▁break through ▁work ▁which ▁helped ▁him ▁launch ▁own ▁business ▁was ▁the ▁ 1 8 8 9 ▁publication ▁titled ▁The ▁Cort ina ▁Method ▁to ▁Lear n ▁Spanish ▁in ▁Tw enty ▁Less ons . ▁Instead ▁of ▁system atically ▁master ing ▁lingu istic ▁structures , ▁de emed ▁labor ious ▁and ▁in efficient , ▁Cort ina ▁- ▁claim ing ▁to ▁be ▁M . A . ▁gradu ate ▁of ▁University ▁of ▁Madrid ▁- ▁focused ▁on ▁practical ▁skills . ▁In ▁ 1 8 9 1 ▁he ▁was ▁already ▁bo ast ing ▁a ▁program ▁based ▁on ▁" the ▁Cort ina ▁method ", ▁and ▁in ▁ 1 8 9 2 ▁the ▁Cort ina ▁School ▁of ▁L anguages ▁started ▁to ▁advert ise . ▁Indeed , ▁it ▁seems ▁to ▁have ▁been ▁an ▁established ▁business ▁already . ▁Set ▁in ▁two ▁locations ▁in ▁Brook lyn ▁and ▁Manh attan , ▁the ▁school ▁offered ▁ 9 ▁languages , ▁taught ▁in ▁ 2 0 ▁less ons ▁by ▁native ▁instruct ors . ▁ ▁It ▁is ▁not ▁clear ▁whether ▁from ▁the ▁on set ▁" the ▁Cort ina ▁method " ▁ent a iled ▁mechan ically - a ided ▁learning . ▁Some ▁claim ▁that ▁already ▁in ▁the ▁mid - 1 8 8 0 s ▁Cort ina ▁experiment ed ▁with ▁ph on ograph ▁record ings , ▁possibly ▁in ▁co - operation ▁with ▁Thomas ▁Ed ison . ▁It ▁was ▁in ▁ 1 8 9 3 ▁that ▁his ▁method ▁was ▁reported ▁in ▁The ▁Ph on ogram , ▁an ▁academic ▁journal , ▁and ▁he ▁became ▁the ▁first ▁person ▁to ▁use ▁ph on ograph ▁for ▁foreign ▁language