt’s Japanese is by NO means perfect! His knowledge of how to pronounce individual words is decent and I guess his reading is at a near native level (probably way better than mine). But he doesn’t sound at all like a Japanese person. Therefore he’s not native level or at all “perfect.” His intonation often goes up in a very unnatural way when he says things like, 私「だ」ったら、going way up on the だ. Something a Japanese native would never do. The guy has done so many shady things that I don’t trust anything he says or does at this point. The video of him flying through all the correct answer on the J-CAT is probably staged BS as well. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😂😂
I guess it may be different for others but I've showed a few of my Japanese friends the interview he did with atsueigo and all of them said they wouldn't be able to differentiate him from a native. He may be a scam artist but he is still really good at Japanese and I would recommend his pre-uproot videos to any new learners.
@@leaf-cf3qlhe’s at a near native level. ニック sounds a lot more like a husky, confident, Japanese man in his 30’s though. Matt’s inflections and speaking style are a little more feminine and that of a Japanese woman or younger person. Example: 「これでいっぱい日本語できるわ。」Obviously this is just my opinion, but I think it may be better for many Japanese learners to get a stronger grasp of formal Japanese before trying to sound like a 20 year old college girl. Especially if they want to work and live in Japan.
I'm truly sorry this is happening to you, George. I really hate to say, 'I told you so,' but I did try to warn you about him years ago. Your kind heart made it hard to see the potential danger, and I left it at that. This guy is a snake. After all the shenanigans he pulled with Khatzumoto, Oscar, and other lesser-known netizens, it’s clear he hasn’t changed at all-and most likely never will. Stay away from him to protect your peace.
I don't know Ken, but I remember YEARS ago learning Matt was a scumbag. I started watching your videos 5 years ago when I started learning Japanese. Love you George
So this starts with a cease and desist but also in Japan there is a law against disruption of business that may apply in this situation. I imagine they are going to make you go through mediation first but you can claim legal costs and make them pay. It doesn't have to be an emotional situation and break the relationship, it is just business. I hope you get that process started as quickly as possible because it takes months.
I saw this on my TH-cam page and was not sure what it was. But now that I know I thinks it's a crazy and horrific thing to do to people. I agree with don't do business with other people from my experience people do tend to fall under not caring and laziness then it destroys it all and It looses any special happy feelings that once were there. Thank you for sharing.
Please stay away from all of them, George. You have every right to be angry, but they really aren’t worth your time! I highly respect you and truly love your book series. Just save yourself from this headache and focus on your work. Stay happy and safe!
I have always found George's books and materials to be amongst the best available and have helped me get up to N3 level. Appreciate your efforts. Sorry to see people trying to sell unrealistic courses to make a cheap buck off the reputation you have built.
Hello, I'm from France, I don't know these people, but what I do know is that a lot of people on TH-cam are thirsty for money, quick money. Whoever will sell you a programm with no background experience, no books, making you believe that the impossible could be possible by magic, are scammers. Because creating books like Japanese From Zero's, is very difficult, as you have to think about a whole methodology that could help people learn fast but efficiently. And that's not " fast money" you have to be known, to improve all the time, to reach people among other books that are already well known as references. Also thanks for you and your team to sell these books and help people learning Japanese with good basics, I think also that the combination of books and videos are great, I was searching for that kind of teaching, just a little note : I wish you'd had one video per lesson with a QR code so that people who didn't pay for the books will not only watch the videos, I guess it would be unfair
I've been following you for awhile, I still got alot of videos to watch but I re watch alot until I get the words perfect..I can count perfectly in Japanese now and I understand so much, even when I hear songs I can pickup on certain words. I'm even friends with your daughter Arisa on Instagram. You and your family are really cool and you are doing great work providing people with these tools. Thank you for doing what u do 🙏
I received this email and immediately deleted it. I'm so glad you addressed this, as I saw your name and wasn't sure how you had even gotten involved in the "course" and immediatly cringed. I too, wish Matt would come back to TH-cam as his old self, and not any of this promitional bs on learning Japanese quick scheme person he has become.
When I worked in a comic book store about 14~ years ago I remember your book was in stock and I always wanted to buy it but I always bought manga instead xD
They way you're mentioned in the email does imply an endorsement. You have every right to be angry.
I'm sorry that happened to you. I was a mod on Matt's server for a couple years. A really hard working guy who deserves all the success he got in language learning. Also insightful and gives great language advice. Also, a truly garbage human being who only cares about himself. Having spoken to him one on one many times and seen how he treated the people who were helping with his site, I think he is an actual definitional psychopath. He also had a really bad habit of stealing other people's ideas with no acknolegment.
