Can ChatGPT Help With Language Learning?
Here’s how to (or not to) incorporate AI into a language learning plan
Language learning can be an uphill battle regardless of what language you decide to learn. More popular languages often have more resources available, but can be overwhelming with the breadth of options. Smaller languages often have their own hurdles with regard to even finding resources. In the modern era, that’s why it’s so important to utilize every resource available to kickstart learning.
Chat AI tools, like ChatGPT, are just the latest possible resource for someone looking to learn a language. It’s a free service that is a great alternative for language learners trying to optimize their learning. But with any new technology, ChatGPT has its quirks and may not be for everyone. Here are just a few ways to try (or avoid) integrating ChatGPT into any language learning plan.
The Pros
There’s dynamically generated text
It’s not easy finding someone to help you practice a language, and Google Translate is often a pretty one-sided conversation. ChatGPT can help offer that extra reinforcement by communicating in a foreign language.
Typing in a foreign language or even asking in your native language can cause ChatGPT to begin responding in a foreign language. This is great practice for general learning, talking about a specific subject, or even preparing for a conversation with a native speaker. It promotes active engagement that changes as you respond and direct the conversation.
Even more, you can directly ask for vocabulary lists, ask to practice using specific words, and provide more information for a directly targeted practice.
This helps expose you to new vocabulary, see language written differently, and understand your own phrasing can change the conversation.
Recommending new resources to check out
Part of the problem with learning a new language is figuring out new resources to help reinforce the information. Sometimes it’s hard to find a Swedish news network with English subtitles or recipes in German. Language learning is about immersing yourself in a culture and experiencing it first-hand.
ChatGPT can help by being prompted with ideas to start. Asking for vocabulary help gave me the link to Verbix, a website that helps conjugate verbs into present, past, infinitive, and so on (also helps with Spanish, French, and many other languages). It also led me to 8Sidor, a newspaper publishing current events in the Swedish language.
Of course, you could find these websites without prompting ChatGPT, but I was provided with 20 websites after simply asking “What are more websites for learning Swedish?” It’s fast, efficient, and I didn’t have to think about it. I might not have thought about using a language exchange site like Mixxer or Tandem to talk with others in a foreign language.
Can quickly evaluate a specific resource
While ChatGPT hasn’t taken Duolingo’s courses to know which language track is best in terms of quality, it is an amalgamation of other people’s responses. Large Language Models are built using massive amounts of text and prompts. This means that AI tools can quickly discern the consensus of a tool based on what others have already said about it.
You can ask for more information about a specific resource, the pros/cons of a site, or even how to best utilize a resource. Prompting ChatGPT about the cons of Duolingo resulted in:
- Repetitive exercises may become monotonous and won’t be effective for all learners in reinforcing learning.
- Inconsistent Quality Across Languages makes certain languages better than others in terms of quality.
- Ads and In-app Purchases make using the app distracting for some.
- Limited Depth with regards to advanced sentences and grammar explanations.
- Long-term motivation can limited due to the gamification of Duolingo’s learning model.
While Duolingo is great as a supplemental app, the above ring true for anyone who has used the app for an extended time. ChatGPT even finished the response with “For a well-rounded language-learning experience, it can be beneficial to supplement Duolingo with other resources such as textbooks, language exchange partners, immersion experiences, and formal classes.” — Which is what most people say when Duolingo is brought up.
The Cons
You can’t be sure what’s accurate
Like any resource, it’s important to know the limitations and confines of the application. For starters, ChatGPT is considered a “black blox” AI, meaning users don’t know how the responses are generated or what information ChatGPT has been trained on. This has led many to speculate and provide evidence of AI bias in generated responses and prompts, which is present in both text and image-based generated responses.
And so while ChatGPT is extremely useful for practicing in a language, it’s not a teacher nor is it an entirely reliable conversationalist. It could…
- Use gendered language in a stereotypical way
- Engage in cultural or racial stereotypes when discussing a specific culture
- Speak inorganically or robotic that misrepresents how native speakers use the language
And so it’s extremely important to be mindful of how AI generates responses to prompts. ChatGPT might be useful for talking about directions or following a recipe in a foreign language, but might be impacted by bias when talking about more sensitive topics.
Typing won’t help your pronunciation
Something everyone stresses when it comes to language learning is speaking and listening in a foreign language. Language comprehension tests are often two-fold with both a written and listening portion. It’s hard to converse in a language if you aren’t used to pronouncing any of the words or even converting letters to sounds.
A double “ll” in Spanish may just look like a repeated letter but is pronounced differently. ChatGPT wouldn’t necessarily reinforce this sort of knowledge because it’s not speaking. So while ChatGPT is very useful for learning new things and learning grammar, it’s not a direct alternative to genuine exposure to a new language and culture. ChatGPT will simply wait for a response, while a human being might just awkwardly leave after a significant moment of silence.
Conclusion
Simply put, it’s not a one-stop shop for language learning. AI tools are incredibly advanced and helpful for learning new skills, but they still don’t replace professional resources and native speakers willing to help someone learn a foreign language. A generative-text resource can reinforce foundations, but can’t explain how to pronounce a word or have an audible conversation without some significant limitations.
Personally, I’m not sure if I’d entirely trust AI to teach me how to communicate in a new language, but it’s incredibly helpful for finding new resources I might otherwise miss!
Can you think of more ways to incorporate ChatGPT or AI tools into your language-learning routine? — Or has this reinforced the idea that AI and language learning should be kept separate?
