I like him a lot, and I find him inspiring. But after having studied six languages, I can tell you there is no one solution for everyone. I have also taught ESL and French for many, many years and know that everyone learns differently. For instance, my husband just picks up languages by speaking to people. On the other hand, I can hear the same language for years and not pick it up. However, if I see the written word, I pick it up very quickly. Given that dynamic, it would take longer for me to grasp a language whose alphabet is different. I would definitely have to master it before I really started making novel sentences in the language. In other words, immersion doesn't work for everyone in every context. It worked for me after I leaned the base of the language. But not from day one.