I have to say as an additional comment, I'm touched by your concern for him. I don't think he deserves it though. I don't think he made a mistake, sadly I think that is who he is inside.
i had a bad feeling he was some type of narcissist seeing his videos years ago. he just had this holier than thou attitude that struck me as off, even for a TH-camr.
Now i’m curious what those super difficult Japanese words were.
@Waste-Water-Management if George says his wife uses them, they probably aren't as difficult as he thinks (no Japanese person uses "difficult" words in real life unless they're a economist or something). They are just lower frequency which means it's gonna take 20 years to learn those if you don't read, but if you've had a daily reading habit in place for a couple years most likely you know them. Reading is by far the fastest way to expand your vocabulary.
(now I'm nostalgic for my mod days lol)
@@clipper-x5u I did notice that matt seemed to have something of an ego in his older, unscripted videos. Though ego and high-achivement often go hand in hand so I brushed it off. It puzzles me why he didn't just try and double down on content creation, patreon, and merch for revenue instead of this sketchy sounding fiasco with ken.
First Matt Vs. Japan tried to piggyback off of AJATT. Now he's trying to ride George's coattails... There's a pattern here
I'm on the LearnJapanese reddit sub and there are posts going back 3 years ago, that warn about Matt and Ken. They're grifters. I wouldn't apologise, they appear to be great bedfellows (metaphorically speaking). They have probably made money doing this, so they have no incentive to change. Unfortunately scamming can be lucrative. Happy New Year btw.
“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” Yup.
grifters gonna grift.
Just sue them. Send them a cease and desist. Even Japanese language content creators can’t escape drama.
It's not usually that easy. Many times suing is more costly than it's worth. You have to prove damages to collect on someone. Is George going to sell less books because some TH-camr the average Japanese learner will never watch said something? George probably makes the majority of his money off book 1 considering most people will drop Japanese if they find it is not really worth the time sink in their average life (this isn't to say George's book is bad, it's individual time sink analysis). Most of these people will never watch Matt vs Japan, so it is unlikely his message would be usable to prove substantial damages/losses.
Than if you actually get a judgement, you have to hope someone actually has the money to pay it out. Most people (not going to mention specific ppl ever when discussing finances) might be overleveraged and have debt notes tied to all of their possessions.
I have watched Matt for years, the thing that sent my alarm bells ringing was once he announced the course. It confused me because his whole philosophy was SO strongly about not needing coursing and just immersing as much as possible, it was his mantra, no course no study just listen and read, then brings out an expensive course? then once you heard the leaked audio call you knew he hadn't changed from when he was a cocky teenager.
Matt‘s fluency inspired me, but it was George‘s super fun way of teaching and his 5 books that made my current Japanese skills❤. ジョージさん、本当にありがとうございました
I bought the Ken and Matt course for $500 and feel so scammed. I also had access to the protocol 80 course and going through it I was in disbelief. Halfway through they stoped one of best parts of the course because it was too much work. I could not believe that was allowed to fly with the people. I can’t believe I took that bs course and wasted all that money. For some reason I trusted Matt coz I had watched him for years and ignored all the gross marketing and upselling they were trying to do. I guess that was a expensive lesson on my part, don’t trust TH-camrs
500??? American dollars??? 😮
@@francegamble1 unfortunately yes lol
@@aHazyWorld Hello, I think when learning a language or whatever you wanna learn, never trust influencers with no books nor background experience, I guess you know now but 500 dollars.... I took some courses in my local language school for 18 hours and that cost me half of it, for physical courses...that's insane.
@ well I trusted Matt vs Japan as I watched his videos for years and got a lot of good results from following it and multiple people have said he is amazing at Japanese so I trusted his ability. On top of that he was one of the most known TH-camrs in Japanese language community and greatly furthered the idea of immersion learning.
Another reason I choose to do that course was coz I bought the statement that mastering pitch accent from day one would help acquire new words much more effectively when listening, improving language acquisition at a faster rate.
At that time there was not that many recourses on pitch accent either and I had been doing a pimsular course for 6 months at that point and didn’t see as fast improvements as I wanted (I am intermediate level of Korean so I also may have misjudged how long it would take me to pick up Japanese)
In terms of what they were selling, part of it was live lessons where they would correct pitch accent in real time and give feedback, from what I remember (it was 2 years ago now) it was around 10 units and each one would have a couple hours live lessons), however units for the course was taking months to come out which was one of the biggest issues.
@@aHazyWorldI'm a fellow scamee. If you've signed up for fluency incubator, double check because they will withdraw $160 from you. I hadn't realised that and now they've taken over 1k out of me over two years. It's my fault for not noticing
wow, I never heard of those two smmucks and don't plan on visiting their channels/sites ever either.
George you're the best and I'm really glad I found you first earlier this past year as I've been on my learning Japanese journey and I got the first 2 of your books.
George, you are the best!
