A decade or so back, Rosetta Stone, the language learning software/program, was considered (or at least marketed as) the best way to learn a language aside from complete immersion in a country. It may still be - I’m not sure.

Bear with me for a minute.

If you think about it, it’s pretty incredible when something great slaloms through the endless clutter of the Internet and, against all odds, finds its way to you. I mean, there’s so much shit being produced by hacks out there.

Not long ago, something came across my screen and, ever since, has remained at the tip of my brain*.

What is it? My best guess is the Japanese version of Rosetta Stone. No wonder Japan has so often been at the centre of innovation. There is no way, whatsoever, that Japanese kids will not know how to tell English-speaking people that they are having stomach pains due to diarrhea.

Genius isn’t a word I throw around often. But this is genius: