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+--- Thread: Where's Khatzumoto? (/thread-12626.html)
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - ariariari - 2016-01-22
@danchan just wanted to drop in and say that I really enjoyed reading your essay. I think you write really well, and that you should consider writing a book about your experiences!
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - dtcamero - 2016-01-22
(2016-01-22, 10:42 am)thecite wrote: Wrote: They even used the blood from the slaughtered emu to create a horrific mural on one of the walls of the refurbished cafeteria.
i don't suppose there are any pictures of this somewhere?
great stories guys ;D
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Sebastian - 2016-01-22
Someone should write a book based on posts of this forum.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Bokusenou - 2016-01-22
(2016-01-22, 3:31 pm)dtcamero Wrote:(2016-01-22, 10:42 am)thecite wrote: Wrote: They even used the blood from the slaughtered emu to create a horrific mural on one of the walls of the refurbished cafeteria.
i don't suppose there are any pictures of this somewhere?
great stories guys ;D
I think I found one. Warning: It's graphic.
https://mobile.twitter.com/nishiokatakuma/status/660813665042497536
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Danchan - 2016-01-23
(2016-01-22, 10:42 am)ariariari Wrote: @danchan just wanted to drop in and say that I really enjoyed reading your essay. I think you write really well, and that you should consider writing a book about your experiences!
Hey thanks. Re-reading it there's a few spelling mistakes and a couple of missing links between points, but I think it turned out OK.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Dudeist - 2016-01-23
Making murals from the blood of slauthered emos? Jeez not a huge fan of the mopey buggers but it is a bit much. Kinda messed up like decking the halls with the bowels of some poor girl named Holly to celebrate Christmas.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Zgarbas - 2016-01-23
(2016-01-22, 7:48 am)Danchan Wrote: That's normal for the old Japan post grad unis. You need English (or in my case Japanese), plus a second foreign language. Keep in mind that I was in the school of letters, not researching or publishing in science. It would make little sense to come all the way to Japan to go to a Japanese university school of letters and read and write in English. I'd be better of where I already was. Everybody is Japanese, save a few Chinese. Any other foreign students in post grad at a place like Kyodai are going to be doing science or sociology research in a different department, not the school of letters.I'm in grad school at the school of languages and culture (collaborating a lot with school of letters), though? A lot of my classes use English texts, or Japanese translations of foreign texts (I usually just get the English translation since it lightens up my workload). No requirement for any language but English, though a lot of the people in Linguistics are writing in other languages. Japanese-language papers don't matter in academic rankings so if you can half-ass a paper in English your advisor will be dropping a lot of hints to write in English and just get someone to native check it (this has made me quite popular since I'm the closest thing to a native that my school has
Just as a concrete example, but the Japanese students in my research room would have mostly done English and German as their foreign languages. English for participating in academic conferences etc. abroad, German for actually reading 18th-20th century philosophy like Kant, Husserl and Heidegger. Some people do French instead, some do both, but mostly it would be German. Everybody would write their thesis in Japanese though.
). It's pissing off my Chinese colleagues who came to Japan knowing only Japanese since they actually can't take most classes because of all the English in them, and their papers are seen as worthless. Since kyodai is higher ranked than meidai I'd assume they have more papers in English.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - mattimus - 2016-04-03
![[Image: CczuwqRW4AULFWG.jpg]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CczuwqRW4AULFWG.jpg)
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - cophnia61 - 2016-04-03
I must add that lately he is sending newsletters about a Trump based anki deck, which proves he is back
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - mattimus - 2016-04-03
(2016-04-03, 1:30 pm)cophnia61 Wrote: I must add that lately he is sending newsletters about a Trump based anki deck, which proves he is back
Paste one of them here, I want to know how to make Anki great again
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - cophnia61 - 2016-04-05
(2016-04-03, 2:10 pm)mattimus Wrote:(2016-04-03, 1:30 pm)cophnia61 Wrote: I must add that lately he is sending newsletters about a Trump based anki deck, which proves he is back
Paste one of them here, I want to know how to make Anki great again
"We will build a wall of listening comprehension" lol
here it is:
Quote:Have you ever been "into" someone?
But you don't know what to say or how to say it, so you play it cool?
But then, suddenly, one day, they're gone?
Forever?
Well, this is almost that. This is the Trump versiono of that. This is your
chance to not live in regret.
[Why Does Donald Trump Want You to Kick A$$ At Japanese? | AJATT | All
Japanese All The Time]
http://goo.gl/uQNN4n
Your password: ******
Get it before it's gone.
Don't hide your Trump love
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - rochel - 2016-04-05
I have also been getting a few emails from him recently for the Silverspoon program as well. I don't remember seeing anything about the "fo'shizzle" guarantee in them, howver, but perhaps I would need to click through the link to see it.