I tried many ways to learn Japanese and nothing worked or intrigued me enough up until I met you and your books. Already finished the 3rd book of JFZ yesterday and you made japanese exciting to learn! Thank you for every video and book you made!
Matt's an immature child who is in love with his own ability and he's been trying to find a shortcut to success in life off of the one thing he has any noterioty for which is his Japanese ability. It took a lot of hard work to get where he's gotten with Japanese and that deserves some respect. The problem is he's got no character or integrity at all.
Love how he took over 10 years to get to his near-native level of Japanese then pushes a course to "learn 25% of Japanese in 3 days."
Hes not even that good lots of what he says is scripted. Theres many times when hes caught in the wild he has no idea what to say
@@lastninjaitachiHe admits that himself actually. He has said he is good at making himself look really good at Japanese. I forgot where he said this but I know he did.
It's your business I know, but you are the GOAT. I've been learning Japanese and have bought _your_ book. Because your good at teaching and your funny. Don't worry about those other dudes.
People do all kinds of rubbish. Don't let it affect your quality of life.
You do great, and thanks for your videos! They are great.
I dont usually comment but i want to say your first few videos on japanese grammar and your views on how learning Japanese opens new doors really helped me change my life. Thank you for everything you do. Cheers George🎉
George I’ve been watching you since 2006, flash forward to now and I am fluent in Japanese. A thousand thanks to you and your channel. I also have been learning languages since 2007, I majored in Chinese and Japanese and have lived in Japan for 1 year and China for 12. I’ve also taught myself Cantonese, German and ASL, mad respect for you bro since you have also learn mandarin and Korean and probably more that your not sharing haha. Matt is good at Japanese but from a social linguistic(as I also study social linguistics) POV , Matt got too caught up in his pitch accent studies and tried to market that (poor business decision). He also spoke with you many times and also with Stephan krashen and I just don’t see how he can ever be put on the same level as you two. Extremely bad form (again) on his part. Your fans are always here with you George!!! Love from Phoenix
Such a strange scenario. I actually did originally join Ken's course like 13 or so years ago. The community at that time was actually pretty fun and involved. Then he did disappear. It was very strange. Sorry things had to go down the way that they did. I've been enjoying your course very much George. Totally understand you not wanting your name associated with other folks. Best of luck to everyone in the new year.
You have always come across as being straight forward. I have no clue who those other guys are, but insinuating that you endorsed their course was sketchy on their part. I have enjoyed watching a lot of your videos. Now I am going to order the books (not all at once). Keep up the goid work.
Time to go to your legal team, if you haven't already. This is so sketchy & just wrong. Thank you for letting us know who to avoid.
I've had worse happen to me. My courses have been literally pirated and replayed in vocational schools as part of their curriculum! But I'm not bothered. People who do those kinds of things will always exist. George, you're a known quality instructor and author. The scammers will end up working at Wendy's in their 40s, and you'll be on to the next great chapter in your life. So don't sweat it too much. Have a Happy New Year.
Your books and materials are my go-to for Japanese. I've recommended you.
So many many years ago I did Ken cannons course and I was one of those people who wasn't refunded. He actually emailed me years later and tried to give me another course which was useless to me and that one wasn't even finished. I'm a bit sad and pity Ken now. He seems like a nice guy from the outside but I guess he hasn't changed at all. So yeah be wary, japanese learning takes years and years of practice and even then you will still be learning and anyone who says so is lying. There are efficient methods, but either way you will still need to put the time and effort there are no shortcuts.
Depends what you need it for. Japan is a great country to live in and a terrible place to work.
I'm just learning Japanese to make anime and Japanese videos more fun. So it's pretty easy. If I wanted to live in Japan I would study differently.
@@KenjaTimu Japanese workers typically work fewer hours than American workers, so is there something that happens at work that is different?
@@KenjaTimu Even in that context, it still takes a lot of work. No matter what path you take, Japanese is Japanese and language learning no matter how efficient it requires a lot of work and most importantly consistency. Nothing wrong with people wanting to learn it casually so long as they temper their expectations (ie, you can't except to be fluent in 6 months or even a year with only 30 minutes of practicing - especially if your main language is English only).
I myself am learning the language simply for travel and making friends plus enjoying my anime, j-drama and karaoke :) I have made Japanese huge part of my life where I am usually talking quite casually with Japanese friends in Japanese or visiting their houses etc. But this took me YEARS and a lot of initial early effort.
@@fooni3606 work is an interesting word. I do spend quite a bit of time learning Japanese. Can you learn Japanese without it being work? Can it be fun? Is it cheating to have fun?
To be fair. I do actually study on the bus on the way to work. But I don't feel like that is much of a sacrifice as I don't really enjoy that time all that much regardless. Doing Japanese is about as good as anything.
