New Prof Argüelles Youtube Series

[Irena]

My impression of Arguelles is that he's more interested in reading in his languages than he is in actually speaking those languages. And that's perfectly fine, if that's what you're after. Incidentally, I can easily believe that Raconteur got a lot out of Arguelles' literature class. Seems like precisely the kind of class that Arguelles would teach well. As for this:

Finally, here’s an insider’s perspective. I’ve been taking literature and theory courses at the Academy for a year now. Almost everyone who I started with last May is still enrolled. In terms of progress, it’s been the single, most consistent/fruitful year of language learning for me, ever. The classes are great, and the student community is great. But then again, what do I know… I guess I’m just a “fawning” sheep falling for a guru-influencer scam.

Well I did say that the experience might be beneficial to some. Tell me though, what in the literature and theory courses have you learned that is unavailable anywhere else? Or for free by reading literature and looking at theory books?

I obviously don't know the specifics (since I haven't taken any classes with Arguelles), but in general, a class can give you structure, pacing, a sense of community, and feedback. You can't get that from a bunch of books, even if all the content is there.

As for learning four languages (three of them from the same family) at once - err, no. Not for me. But who knows, maybe he'll be able to form a small group of highly unusual students for whom that sort of thing will work, and if so, good for them.

[Pikaia]

Incidentally, shouldn't this thread be called "New Dr Argüelles YouTube Series"...?

It seems to me that he always claimed the title "prof" because he was teaching in universities, but I don't think he ever taught in a North American university, did he? so the description "professor" was potentially just translationese. Certainly, you wouldn't get called "professor" in a university in any other Anglophone country unless you had very high status.

Nope, things are different in the US. Here, Professor as a term of address can be somewhat less prestigious than Dr. For example, graduate students who teach college classes are called Prof even though they technically don't hold that position. Bachelor and master level community college instructors are still addressed as Professor.

On the other hand, there are also PhDs who avoid using the title Dr either because they find it pretentious or because many in the US believe Dr should only be used by medical doctors.

My most brilliant and beloved math professor happened to be a master's level mathematician who went by the title Prof. He had been a university professor for a very long time; my father had also taken classes with him. A snotty classmate (who was doing worse in the class than he thought he deserved) apparently noticed that our instructor corrected people when they called him Dr. He decided to investigate further. In the middle of class one day, the student started questioning our prof about his academic credentials and qualifications to teach at the college level. The rest of us were aghast. Social consequences ensued.

[Le Baron]

I took the courses, and I see the value.
I recommend it.

Okay. I had asked in good faith. What is the particular value you are recommending? Something of value can surely be described? If it gets closed down to a: 'I think it's good so there', it makes me think it's not real. You may refuse to respond to that, but that doesn't assist the recommendation at all. And I would therefore find it odd that you initially responded at all if you really don't care either way what people think of it.

[Raconteur]

I took the courses, and I see the value.
I recommend it.

Okay. I had asked in good faith. What is the particular value you are recommending? Something of value can surely be described? If it gets closed down to a: 'I think it's good so there', it makes me think it's not real. You may refuse to respond to that, but that doesn't assist the recommendation at all.

I really dig your contributions on this forum Le Baron, so since you're asking directly once more, I will try my best to respond. The reason I did not take you up on it initially is because I'm not sure how to satisfy the "what [...] have you learned that is unavailable anywhere else? Or for free by reading literature and looking at theory books?" criteria.

I couldn't really tell you what is 100%-for-sure original/new to these courses (how could I be certain?), and I'm not sure I even agree with that kind of a premise in the first place. In fact, what I do like about the Academy is that they are not trying to sell me some "never-before-seen secret language learning sauce" that will 10x my results. Furthermore, even when it comes to Arguelles' original (or semi-original, as some argue) ideas, he has shared his views on all of this freely over the years.

Frankly, I do not think very many courses in any discipline could truly meet the scrutiny of "unavailable anywhere else, or for free" criteria. But that's not what I look for. With these courses, as with any other type of education, I look for synthesis, expertise, feedback, and as a welcome bonus, community. Sure, I can also do my own research for free. Endless research. However, I can and do appreciate it when someone, preferably an expert (of some kind) in their niche, steps up to offer you their version of the Compendium to X. In this case, autodidactic approaches to language learning and polyglot strategies. So that's the synthesis part.

As for the expertise part, well that's always up for debate, right? I don't find Arguelles to be some infallible guru to follow blindly, and having interacted with him personally for over a year now, I do not believe that he considers himself an infallible guru either. He is, however, in my humble opinion, an expert in this particular micro-niche of a field. Or as close to one as you're likely to come across... with a dedicated seminar, anyway. In my experience most language educators are interested in one (max two) foreign languages themselves, and have learned them in a traditional way, usually university degree. In contrast, Arugelles spent most of his adult life learning, teaching, and writing about autodidactic language learning and polyglottery. Naturally, I do not just blindly follow his every suggestion, but I do value hearing his expert take and making up my own mind.

Which brings me to feedback. It's one thing to watch a video on the scriptorium technique, for example. It's another to apply it to your own experience, and discuss it with someone who has done it for decades (I don't really care if its his original idea or not, btw) and a small group of likeminded people. One thing that comes up again and again in the seminars is just how much of his freely available advice participants were misunderstanding or misapplying before they joined the Academy. Having a regular two-way conversation with an expert is not the same as reading their blog or watching their videos. In my experience, this is true of any discipline - running marathons, playing piano, etc. Nothing prevents one from preparing for a marathon from a book, but arguing this is the same as having an expert coach working with you is a bit absurd, imo.