The AJATT blog doesn't appear to have been updated in a long time, but it looks like he is definitely dusting off some of the money making programs. I'm no sure how much reach or popularity these will have without an active blog or self-promotion behind the programs, however.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - tokyostyle - 2016-04-06
(2016-04-05, 9:39 am)rochel Wrote: I'm no sure how much reach or popularity these will have without an active blog or self-promotion behind the programs, however.
The time:money ratio is probably more important. It's possible they have only recently started to dip on the money side and so it's worth a small amount of time to push it slightly back up. Kind of the like difference between Coke introducing a slightly new label to the bottle as opposed to the effort to create and market a whole new flavor.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Wysiwyg - 2016-05-03
Interesting thread to read. I was someone who had faith in Khatz's method, but couldn't actually bring myself to actually follow through. So I'm still sitting at a shitty intermediate level of Japanese, without even knowing the Kanjis.
I did try to push myself by signing up to SilverSpoon, but I never completed the program. I would like to say, in some small defence of Khatz that I think his intention WAS to honour the fo' shizzle guarantee.
I requested a refund at the end of my SS period in January 2013. He processed my refund after asking why I was requesting the refund and I received the approximately $1600 I had spent on it, IN FULL.
I guess I was lucky that I was, perhaps, one of the first people to sign up for SS and one of the first to ask for a refund. The scamming likely came in after too many people requested refunds and quite possibly he had already spent the money...
For people that did lose money and didn't have their refunds honored, I'm not trying to make excuses. It's inexcusable. I'm just not sure if it's widely known that there were people, such as myself, for whom the guarantee actually DID hold.
Sounds like he's in a pretty screwed up situation, regardless.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Surreal - 2016-05-20
I haven't been here in forever and haven't visited AJATT for a couple of years, but I was interested in seeing if there was any closure to the AJATT story so I had a look today and found this thread. Thanks for the read everyone! (except the people who dug up stuff that was too personal IMO) It seems like this turned out to be a tragedy for a lot of people involved. But to me it seems the lessons to be learned for language students are:
1. There are different methods, and whatever road will take you to Rome is fine. Looking at how people have succeeded or failed with all kinds of methods throughout history to learn languages, it's obvious that lots of different ways can and do work, and it's hard to tell which are the most efficient ones. Now, with history I mean both before and after the advent of technologies for recording audio and video for distribution by radio, CD, cinemas, the internet and so on. So, be open to trying out new stuff. As long as you use material that is closely linked to how natives use the language, or interact with natives directly, and get a lot of time actually understanding and communicating things in the language it's probably fine. If you're gonna pick one method over another, either go by some solid evidence (research articles, or summaries in books, etc. by experienced researchers) or personal preference. Finding a method that keeps you engaged and interested seems to be at least half the battle IMO. Be wary of people who trash talk another method without presenting any firmly grounded arguments - especially if they're using anecdotes to back up what they're saying. In the same way, don't bother arguing with others about whether one method is better than another unless you do thorough research yourself and can reason using facts that aren't based on personal experience or others' anecdotes. Or at least strictly limit how much time you devote to discussing this, so that you don't get bogged down by discussing languages instead of learning them.
2. Ask yourself if learning a language is really worth the effort, and whether it's what you should prioritise right now. What would you have to sacrifice to put in the time needed for practice? Current friends or acquaintances, time with your family, hobbies, private time for relaxing, career opportunities, a slowed development of personal style in your native language, adequate sleep? What actual use will you, realistically, have of knowing the language? What would you do with the language, that you can't do in the language(s) you already know, within say five years? How much enjoyment will knowing the language bring you? If you need lengthy pep talks or motivational texts to keep you learning a language, or anything for that matter, you might want to ask yourself how important it really is to you.
3. There are loads and loads of freely available (or very cheap, think below say 200€, especially in combination with stuff you can get at libraries) material for learning languages, which many people have already used successfully. You probably want to exhaust the possibilities of trying out different ways of using this material to reach your language goals before shelling out a lot of money for a learning package, be it a course at a traditional school, some kind of web-based product, or something else. Of course, if you can get a degree or if there's the possibility of finding a social network of language learners who can help keep you motivated, that's worth taking into consideration too. But again, if you haven't managed to learn a language on your own you might want to ask yourself if it really is worth that much to you. You can't simply buy motivation or extra time in your day for studying. As so many people have noted in this thread, even when people take courses, individual willingness to work on homework, engaging in language practice in their private time etc. is usually a must for rapid progress.