I'm also a little bit of a genius at language. They tell me I spoke like a college graduate when I was 5. But I'm old now so who knows? Lol. I might be stupid now. I do also speak some Spanish. Yo hablo un poquito de Español. Sabe?
@@KenjaTimu It is work. But like with everything, it's either you love that work, or you learn to love it. There are definitely aspects in Japanese that can be fun especially Japanese that you can understand and shadow. If Japanese is fun for you and that fire is burning at the moment - milk it for all that's worth. I do think that fire will eventually burn out (and you will to re-ignite it again from time to time) However, language learning as a whole cannot be fun all the way at least from my experience - there will be moments where you will feel frustrated about your progress (and I actually think that's fine - it's part of the process). But hey, if you find a way to make language learning smooth as a butter and you can practice 8 hours a day every day more power to you ;)
If you can learn 25% of the Japanese language in 3 days, why not learn 100% of it in 12 days? I know that's a big commitment, but it's probably worth it. 😂
LOL 😆 so true
No way
Kanji says 無理！
Total side note but... George looks REALLY GOOD rocking the beard look... Definitely keep growin that thing man! Cheers and happy new year!
I began learning Japanese with Japanese From Zero (still need to get Book 5) nearly three years ago. Since then, I’ve expanded my studies using various resources, including lessons with a private native Japanese teacher. I wish I could say I’ve learned even 25% of the language in that time-let alone in just three days, 😅.
I understand your frustration! Good to see someone still cares about integrity. I never used your Japanese books but I’ve enjoyed watching you as I find you entertaining - I’m now going to use Korean from Zero to begin my Korean journey ☺️
Why is it I only get recommend these Dramatic storys and not the regular learning videos?
TH-cam knows everyone love drama I’m guessing.
Next I bet Matt will release a “George is wrong” video.
Lol. He can try. @@japanesefromzero
@@japanesefromzero he hasn't released a video in two years. that would be something
If you keep watching them, it will keep recommending them to you. Although sometimes all you do is click one by accident and now the algorithm ONLY wants to show a certain type of content. All you can do is drown it out by watch tons of content you actually like or clear your watch history entirely and start over.
You could start by watching more of Japanese from Zero. 😉 Makes great videos for learners.
you are the best, it is why I stopped making videos. I found you then just started telling people to go to you since you are so much better at teaching.
It sucks because Matt is who got me into learning - and now 4 years later, because of the way he taught and brought all these different influences into his own teachings - I reached my goals. He legit has some of the best interviews and insights on the more philosophical methods of language learning. He never needed a partner. I cannot for the life of me understand why he felt he needed that.
It doesn't suck. It's great the Matt continues to show everyone that he's an amoral person. People who couldn't smell that on him from the start and terrible judges of character
@@properpolymath2097 it does indeed suck since if you separate the person from the method, his methods was really, really effective and a LOT of people reached fluency because of it. Too bad the money caused him to change the course from "creating free content so everyone could get better at language learning" to "use any method possible to make money, no matter how immoral it may be"
@@properpolymath2097 This is such a cynical comment. For years he just made videos about language learning. That's it.
Each and everyone of us should reflect on our behaviours and bring along the due respect everybody deserves even in dispute.
@@archiesenol9104 Completely agree. In the end, we're all humans. Capable of making mistakes. Love how empathetic George is through out the video. He WANTS them to be better.
Whoa. Randomly clicked this video after seeing it suggested. I have some of the Japanese From Zero books for study, I haven't studied in a really long time and definitely need to fix that... But I found it really nice to learn from.
I’ve been watching your videos and buying your books (and as of yesterday am now a premium subscriber on the website!) for just about 4 years now…
If I EVER received an email saying that there was a program where I could learn 25% of the Japanese language in only 3 days and you somehow endorsed it, I would first laugh because I know from just watching all the videos alone that you would NEVER endorse something like that. I would then proceed to delete it because I know from my own common sense that it sounds like the biggest scam in education lol.
I understand your feeling George. I have been following you for over 15 years and appreciate your hard work. Unfortunately I have not been able to learn Japanese yet but have purchased your products and their amazing. Keep up the amazing work you do. Happy New Year!
I had actually took that Ken Cannon class you mentioned... I'm so glad I pulled out. My father had gotten sick, plus I started to feel some kind of way, after he had the Peruvian guy that lives in Japan (he also had a TH-cam channel, but I can't remember his name) in his class as an interview. It sucks for those people, but Ken had been doing a lot of shady stuff over the years, and many of us had started to pay attention to it. He is a grifter. It started with his "Learn Through Anime" stuff.
Anyway, I do have two of your books 😁
It's funny how Matt was criticizing Khatzumoto back in the day for the exact thing Matt is doing now ;D
Now even George has turned on Matt. Matt has lost everyone.
