Should I trust mattvsjapan and the "Refold" site?

MattvsJapan is an American content creator who focuses on language learning. His business model relies heavily on upsells and recurring payments. His language learning methodology is structured in ways that encourage continued purchases. He has developed numerous paid Japanese courses, and some users report the products failed to deliver promised results or value.

Origin story

MattvsJapan began as a YouTube channel offering AJATT-influenced Japanese learning advice. However, with no skills beyond Japanese, he could only teach other foreigners Japanese to make a living.

Eventually, his desire for profit took over, and he turned teaching into a business. He removed his older videos and replaced them with low-quality slop, paywalled material, course launches, and merchandise.

By mid-2018, he had ceased producing genuinely helpful content. His most useful videos are no longer available on YouTube.

Contradicting the AJATT philosophy

AJATT promotes cost-free, immersion-based learning, with the help of Free (Libre) software. MattvsJapan's business model, which relies on paid courses, coaching, and paywalled content, directly contradicts AJATT's core principle of learning a language without spending money. For that reason, AJATT does not recommend his products.

Lack of credibility

Language learning communities have widely criticized MattvsJapan's practices. English speakers are already aware of his past and current scams, so they no longer trust him. As a result, he has a minimal following among Japanese learners. To compensate for his shrinking audience, he has attempted to pivot, targeting Japanese audiences and offering "English lessons" instead.

Refold: another scam site

Refold is a "language learning" website created by Mattvsjapan, but now run by other people. Refold is another scam site designed to lure people in and exploit them.

A quick visit to their homepage reveals some red flags:

• The site sells shitty and overpriced courses, coaching, and merchandise.
• It collects email addresses and requires users to create an account, which is suspicious at best.
• It contains malicious, non-free JavaScript code that's not safe to run.
• It recommends and links to proprietary spyware like Hellotalk, Tandem, Bilingua, Netflix, and Migaku.
• It provides instructions on joining their Discord server. Discord is known for spying on and politically suppressing its users.

The truth about language learning

Learning languages should always be free. Be cautious of scams, ineffective learning methods, and sites that try to exploit your desire to learn. Stay informed, use only Free and Libre software, and don't fall prey to those who seek to profit from your language learning journey.

Tags: faq