Polyglot

Michel Thomas is a language learning guru, now sadly deceased. He became a renowned polyglot after realising during the horrors of Nazi concentration camps that the human mind can achieve a great deal.

Millions of learners are stated to have used the Michel Thomas method. A teacher and a couple of students appear on a recording and gradually build up phrases and words towards a grasp of the language. The students are of different abilities, enabling the teacher to repeat and reinforce certain points. Guidance is issued: 'never try to remember. Don't write anything down. There is no homework, not even mental homework.' Clearly this wouldn't work as the main focus of language acquisition for many brains (including mine) but the idea is that key foundations are mastered through osmosis, adaptation and repetition. I am less sceptical after sampling the teaching style, which is effective, but also specific, fairly strict and fast paced. It could only suit someone with an existing keen interest in languages and a solid grasp of the components of their own mother tongue. It wouldn't suit someone dragged off the pavement who didn't know the difference between a verb, noun and an adjective.

At yoga at the Hindu Community temple the guru's 18-month kid wandered and wailed around the mats throughout the class, often clutching the guru's phone which blared out at times. He didn't seem to think this worked against the goal of relaxation so didn't move the child. I tried my best glowers but they were tricky as the most annoying interruptions came during complicated breathing exercises with our eyes closed.

These classes are a world away from airy and breathy instruction in silent attic studios in Cambridge. Making undue noise there would lead to a lifetime ban.