My AI Chatbots Are the Best Language Tutors That Live On Your Phones

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You are thinking of learning anew language.  Start now with one of the chatbots. You can’t go wrong with this and if you’re not doing it, well, shame on you. With ChatGPT, I am learning French. With Gemini, I hope to be fluent enough so that when I visit Japan later this year, I am get away without using my translation app. And of course, when I get a chance to visit France (I’ve been told that the French look down on visitors who do not speak French. Especially Americans).

I started a month ago but I only got into the routine of doing it daily in just the last week. I do it whenever I get a chance to put on my AirPods and speak to one of the two chatbots. And after a couple of days of have the AI as my tutors, I actually look forward to it whenever I get a moment free. I find having these conversations on my morning walks with dog the best time. I wake up, have some water and cup of coffee for the walk, and off we go. These are best for new lessons.

For times when I have a moment here and there through the day, I find them a good time to review what I have learned. These are all conversational. I have not gotten into the written part yet. I’ll get into that once I have a routine down for that part of learning these two languages. 

As with everything, getting started is hardest part. If you want to give this a try, I recommend starting the foreign language you want to learn on a particular subject of interest to you. I find the standard “Hello, my name is John” all sort of boring and does not really get me wanting to come back for me. I double I’ll be telling everything I meet in Japan or France my name. I’m interested in outdoor activities like walks, makding coffee and breakfast. So, I have had both AI teach me how to say those activities in those languages. And along the way, I would mix things up. Add this and that to see how the sentence structures change. One thing that I make sure the AI knows is that I want to know how a native speaker would says the things I want to learn. Does that work? Yes, quite well.

If AI is replacing anyone, it is a native tutor or someone who I would need to book time with to speak with me. Another thing I learned is that the AI can help with your accent. I only looked into today so I would have to try it and get back to everyone how well it works. Basically, I do not want to just have passable Japanese or French accents. And AI bots can help.

Here is how. When we speak to the AI, the AI does not necessarily hear us. In ChatGPT’s case (according to its response to my question about it hleping me with my accent), the speech is translated to text and it does not hear my accent at all. However, with Gemini, it it multimodal so it can actually heard me rather than just know what I said. I find this distinction between the two models very interesting. However, like anything with AI, we will want to verify. And so I shall and get back to everyone about it. Better yet, you should try it yourself.

One of the cool thing about using AI as your speaking partner is that over time, you can ask it to add nuances, increase difficulties, and help you track how you are progressing. I am not there yet but I cannot wait to be able to converse with the AI bots and, eventually, with friends who are native speakers.

AI tools have their uses - the most important function an AI serves is its ability as a tutor. I am using it as a language tutor. I am sure it quite capable in almost any other subjects or interests.

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