You have a new subscriber, George, thanks to this video. ありがとうございました！
Your points are totally valid, dear George! Hope you’ll get over this quickly
Hey, George, A fellow Japanese teacher here. Love your material and teaching style. I use a lot of your material because like you said, you are the best. Thank you and continue to doing what you do. I hope for the best for you.
25% in 3 days is outrageous. I’ve been studying Japanese for like 9 months now and am just now getting to the point I can form proper sentences and have basic conversations
You know... there was always... I don't know... "something" about Matt vs. Japan that rubbed me the wrong way. I guess my instincts were right.
Yep, the last couple years he has really exposed himself for what he is, validating our gut instinct about him
It’s the fanaticism with which he says things. And also that story he told about going to Japan and being anti-social by avoiding invitations to do things with his host family and not interacting with people … the “lesson “ he learned from that, he said, was to spend more time studying before going to a country…
25% in 3 days ??? I doubt there is any language in the world that is that easy even with immersion technique that matt lives by.
Honestly, as a Spanish-speaker, the only language I could think of is Portuguese (with the pre-existing condition that you already speak Spanish, _and_ you choose Brazilian Portuguese which is easier to understand when spoken than the Portuguese variant is).
@@elprofegrimm And even then, you would recquire more than just 10 hours a day to dominate the 25% of it. As a native Spanish speaker who studied basic Portuguese some years ago, I can say one (native Spanish speaker) can learn it very fast... But no so fast, not to that point.
Also, as a Japanese language teacher myself, the first thing I warn my students about is that Japanese is NOT a language you learn fast in the first classes (not for Spanish speakers, at least, although I would say also for Indoeuropean languages speakers), that it truely needs time and patience, but that it will be rewarding.
I have all your books and your videos helped me a lot when I was living in Japan. Hope all the problems you are having with this get resolved.
SUE GEORGE SUE!!! Thanks to you I can communicate in almost perfect Japanese. Wnen are you back at Japan to hang out?
LJFZ books helped me break a wall I couldn't get over without those exercise books. Thank you for your hard work!
Thank you for telling us, I just started learning (got your book btw, its been very fun to learn with your teaching method), but I don’t know whos who in the japanese learning world and I know this well keep a lot of other newbies safe from scammers
Fun is good. 😊👍
Wow. You're clearly authentic, and the best teacher. Sorry trouble has been forced upon you. Good for you for defending yourself admirably.
I just subscribed to your website and bought 2 of your books in the last 5 years. Love your content, don't sweat it!
You ARE the best, George! I've been utilizing your courses since 2016 - bought all the books.
False advertising in a language course means that when the learner finishes the course and hasn’t achieved that level, they’ll feel like they’ve failed when they haven’t.
I saw it last night, I was like...how sneaky. I'll wait for George
This is the difference between someone doing something out of passion and someone doing something for profit. George is fundamentally a teacher. His career does not begin and end with TH-cam. These other guys can't say the same. They dont have the integrity George has because they dont really care if you learn Japanese or not. They are TH-camrs first a formost and their primary goal is to make money not to teach you.
For perspective, I’ve been learning Japanese for almost 40 years, and use it in professional capacity all day, every day. And there is so much I don’t know yet…
I've been told that all Japanese sentences can be expressed as maji yabai.
Haven't had a MattvsJapan email in years, got this one through and immediately winced. I expected better.
I winced as well...
As someone who enjoys learning new languages:
Anyone who says you can learn *any* language in a short time-period is trying to scam you. Learning languages involves so many different aspects, structures, and dedication to be able to understand it fluently. Any youtubers that are trying to "speedrun" language learning might end up being able to communicate poorly, but they're far from true fluency.
I absolutely agree with you. In my opinion, and as a language teacher myself, language learning isn't about being fast, it's about being effective. It really doesn't matter how "quickly" you can learn a language, without a good understanding of how the language actually works, you won't be effective. Will you be able to communicate? Like you said: Yes, but poorly. In fact, I would go much further and say that whoever tries to speed through language-learning isn't trying to really _learn_ a language, but rather trying to bruteforce their communication in said language.
Good understanding takes time, practice, effort, and lots of immersion in order to get a feel for how people actually phrase their ideas. Grammar is great, but it's not enough. You can make grammatically correct statements that no one understands because no one would say them in real life.
Cure Dolly gave a great example of this. In English, we'd say:
"Some people are like that."
In Japanese, the more natural thing to say (the thing you're more likely to hear) is:
「そういう人もいる。」
(The people described as such exist as well).
If you're bolting through a language, these nuances get lost, and your communication-once again, like you said-becomes poor. Sure, they'll understand you, but you won't be effective.
Always liked you George. Thanks for standing up for integrity.