4. Don't be blinded by the success or recommendations by any particular language guru, polyglot, scientist, marketer, etc., no matter how successful or charismatic that person may be. There is an astounding diversity in what kinds of people have been great at learning languages, in recent and older times, and how they went about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_polyglots Anyone claiming to have found a revolutionizing/wholly new/incredible way to learn languages ought to be viewed with suspicion, and the burden of proof should weigh heavily on them. Demand solid evidence for what they're saying that can or has been independently verified. Remember that being able to do something very well doesn't necessarily mean you're also good at teaching others do the same thing.
I'm out! Have a good one everyone, and if you decide it's worth your time, happy language learning
大半の初心者は耳を傾けてくれないだろうけどなー
（ 今日は、グーグル翻訳を今使った・さん ー＿^ ）
P. S.
To Icecream, if you ever visit the forums again: I hope you are well.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - henachoko - 2016-06-03
Worst thing I ever did was sign up to his program. I asked for a refund in Feb 2014 and my last payment was 5th October 2014. and I think one of the last refund payments I received was £30!
As it stands I've had £330 back out of £2,356.17 despite several emails and attempts to contact via facebook and twitter.
It's an absolute rip off. The only reason I signed up and paid out so much was I had the insurance of a refund if I didn't get on. He's stolen literally thousands from me.
if someone can suggest any action I can take - is legal action even feasible?
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Seikou - 2016-06-03
Is AJATT.com website buggy for anyone?
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Seikou - 2016-06-03
(2016-06-03, 3:37 am)henachoko Wrote: Worst thing I ever did was sign up to his program. I asked for a refund in Feb 2014 and my last payment was 5th October 2014. and I think one of the last refund payments I received was £30!
As it stands I've had £330 back out of £2,356.17 despite several emails and attempts to contact via facebook and twitter.
It's an absolute rip off. The only reason I signed up and paid out so much was I had the insurance of a refund if I didn't get on. He's stolen literally thousands from me.
if someone can suggest any action I can take - is legal action even feasible?
That's awful; sorry to hear. I don't believe his "contracts" were legally binding in any manner, but nonetheless I'm not sure why Khatzumoto would do this to his own reputation.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - yogert909 - 2016-06-03
(2016-06-03, 3:37 am)henachoko Wrote: Worst thing I ever did was sign up to his program. I asked for a refund in Feb 2014 and my last payment was 5th October 2014. and I think one of the last refund payments I received was £30!
As it stands I've had £330 back out of £2,356.17 despite several emails and attempts to contact via facebook and twitter.
It's an absolute rip off. The only reason I signed up and paid out so much was I had the insurance of a refund if I didn't get on. He's stolen literally thousands from me.
if someone can suggest any action I can take - is legal action even feasible?
Sorry to hear that.
You should probably talk to a lawyer. A consultation shouldn't cost more than 100-200 and are often free. I'd imagine your prospects are complicated by the fact that you are conducting business across international borders and you might have a hard time finding him if his family cant even find him.
off the cuff, I'd imagine you could mount a litigious nutcase campaign by sending him threatening letters on official looking letterhead. Sending him emails from an address with "esq" in the name might convince him that he is being contacted by a lawyer. The goal of this, not necessarily an award in court, but to create the appearance of enough potential problems for him that he voluntarily pays you to call off the dogs. You might be able to even actually sue him in several different countries small claims court and if he doesn't show up to court, you could potentially freeze his domains or merchant account until he pays you. I'm not sure how successful all this would be, but perhaps if you convince him that you are just the sort of person that would devote time and money to being a constant thorn in his side, he might voluntarily pay you back simply to make you go away. It's basic debt collection 101.
Legal help wouldn't come cheap, but there are a few other people who have posted that they weren't payed back either. Perhaps joining forces, you could afford enough legal help to advocate for the group, or at least explain your legal options and probability of success.
Also, I'm not sure if debt collectors work on an a la carte basis, but you might be able to sell your claim to a debt collector, but you will get pennies on the dollar.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Raschaverak - 2016-06-03
(2016-06-03, 3:06 pm)yogert909 Wrote:(2016-06-03, 3:37 am)henachoko Wrote: Worst thing I ever did was sign up to his program. I asked for a refund in Feb 2014 and my last payment was 5th October 2014. and I think one of the last refund payments I received was £30!
As it stands I've had £330 back out of £2,356.17 despite several emails and attempts to contact via facebook and twitter.
It's an absolute rip off. The only reason I signed up and paid out so much was I had the insurance of a refund if I didn't get on. He's stolen literally thousands from me.
if someone can suggest any action I can take - is legal action even feasible?
Sorry to hear that.
