He is right in getting people a head start on a foreign language – start from speaking it. However, most of us don’t have a language immersion milieu to start with. Secondly, there could be whole bunch of ways for advanced learners. Several thousands of words can only prevent you from being lost on the street or getting starved in a restaurant.
But it is an experiment that is worth trying. I will buy his French CD, see how far I can get in 10 days.