Perks, votes and news!

Hello everybody, it's been a while! First of all, thank you all so, so much for being here and convincing me I have so much more to give in this world! Your support is what keeps me confident and forceful on this forever arduous journey of ripping obstacles out the path in front of me (and inside me) root and stem, to continue deciphering this world of elusive truths we inhabit: finding new ways to think, to understand and to create.

From the methodology to the way the material is shared (freely, without ads or sponsorship, without membership etc.) LT goes against all the norms, and it very literally could not work without you all. I'm stupidly proud to have nearly 700 of you donating each month—not for the minimal perks or because you gain access to any more LT material (which of course you don’t), but simply because you love this enough to put yourself behind it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope to make you as proud with the advances of the project as you are making me feel with your support!

Before we get to the general update, some basics! Here's a reminder on how to claim your packs/Interlinear books and how to vote!

To claim your packs: Remember packs need to be claimed and are not automatically sent out, if you are due a pack (check your pledge tier if unsure) shoot me a message with your address and we'll take it from there!

Interlinear books: Interlinear Books offers a free title in French, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish for Language Transfer's Patreon supporters. If you are due a book (check your pledge tier and time with the campaign if unsure), shoot me a message with your choice of book. I'll then get a personal link generated for you to download it!

To vote: As Patreon supporters, you can vote for the next language LT is to tackle! You can vote through any medium: private message, comment, email etc. Your votes will be counted for the same language each month you are with the campaign, unless you instruct me otherwise.

And finally, the update! It's a bit of a long one because... well, the world!

Many of you will know that I went (back) to Argentina last year with the wonderful idea that your donations would stretch much further there and we would be able to hire LT's first permanent team members, at $500 a pop! A great idea, but strict Covid restrictions were introduced just two days after I arrived, and so getting into the right (or any) circles and meeting people became impossible. Argentina had one of the longest lockdowns in the world, during which inflation skyrocketed and the already complicated political landscape became less feasible (as a life option) by the month. I'm not sure if I should return.

It's winter in Argentina now anyhow, and so to escape another impending lockdown, and hoping to take advantage of the European summer to network and finally source new team members, I have returned to Spain! I will be heading to Barcelona this month where I’m well connected to give public workshops and scout for talent, and hope to secure workshops in cities along the way to make a type of ‘tour’.

As things stand, I have just two months left in Spain (with my UK passport) and so another move is likely before possibly returning to Buenos Aires (which, after 4 weeks of having left, makes me shudder a tad!). I may have to return to Cyprus in order to claim my Cypriot passport if I don't squeeze a letter out of the Spanish president to nationalise me (only half joking) so that I can continue operating from here. Everything remains up in the air in that sense, but I guess it's of little consequence to most of you where exactly I am!

So, I wish I had better news about new team members and new material but I do hope to soon! Barcelona will be my very first opportunity to physically network to source the team, and there is a thriving language learning community there, not to mention all the young passionate people looking for their place in the world that places like Barcelona tend to draw in. The money that is not being used as wages whilst I'm hunting for these new folks is of course being saved up, which means that we may even be able to hire 2 or even 3 teachers at once. I really hope to have some good news on that soon, but nothing premature. When I chose someone, I need to be sure they are in for the long haul.

Meanwhile, I continue to work on the first lessons of 'Introduction to Music (Theory)', a pilot course to demonstrate that the Thinking Method can be used for any subject, which I hope to debut in Barcelona and share publicly soon. This is especially important because it will help bring attention to this way of learning and its possibilities outside of the niche of foreign language learning. This will generate more interest, more support, more dissemination and more money, which all equals more power! I'd love to one day in the near future to use that power to create an awesome residential space for teachers to live and generate new material in, feeding into and supporting one another's experience-an island, an oasis, where this work can continue to blossom and give its fruits freely, and for generations to come if we manage to do this right! This is my mission with LT, rather than just pumping out more and more courses until I dry up! And whilst this has meant an extended period without any new learning material being released (not including the guidebook of course), it is much, much bigger than that! So again, THANK YOU to each of you, for your farsightedness, for understanding the bigger picture, and sticking with the campaign!

We have come such a long way! Not long ago LT was just fighting to survive, and now the only obstacle to begin building this team I've dreamt of for years is literally just finding it! Please, please spread the word (especially amongst LT enthusiasts) that I'm looking for these special people to join the team and make a life out of this project, they could be anywhere!

UPDATE: Something obvious I hadn't thought about is how Barcelona is pretty empty in the summer! So I will be waiting until September to make this trip :)