You should probably talk to a lawyer. A consultation shouldn't cost more than 100-200 and are often free. I'd imagine your prospects are complicated by the fact that you are conducting business across international borders and you might have a hard time finding him if his family cant even find him.
off the cuff, I'd imagine you could mount a litigious nutcase campaign by sending him threatening letters on official looking letterhead. Sending him emails from an address with "esq" in the name might convince him that he is being contacted by a lawyer. The goal of this, not necessarily an award in court, but to create the appearance of enough potential problems for him that he voluntarily pays you to call off the dogs. You might be able to even actually sue him in several different countries small claims court and if he doesn't show up to court, you could potentially freeze his domains or merchant account until he pays you. I'm not sure how successful all this would be, but perhaps if you convince him that you are just the sort of person that would devote time and money to being a constant thorn in his side, he might voluntarily pay you back simply to make you go away. It's basic debt collection 101.
Legal help wouldn't come cheap, but there are a few other people who have posted that they weren't payed back either. Perhaps joining forces, you could afford enough legal help to advocate for the group, or at least explain your legal options and probability of success.
Also, I'm not sure if debt collectors work on an a la carte basis, but you might be able to sell your claim to a debt collector, but you will get pennies on the dollar.
Hm. Well first off, I don't really understand why there was a refund option to begin with. I mean, if I started a site that sells education as a product, I would definitely not offer a refund. Why would I? Instead I would display an agreement that should you pay you also acknowledge the fact that the method I'm selling it not 100% in 100% of the cases, meaning there is a Chance that it will not work for you. Period. If you agree and buy, it's ok, if you don't agree, then don't buy.
That's how I would do it. It's an online product, which is sold, or a service if you will. Providing a refund option would mean, that the product could be faulty, which I can't imagine how would it be even possible.
Because if the product does not WORK for you, is not the same as being faulty: like pages missing from an e-book, ect. As I understand this site we're talking about was offering a refund for the previous case, which is a misconception, on the owner's part.
Anyway, I don't know how much is 2000 dollars worth, it's definitely worth a decent amount of money here where I live, but honestly, I'm not so sure it's worth that much over there. The cost of getting back that money does not start with the lawyers: it has already started when you even wasted one second of your life thinking about it, let alone taking action of getting it back. If I were you, I would calculate the opportunity cost of getting the money back, because frankly, I think at this point it's just not worth it, but it's your call.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - rochel - 2016-06-03
It is disappointing to hear that people have had difficulty getting refunds. More so in light of the fact that I got an email today promoting the upcoming opening of the Silverspoon program to new students. IMHO he should fulfill his obligations to past students before soliciting new business.
The only thing I am wondering with this new offer is if it is on some sort of auto-mailer script and is going out to people automatically, despite his appearing to be "out of business" by all indications. The AJATT website is totally dead and doesn't appear to contain any content beyond the title page, so he seems to have taken it down.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - kameden - 2016-06-04
The site design seems to have changed.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - Rael89 - 2016-06-04
I wonder if something went wrong with the server or something. That's a super old version of the site and it doesn't work. No matter what you click it just takes you back to the same page.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - CureDolly - 2016-06-05
Slightly off-topic, but speaking of guarantees...
I received an advertising emai circular from a certain well-known Japanese-teaching entrepreneur (whom I won't name) that ended with this:
P.P.S. When I say "guaranteed" I mean literally guaranteed. If you get to Japan and no one says to you "Nihongo Jouzu!" ("Your Japanese is fantastic!") then you get all your money back!
Can't say fairer than that can I? The writer must know, as everyone here does, that if you can stammer out "konnichiwa" just well enough to be understood, a majority of Japanese people will automatically say Nihongo Jouzu!" It is just common politeness.
Offering a meaningless guarantee like this, clearly aimed at beginners who know so little about Japan that they don't even realize that it is meaningless, seems - well just a touch shoddy.
RE: Where's Khatzumoto? - SomeCallMeChris - 2016-06-05
(2016-06-05, 12:55 pm)CureDolly Wrote: Slightly off-topic, but speaking of guarantees...I'm pretty sure that was just a joke. Especially since he did give some refunds and start giving refunds to others, I think it's clear this was never meant to be the real test of fluency. It's unfortunate that it ended up as it did, but I believe his initial intentions were to honor the guarantee, but somewhere along the line between the number of refund requests and his personal issues it didn't work out that way.
I received an advertising emai circular from a certain well-known Japanese-teaching entrepreneur (whom I won't name) that ended with this:
P.P.S. When I say "guaranteed" I mean literally guaranteed. If you get to Japan and no one says to you "Nihongo Jouzu!" ("Your Japanese is fantastic!") then you get all your money back!
The writer must know, as everyone here does, that if you can stammer out "konnichiwa" just well enough to be understood, a majority of Japanese people will automatically say Nihongo Jouzu!" It is just common politeness.
Offering a meaningless guarantee like this, clearly aimed at beginners who know so little about Japan that they don't even realize that it is meaningless, seems - well just a touch shoddy.