Yeah, that was a shady as hell e-mail. Name dropping George is unacceptable. Knowing the statistics (helped compile a few myself), it's likely the 25% bit was just covering the words that are used 25% of the time. While "technically" only 70 words are used 25% of the time in Japanese, that's completely useless if you don't know what they're doing in the sentence and context. Have ChatGPT change a story from Japanese to English using only the top 100 words, but translate only the specific words if in the list and none of the grammar. It's ... not very readable.
Full disclosure, I got caught up in that drama between Yoga and Matt (dissolving of Mass Immersion Approach) then later Matt and Ken and Yoga (the Uproot mass emailing).
As someone who didn't get into mass input for language learning until recently and therefore wasn't around it for the MIA drama, is there a tldr for it?
It is always good to know who is honest and who is scamming in the field. Thanks for being open about it
3:15 poor 5'3 matt getting pegged to send emails. So glad i left the scene in 2021
I respect the level of Japanese the Matt has achieved but I don't see him as a role model person, he is scummy. He's seems stuck up and prideful as though him knowing Japanese better than natives makes him a god. Props to you for being a likeable person.
Matt is very good at Japanese but isn't native level. I need to be very direct about that
While I can't blame you, you should realize that this sort of thing will happen when you engage with other creators and have hour long conversations with these people trying to be their therapist and meeting them for dinners and stuff. Should just do what Tokini Andy does and just focus on the Japanese.
You are one of the most authentic and honest people online… . Your books and videos are awesome!
Learning Japanese and Chinese since years, I just can laugh about that 25% thing. That’s just stupid. Hopefully there won’t be many new learners who will recognize that after enrolling in such kind of courses.
I've been learning Japanese off and on for years. I'm glad I learned about you and your channel early on. Not only because I have learned a lot but also because it means that I have no idea who these dweebs are
George, i just wanted to say, you did a great job handling this in such a mature way, im blown back. Thank you for this video and thank you for being you
You're right that Matt is smart and talented at youtube. He never had to resort to the scummy business tactics. Why is he OK with destroying his reputation like this?
Wow I wasn't aware of this guy before, and then I remembered I saw some of his videos in my recs - turns out is the guy I couldn't stand because of how he talked about learners and in general (way before I had your books George). Ffs sue the hell out of it, or at least speak to someone. Your method is so good and logical, your books super varied and on top of that your videos are so entertaining that I remember/retain more than I would otherwise. Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu sensei! ❤
I'm glad I'm learning Japanese from someone with integrity! Your stuff has helped me so much even with the accessibility issues I've had I recommend your stuff to everyone I know! I have been on this Japanese journey since February and the idea of mastering 25% of the language in 3 days is absurd. Only children would believe that's possible. There's just no way. I study for 3 hours every single day and haven't reached that level. Thank you for this video and for shedding light on this very serious situation. Mr. George just know that those who know you stand with you and those like me who don't know you but have engaged with your content heavily know that you stand for truth and for not scamming people!!
Hope you have a happy new year and this BS doesn't ruin your holiday!
With all my support,
Ray
Ken cannon has ALWAYS been sketchy. MattVSjapan has had a tonn of issues with his previous business partners.
I paid for your courses to teach my daughter, because I love your books. I learned Japan in the late 90s, too, and moved to Japan. We want to move back, so I paid for your courses because they feel the most honest. She is loving them. I am so sorry Matt did that, because I think he burned another group of people before too. If I remember correctly there was a big thing with him and another language learning group that makes podcasts and videos. 😢 Just know that we would never jump from your course to another. I think I am getting my money worth as my daughter is able to speak with her doctor now at her 6 month checks. 😊 I would be so angry if another Author used my names on their books too when I tell them not to. I hope Matt figures this out before he gets into legal trouble.
I dont know who these people are but I like you George I learned so much!
Happy new year to you! あけましておめでとう
I will just say this: unlike George, there is always something about Matt v Japan that has struck me as "off". Like when you are having a conversation with someone and you can just tell they are not being honest with you. I don't trust him and never have so this does not surprise me at all.
Sorry to hear that. I came across your story by chance (guy I watch reacted to it), but I appreciate your honesty and integrity. Hope it works out well.
Metatron?
@@japanesefromzero Himself. Apparently speaks Japanese. Another guy I think is very honest. And smart as hell.
It's unfortunate that it had to come down to this... But people like Matt and this other guy get away with stuff because they're charming, likeable, and great liars.
It hurts when you've opened up your home to people who acted like they respected you, but clearly didn't. I honestly don't think they'll learn until everything comes toppling down. And that might mean lawsuits, etc.
You were kind, you saw the best in them, and you believed in them. I really hate that this happened to you... I sincerely hope that this gets resolved and don't ever stop being kind. ❤️
Okay, so I know this wasn't the intended effect, but I'm kinda new to Japanese From Zero and seeing you this angry about someone else's unethical behavior makes me feel sooooo much better about investing in your books/courses.