Finally, community. I've mentioned getting feedback from a small group. I think it shouldn't be undervalued that a course such as this one brings many likeminded people together on a regular basis. I've probably learned as much from them as I did from the Prof (or the Doc, for the terminology sensitive in the audience). Sure you can get some of that here, or I guess on Twitter/Reddit if you're into that. But, for me at least, a small tight-knit class environment is different.

And I would therefore find it odd that you initially responded at all if you really don't care either way what people think of it.

I do care. But I'm also aware this is the Internet, and there is only so much you can do. So, I didn't really want to engage with this more than necessary. I'm already dreading how what I wrote above might be taken apart and misrepresented, to be honest. If you have any additional questions regarding the courses, I'm happy to answer you over PM, Le Baron.

[Le Baron]

It's a good answer. I like explanations, they help me to understand what people see and experience.

[Le Baron]

It's nice to see that at least my conciliatory answers are supported.

[Cainntear]

I do care. But I'm also aware this is the Internet, and there is only so much you can do. So, I didn't really want to engage with this more than necessary. I'm already dreading how what I wrote above might be taken apart and misrepresented, to be honest. If you have any additional questions regarding the courses, I'm happy to answer you over PM, Le Baron.

Your response is genuinely appreciated.

As I say, there's a whole lot of junk out on the internet right now. I don't personally feel bad that I was perhaps misled into doubting Argüelles because of that. We live in a world where there are always shades of grey and reasons for doubt, and the only way through that is by open dialogue. That's something that's gone out of fashion on the modern internet, and we've just got to hold on tight and stop this forum following everyone else down the plughole.

[lingohot]

I don't know the fellow and I've never met him, but he seems to only ever speak English, which is a bad advertisement when one claims to know ways of making people accomplished in foreign languages. Maybe others who have met him know differently?

He has two videos where he speaks Arabic, I don't know how well though, but given the difficulty of Arabic to speakers of indo-european languages, it's quite impressive to me.

[Kraut]

Have you seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaBFcU_uFI

Ep199: Path of the Polyglot - Dr Alexander Arguelles

In this episode, Dr Arguelles recounts his unusual upbringing in counter-culture America, traces his academic career through institutions such as the Universities of Columbia and Chicago, and details his remarkable life as a scholar and teacher.

Dr Arguelles illuminates the inner world of the polyglot, listing his dozens of ancient and modern languages and revealing his methods of study, his surprising daily routine, and how deep immersion in language families such as Germanic or Romantic, can unlock all related languages without the need for extensive study.

Dr Arguelles also reflects on his own spiritual life, including his mystical conversion to Catholicism, the unravelling of his vocation as a Benedictine monk, his time in Buddhist meditation retreat, and the ways in which a life of study and language learning can be a profound spiritual path of meditation.

Intro
01:14 - How Steve met Dr Arguelles
02:40 - Inspiration behind the Academy
05:06 - The power of peers
07:54 - Dr Arguelles’ unusual upbringing
11:49 - Discouraged from language learning by polyglot father
14:41 - Areligious family context
16:19 - Dr Arguelles’ brother’s catastrophic brain disease
17:45 - Encountering Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas at Columbia University
19:24 - Drawn to the Mystery and conversion to Catholicism
21:53 - The unravelling of his vocation as a Benedictine monk
24:03 - Obtaining a PhD at the University of Chicago about dreams in the Old 24:56 - Norse sagas
25:30 - Reflecting on his conversion experience
28:18 - Dr Arguelles’ current spiritual position
31:10 - Thomas Merton and the Mystery
32:37 - Born to be a monk
34:08 - Dr Arguelles’ language learning journey
35:29 - Learning French, German, Spanish, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit at Columbia
36:58 - Old Norse, Old High German, Middle High German, Old English, Medieval French at University of Chicago
38:34 - The murder of Ioan Petru Culianu
40:03 - Postdoctoral work on 1890s neo-paganism at the Berlin Centre for Advanced European Studies
41:09 - Immersing in the Germanic and Romance language branches
44:23 - Seeking a greater challenge
45:30 - Unlocking the entire language branch
46:59 - Different personalities in different languages?
47:55 - Awakening languages rather than learning them
51:09 - How many languages does Dr Arguelles speak?
54:04 - Dr Arguelles’ regret
54:44 - The advantage of reading texts in their original languages
58:21 - Monastic phase in South Korea and intense learning
01:03:42 - Learning more languages and immersing in self-study
01:07:08 - Dr Arguelles’ daily routine, beginning at 2am
01:08:46 - Emerging from the monastic phase and getting married
01:09:32 - Immersion in Sanskrit and pruning his languages
01:11:55 - Immersion in Arabic in Lebanon
01:13:05 - Attending Buddhist retreats at Haeinsa in South Korea
01:16:47 - Committing faux pas on retreat
01:18:11 - Meeting and marrying Park Hyun-Kyung
01:20:44 - Dr Arguelles’ language meditation techniques and learning as a spiritual path
01:22:14 - Languages offered at the Academy
01:24:27 - Learning Sanskrit
01:25:37 - Comparative religions and the Great Books

…

[jeff_lindqvist]

I don't know the fellow and I've never met him, but he seems to only ever speak English, which is a bad advertisement when one claims to know ways of making people accomplished in foreign languages. Maybe others who have met him know differently?

Back in the days of HTLAL, there was a link to a (then recent) radio interview in Spanish. Then we have that Dutch clip:


Fast forward to 27m 54s.

There was some duelling going on in Novi Sad between Arguelles and our own Iversen. A new language every time they met. (If memory serves, they reached 16 languages.)