Language Hacking – Not!

The "Language Hacking" series by Benny Lewis has absolutely nothing to do with anything any sane and honest person would refer to as hacking. It's shocking to realize we live in a world where someone can legally sell a book whose title is zero point zero zero percent related to its content.

Hacking is figuring out how something works, so you'll be able to access something unaccessible (such as adjust a computer program to your individual needs or find a solution to a bug) or deal with something a lot more efficiently.

I assumed someone who uses the words "Language Hacking" has invented some ingenious methods of figuring out how a language works, so you'll be able to learn it with much less time and effort than you would, say, at school. Now what could it be? Maybe a way of deciding what to focus upon, considering how similar or dissimilar one or another aspect of that language is to your native language? A way of somehow getting out of the box of words and grammar althogether and gaining a completely novel outlook on languages?? I didn't know. But I was dying to find out. "Language Hacking" – I think that phrase was the most intriguing thing about languages I had ever heard in my life.

That's why I was only mildly put off by the author's oily smile on his book covers. I mean, those covers scream "con artist". But, hey, I know every publishing advisor in the English-speaking world insists you be corny, because it's the sales tricks that sell, not the actual value you provide. Therefore, I was ready to forgive the author his get-rich-quick-style facial expression. I wanted to know what were those brilliant discoveries he had made that had given him the boldness to utter those amazing words "language hacking".

It is most fortunate that I had an opportunity to browse through the book "The Language Hacking Guide". In five minutes I had all my questions answered, and I was spared a waste of my money on a rip-off bordering on fraud.

"The Language Hacking Guide" might well be the most deceitful book title I have seen in my life. (Yes, I dare to say it beats "Power, Sex, Suicide".) The book is not about understanding languages. It's all about motivation. Believe in yourself, don't think that the language is difficult. Believe in yourself, don't think that you have no talent. Go for it, don't be afraid to make mistakes. Believe in yourself, enjoy yourself, go for it, don't be afraid of this, don't be afraid of that, believe in yourself, enjoy yourself, go for it... that's all there is in this book. Seriously, this book is 100+ pages of "believe in yourself, don't be afraid, just go out and do it".

I don't deny the book may be of benefit, insofar as any kind of pep talk can be of bigger or smaller benefit to a certain percentage of the population. But I can't stress it strongly enough how repulsed I am by the book's deceptive title.

Benny Lewis could easily write books on learning to play the guitar, to pilot an airplane or to dig up the ruins of Atlantis, simply by rephrasing parts of "The Language Hacking Guide". Of course, their usefulness to the buyers would be no greater that this book's, but it's the money that matters, not whether or not you actually have anything meaningful to say, isn't it?