Stuart Jay Raj's resources for mastering languages with innovative tools - esp Asian / Tonal Languages - Thai Chinese Vietnamese Indonesian
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 po&
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
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 F&
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