Matej KM Sedmak — Founder, LMA
I didn't build LMA because I'm good at languages. I built it because I figured out why most people aren't.
I grew up in Slovenia, which meant I had to speak other languages to function in the world. English, German, Italian — not options, necessities. What I noticed early was that I didn't acquire them the way school told me to. I acquired them through people. Through relationships. Through wanting to understand what someone was saying to me because I actually cared about them.
I spent years trying to understand why that worked when classroom instruction didn't. I traveled. I met hundreds of multilingual people and dozens of genuine polyglots. I asked all of them the same question: how did you actually do it? The answer was always some version of the same thing. A person. A relationship. A genuine reason to communicate.
I developed the first version of what became LMA during four years in Japan, between 2014 and 2018. I tested it on real students, watched what worked and what didn't, and rebuilt it accordingly. Twenty years of iteration later, it has been through more than 5,000 students across 50+ languages. I speak eight languages. None of them through a classroom.
What I believe about language — and about people
Language is not a collection of words and rules. It is a way of being in the world. When you acquire a new language, you don't just gain vocabulary — you gain access to an entirely different way of perceiving and sharing meaning.
I believe every adult is capable of acquiring a new language. Not because I'm optimistic, but because I've watched it happen thousands of times with people who were completely convinced they couldn't. A gift for languages is like a gift for breathing. Everyone has it. Most people have just never been given the right conditions to use it. That's what LMA provides: the right conditions.
What Matej focuses on today
Matej works directly with the LMA guide team on a weekly basis, continuously developing their skills and raising the standard of delivery across the program. He teaches and refines language acquisition techniques with all guides, and remains involved in the methodology as the program evolves. He is not a figurehead. He is the person who built this and continues to build it.