Yes, japanese hair straightening techniques achieve this. I learned a lot about hair straightening from reading Curly Hair, Curly Girl reddits etc. Because they aim to avoid straight hair and instead train locks to maintain curls, they actually talk a lot about what will cause hair to remain straight.
I find this argument persuasive but I think it’s incomplete. I can’t complete it, but here’s what I like about your rhetoric:
When I fell for right-wing crap, I was snapped out of it when their debate opponent showed them to be spineless, cowardly, and hypocritical. He didn’t say they were, rather used a… tactical approach. To get me to snap out of it and make the conclusion myself.
I especially like the argument that we are all ripe to be conned and critical thinking education can help save us. This mimics the strongest pro-sex education argument. It can prevent abuse.
And on “you can’t use reason” - I’ve recently come across the idea that you can’t logic your way out of mental illnesses, and logic can actually add to the problem. This is… probably also relevant to those who are tricked by this.
Immersion. News in target language. Childrens TV in target language. Besides that, any resource. After a month or even two of immersion only and intent listening, begin studying for real. Nit 5 minutes a day but rather 30 minutes. You can reach basic fluency in 6 - 9 months, and then before your trip ensure you learn more specific grammar and vocab in topics you feel you need.
You’re so right but we’ve also codified that in the US. We intentionally have no official language and provide our legal and government documents in more than one language. This is a unique quality and knowing the official language is a cultural and legal expectation in many other countries.