Studying a foreign language once consisted of a book, a notebook that seemed to have tens of thousands of flashcards, and possibly a teacher if you had the money. Now there are artificial intelligence programs that have a conversation with you, identify bad grammar immediately, give you corrections, and tell you why you’re wrong rather than simply that you are. These are the ones that actually do any good.
Duolingo Max for Daily Practice
Duolingo has been around for a while but the AI capabilities newer to it do make a difference. The Explain My Answer option in which Duolingo explains exactly why something is grammatically correct or wrong rather than just giving correct or incorrect is great. The Roleplay feature in which you have a written dialogue with an AI character is a fantastic low stakes way to practice actually using a language rather than only memorizing words and translation on flashcards.
ChatGPT for Conversation Practice
Chat GPT is perfect for practicing writing and speaking in the language because you can genuinely converse in the language you are learning. Simply and politely ask it to reply inSpanishor any language you want to learn, and to correct you as you go. Also if you’re a beginner you can ask it to use easier words or if you’re advanced to use more complex sentences.
Speak for Speaking Practice
Most language apps, though, tend to focus primarily on reading and listening skills, and speaking aloud is just a different skill that needs to be learned separately. Speakuses AI to have real spoken conversations for you and correct your reading and pronunciation. They attempt to fill a gap that a lot of other learning tools overlook, as reading each word of a sentence fast isn’t usually equivalent to saying it quickly.
DeepL for Understanding Real Text
DeepL is a translator, but it is better at recognizing how people speak than previous translation programs you might have used. It’s really helpful if you encounter a sentence in a book, magazine, or program you can’t quite figure out yourself and want a fast but correct translation. The way to get the benefit is to use it to doublecheck you translation rather than to just take the easy way out.
LingQ for Learning Through Real Content
LingQ turns articles, podcasts and videos in your target language into lessons that you do on your own. Click on any unfamiliar words and discover translations and definitions as you go, then LingQ tracks your learning to provide lessons that are just right in your new language. Being able to learn from real-life content is so important-there’s a big difference between a sentence in your text book and typical speech in your new language.
HelloTalk for Practicing With Real People
HelloTalk is a great way to be matched with native speakers of your target language who want to learn your language. You can communicate with each other and always help each other out. There are features within the app that offer AI translations and grammar correction, so you’re never left empty handed if you get stuck part way through a message. Speaking to a real person also offers advantages an app just can’t, such as the slang, tone and nuances of real spoken language.
A Few Honest Tips
These AI tools might make language learning quicker, but they don’t do the repetition and practice required. The main pitfall to avoid – don’t use AI to translate whole sentences every time. Use these to test your understanding, be your best friend, not your translator. The quickest way to progress is to use some of these tools consistently and then work across 15 minutes per day.
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