Has anyone here tried using LLMs (Large Language Models like GPT, Claude, Llama, Gemini etc) to help with language learning? Any suggestions as to which model is currently performing the best for language interpretation?
One thought I had was to ask an LLM for example to write me a short story of say 200-500 words in a specific language using mostly the commonest 2000 (or whatever) words in that language. The prompt could also supply a simple theme or subject for the story. I’m conscious that different LLMs seem to perform well in different functional areas (Claude seems to outperform at programming for example) so just wondering which model to start with for this language project.
Edit: One lead from Google suggests software called OpenBuddy (openbuddy.ai) that somehow uses both LLaMA and Falcon. Anyone tried this at all?
Since last year, I’ve been using AI to assist with my English studies. Beyond the conventional uses like word discrimination and grammar analysis, I’ve discovered a particularly ingenious application: having AI explain vocabulary in a beginner-friendly way. Previously, I relied on English-English dictionaries for word definitions, but I found their explanations often too rigorous and lacking engagement. Now, I have AI act as an English teacher, explaining words in a simple and accessible manner, which has proven remarkably effective. When I encounter unfamiliar words while reading on LingQ, I consistently apply this method to learn their meanings.
For example：
Use AI to explain word: Correct
"Correct means something is right or has no mistakes. When you get the answer right on your homework, your teacher says 'correct!' It's like getting a big ✓ mark on your paper." 🌟
Further explain the meaning of words in the context of sentences：
You can even ask a tutor to "correct" your writing.
Let me explain "correct" in this sentence:
"Correct" means to fix mistakes or make something right.
Like when your teacher uses a red pen to:
- Fix spelling mistakes
- Change wrong words to right ones
- Make your writing better
For example:
- Teacher corrects "cat" to "cats"
- Teacher corrects "runned" to "ran"
It's like when someone helps you fix a puzzle piece that's in the wrong place!
In this sentence, "correct" means your tutor will help make your writing better by fixing any mistakes.📝
That’s right, AI will even add some emojis to make reading more fun!
Hi,
There are tons of posts on using AI and what everyone’s favorite prompts are. Just do a search on this forum for “chatgpt”. I’m not sure which AI is the best for the purpose but I believe the latest version of chatgpt is the probably the best if not close (paid version).
You can also create your own “gpt’s” that you can re-use over and over again without having to rewrite your prompts (again for saved version).
Currently I have ones that will explain the grammer of a sentence (it also does the meaning of the sentence, one to create an example sentence or set of sentences for each meaning of a word, one to create a dialogue in German for an article (like a news article I pass in) between two people.
I’ve also had it take a vocab list and create a spreadsheet with the word, translation, adding article for nouns, creating an example sentence, and the sentence translation.
I use Chat GPT as an English language teacher. But live lessons with the real person are better for me. In my opinion AI can be used only as an addition to those live lessons.
Is there anybody who has experience with, or an opinion on, “Teacher IA”?
Is seems kind of handy for the non-tech-savvy, like myself. I realise that the engine behind it all is just chatGPT, and that many of you wouldn’t dream of paying a fee for a customised interface.
Appreciate the answers - thanks. It was really the best model to check out for language learning that I was most interested in. Based on a very limited test tonight it seems that Claude (from Anthropic) does better than ChatGPT:
I asked for a list of the 1000 commonest words in Vietnamese. Google couldn’t easily help me with this. Or rather the only easily findable resource was the 1000 commonest words in English but translated to Vietnamese, which really isn’t the same thing at all. I asked ChatGPT and it couldn’t answer. I then asked Claude and was much more successful, albeit I hit a limit of 431 words from the free version of Claude. Maybe I could get the full list if I subscribe? Here is the dialogue:
I haven’t shown the complete dialogue and downloaded lists. But initially it tried to save space by truncating the list at around 64 words. It needed prompting to provide a fuller list, which I was able to copy or download.
@ericb100 The starting point was the list of 1000 commonest words in English but translated into (in my case) Vietnamese, but which - as I say - is not what I wanted. Several online sources from a Google search effectively referenced this same sort of English-based list, so I started to look at alternative approaches like LLMs.
I asked the same initial question of ChatGPT as I did of Claude, which I think is fairly clear and unambiguous. ChatGPT replied with words to the effect that it was unable to generate such a list. Sorry, I didn’t keep an image of the ChatGPT dialogue because I had no idea at that stage whether my quest would be successful at all or not. My next step was to try another LLM, this time choosing Claude. This proved to be much more productive. Whether trying an alternative prompt for ChatGPT (but changed in what way?) might have worked better I have no idea. I got my answer from Claude and was content with that.
I do have the paid for Chat GPT. I tried the same prompt. It didn’t provide the 1000 word list, but gave a 100 words…10 each from these groups… Basic Pronouns and People (generic…man, woman, etc), Common Verbs, Question words, Prepositions, common nouns, adjectives, numbers 1-10, days of the week, common conjunctions, basic time words.
I had tried a prompt earlier which worked out a bit nicer. “can you give me the top 1000 most frequent Vietnamese words. I don’t want words repeated in the list. I’ll ask for them in groups of 100. please provide the rank, the word, the top 1 or 2 meanings, and example sentence, and a translation of the sentence. Please format it so that I can copy it into google sheets.” Unfortunately, even with the addition of the “I don’t want words repeated in the list” it started to repeat words. Possibly with a more common language it would behave better, but then I might start to question how it’s determining frequency. I’d rather use the lists generated by the pros…which is where that wiktionary link is helpful.
I’ve been more successful with taking an already generated list…frequency, a vocab list from Lingq or elsewhere and asking for basically the above…list the word, give translation, example sentence, example sentence translation. You generally have to do it a bit at a time. Helpful as another idea for people, but not an answer to your primary request.
Sure, I mean Chat GPT speak pretty well in some major modern foreign languages, and not so well in less-spoken languages. I also find that Chat GPT is a lot better than most of the other AI chat-bots apps that have been developed for language-learning, even those which piggyback off of Chat GPT’s technology.
The only problem with Chat GPT is that it sometimes misinterprets something that I’ve said and thinks I’ve switched to a different language from the one that I’m speaking and will switch accordingly. This probably happens once or twice per conversation, which isn’t the end of the world and doesn’t take away from the benefit of having it as a complimentary conversation partner and coach.
I’ve also used Chat GPT to generate texts in my target language in PDF format that I can import into LingQ and then use LingQ’s TTS function to vocalise it.
I’ve been using ChatGPT 4 for over a year for learning French. I treat Chat like a friendly tutor – I ask questions and have conversations.
When I started, my French was poor and I would often prompt Chat:
break down : [this sentence]
Now my questions are usually limited to a specific phrase which I don’t understand because the vocabulary or grammar is confusing or it’s an expression or idiom new to me. My prompt:
[this sentence] : [phrase] ?
Sometimes I have specific questions about grammar and pronunciation. Sometimes I have conversations with Chat about what I am reading, French literature or history, my insights about learning French, and so on. It’s fun.
This approach fits in naturally with my use of LingQ.