Wow you need to educate yourself on how marketing works. You really think someone defending their integrity isn't done for the purpose of building up trustworthiness?
@@AncientGreek-v9f I do think that actually. That, critically combined with anger that appears sincere, is the whole point of my post. He seems to take ethics seriously, which makes me more inclined to trust him and to want to do business with him. What about that is unclear to you?
@@scribemike no clue what this guys problem was bro 🤷🏽♂️
@@AncientGreek-v9freplied to the wrong comment? Lol
Ima be honest. As a very sarcastic person myself, I can't tell if this comment is sarcastic or not 🤣 hence the confusion with the person below.
I speak two languages fluently, use both of them at work, one intermediate, am learner of Japanese. I agree - 25% of Japanese language in three days - bull. Esperanto, maybe, not Japanese, not any other language for that matter, including conlangs. Na-ah, ain't gonna happen. Love the allegory of obaa-san, it's so accurate.
No matter how good he is - I sneer at his courses or whatever. He is a kid who accidentally made money on TH-cam because he happened to learn a trendy language.
From chat: "Randhrick
Time to take some legal action, Matt is freaking basement kid who learned Japanese because he had no life and could afford to only do this for years" - this. So much this. If I had the whole year to just only learn and not be worried about anything else - man, I'd learn Japanese, no problem.
It’s so disheartening as Matt was a massive inspiration. I hate that they keep doing this.
Matt had the CLEANEST rise to the top. He was the Ajatt golden boy but he fucked it up
Didn't fuck it up, he had nothing but his Japanese skill - jump in with famous scammer Ken Cannon to sell overpriced courses and make stacks of cash. Shortsighted of him imo but he's gotta be flush now 💸
Never thought I’d see you angry! But absolutely warranted.
Never seen him angry? Ask him about politics in his personal channel 😅
Depending on which graph you're looking at, it is* possible to learn "25%" of Japanese in 3 days, because 25% word recognition only requires ~50 words. Obviously those graphs are extremely exponential, 98% recognition is usually measured at ~20,000 words and 99% at ~30,000.
The wording is really tricky, the pitch should be ”teaching you 50 japanese words in 3 days"
lets be honest part of the plan here was to get you mad, they are hoping you will say something stupid.
George is a real one
That’s actually so scummy, I hadn’t liked Matt for a while, simply because I didn’t agree with his pitch accent crap and framing it like if you didn’t master it you’re less than/not as perfect as me which rubbed me the wrong way. Recently learned about him scamming some other people with a weird ass course or something now this? Bro is too proud, have some humility or something. You act like just cause you speak Japanese really well you’re better than everyone and act like you know you can teach it which imo I can’t remember a single thing that guy has said, genki has by far been the building blocks MOST people use to study Japanese and it’s great which is why it’s widely accepted to be one of the best textbooks for getting into Japanese and giving you what you need to go further. To act like you’re above the people who have helped so many and who’s methods of teaching have been proven to work is scummy in itself but the added using people’s names without permission on top of straight up claiming you can learn MOST of the language in 3 fucking days is some…word I cannot say SHIT. Just cause you can speak a language don’t mean you can teach it and I stand by that, go flex your Japanese skills and pride bro somewhere else but leave others outta it. I’d honestly sue him, it ain’t right him saying you endorse it or whatever, even if the possibility of winning is slim Id just do it so he knows he can’t keep getting away with this crap forever he’s a SCAMMER and I’ll die on that hill. I would have talked more about Ken but tbh I didn’t even know this guy existed and it’s probably for the best lmao. Keep on giving us some great ass REAL content man you’re someone who I actually respect and look up to because you’re not prideful or arrogant, you’re just a regular guy who’s really helping people learn a beautiful language cause you love it, not cause it can make a quick buck.
❤ it makes me so happy when people say Matt’s pitch accent doctrine is a bunch of bullshit 🍻cheers🍺
Matt's a pointless pitch accent pusher, Ken's a straight scammer - he's been selling bs courses to desperate people for yearrrsss. He got Matt involved a few yrs ago.
That’s unfortunate, hopefully they try to resolve and make it up to George.
Thanks for your continued integrity.
I have tried some of the courses by Ken and Matt I didn't think they were bad at all and learned a lot, but every time I saw a new promotion it felt scamy. I wish they would stop this. I feel like there is ligit a lot that people can learn from them and they don't really need to have this crappy scamy marketing. Also, it would be nice if they actually finished their courses and not over promise.
I don’t want to be the one to have to say this but Matt’s Japanese is by NO means perfect! His knowledge of how to pronounce individual words is decent and I guess his reading is at a near native level (probably way better than mine). But he doesn’t sound at all like a Japanese person. Therefore he’s not native level or at all “perfect.” His intonation often goes up in a very unnatural way when he says things like, 私「だ」ったら、going way up on the だ. Something a Japanese native would never do. The guy has done so many shady things that I don’t trust anything he says or does at this point. The video of him flying through all the correct answer on the J-CAT is probably staged BS as well. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk 😂😂
I guess it may be different for others but I've showed a few of my Japanese friends the interview he did with atsueigo and all of them said they wouldn't be able to differentiate him from a native. He may be a scam artist but he is still really good at Japanese and I would recommend his pre-uproot videos to any new learners.
@@leaf-cf3qlhe’s at a near native level. ニック sounds a lot more like a husky, confident, Japanese man in his 30’s though. Matt’s inflections and speaking style are a little more feminine and that of a Japanese woman or younger person. Example: 「これでいっぱい日本語できるわ。」Obviously this is just my opinion, but I think it may be better for many Japanese learners to get a stronger grasp of formal Japanese before trying to sound like a 20 year old college girl. Especially if they want to work and live in Japan.
I'm truly sorry this is happening to you, George. I really hate to say, 'I told you so,' but I did try to warn you about him years ago. Your kind heart made it hard to see the potential danger, and I left it at that. This guy is a snake. After all the shenanigans he pulled with Khatzumoto, Oscar, and other lesser-known netizens, it’s clear he hasn’t changed at all-and most likely never will. Stay away from him to protect your peace.
I don't know Ken, but I remember YEARS ago learning Matt was a scumbag. I started watching your videos 5 years ago when I started learning Japanese. Love you George
Matt never changes. 😂
Yep, your name and brand was used. It's clear to see.
So this starts with a cease and desist but also in Japan there is a law against disruption of business that may apply in this situation. I imagine they are going to make you go through mediation first but you can claim legal costs and make them pay. It doesn't have to be an emotional situation and break the relationship, it is just business. I hope you get that process started as quickly as possible because it takes months.
You know 80% japanese after the course but then forget 79.99% the following day. I think they forget that the mind forgets not just remembers.
I saw this on my TH-cam page and was not sure what it was. But now that I know I thinks it's a crazy and horrific thing to do to people. I agree with don't do business with other people from my experience people do tend to fall under not caring and laziness then it destroys it all and It looses any special happy feelings that once were there. Thank you for sharing.
Please stay away from all of them, George. You have every right to be angry, but they really aren’t worth your time! I highly respect you and truly love your book series. Just save yourself from this headache and focus on your work. Stay happy and safe!
Man, someone upset George! Im not having that, no one upsets sensei!!!
I have always found George's books and materials to be amongst the best available and have helped me get up to N3 level. Appreciate your efforts. Sorry to see people trying to sell unrealistic courses to make a cheap buck off the reputation you have built.
3 days so just, what, 3,000 words in a day for 3 days.
Hello, I'm from France, I don't know these people, but what I do know is that a lot of people on TH-cam are thirsty for money, quick money. Whoever will sell you a programm with no background experience, no books, making you believe that the impossible could be possible by magic, are scammers.
Because creating books like Japanese From Zero's, is very difficult, as you have to think about a whole methodology that could help people learn fast but efficiently. And that's not " fast money" you have to be known, to improve all the time, to reach people among other books that are already well known as references.
Also thanks for you and your team to sell these books and help people learning Japanese with good basics, I think also that the combination of books and videos are great, I was searching for that kind of teaching, just a little note : I wish you'd had one video per lesson with a QR code so that people who didn't pay for the books will not only watch the videos, I guess it would be unfair
Ultimately, the free TH-cam videos are also a great way to sell the books and the online course. A lot of people find out about them that way.
I've been following you for awhile, I still got alot of videos to watch but I re watch alot until I get the words perfect..I can count perfectly in Japanese now and I understand so much, even when I hear songs I can pickup on certain words. I'm even friends with your daughter Arisa on Instagram. You and your family are really cool and you are doing great work providing people with these tools. Thank you for doing what u do 🙏
I received this email and immediately deleted it. I'm so glad you addressed this, as I saw your name and wasn't sure how you had even gotten involved in the "course" and immediatly cringed. I too, wish Matt would come back to TH-cam as his old self, and not any of this promitional bs on learning Japanese quick scheme person he has become.
Georgie-san, I learn japanese from you and I always continue to support your channel. Those two are scammers and should get sued.
When I worked in a comic book store about 14~ years ago I remember your book was in stock and I always wanted to buy it but I always bought manga instead xD
The drama intensifies. I need popcorn.
Glad to see you here TBYS!
whoa youre here?! wild!
😮
If someone think they can learn “25%” of a language in 3 days then they deserve to buy that course really
It would also be the ONLY course.
Each and everyone of us should reflect on our behaviours and bring along the due respect everybody deserves even in dispute. Love u guyz!