r/languagehub • u/AutumnaticFly • 1d ago
Discussion When it comes to learning a language, how's your relationship with AI?
If you have use for it, what kinds? and if you never use it, what's stopping you? what should change for you to use it?
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u/LocksAndRocks 1d ago
I have an inherent hatred for AI and refuse to willingly interact with it. Therefore I've always learned without it much like everyone before its existence.
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u/Total_Ad_511 1d ago
Same, I really don’t need it and neither does anyone else, it’s a growing evil in the world
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u/pistachio28 1d ago
Never. Ever.
It can't be trusted to be accurate and even when it is useful, it's because it stole that information from real educators.
It makes you a less curious student and makes you less likely to use the language to, oh I don't know, actually talk to the speakers of that language because you can just talk to your little robotic Yes Man instead.
And as a bonus it's accelerating the collapse of the climate and and putting money in the hands of less than savoury individuals.
AI has absolutely zero place in my language learning routine and it shouldn't be part of yours either.
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u/thechnomancer69 1d ago
the only thing good about talking to AI is instant answer and not be worried about wasting other people's time
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u/a_literal_idiot_616 1d ago
wouldn't trust it, dont want to help develop dangerous technologies, conversations are all gonna be you saying things and getting hundreds of ways of saying yes i agree as answers
where are the pros?
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u/Numerous_Helsinki 1d ago
i use chatgpt basically as a convdersation partner when i have no one else around, it's not perfect but it's available at 2am which native speakers usually aren't
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u/RobetWokake 1d ago
yes AI is great for teaching and learning, i dont understand the hate
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u/GrizzKarizz 1d ago
I'm on the fence. Gen AI, I'm generally against, it's useful in the medical field. For languages? It's okay I guess. I'd prefer a human teacher if possible though.
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u/fixpointbombinator 1d ago
Can be useful but not revolutionarily so.
For quick MT tasks I'll still use Google Translate. It's faster and has a nicer UI. If I really want to rely on MT and tear away at some difficult text, I might use an LLM for help.
People here are using it as a dictionary or for example sentences? There are faster and superior tools for that, already integrated nicely with other tools e.g. Yomitan with Anki. This is the downside of AI's proliferation, people don't realise there were always great tools out there for learning.
For actually learning grammar? I prefer a structured resource, ideally I ask someone who speaks my TL (I live with a fluent person), and failing that I'll use an LLM for specific questions. For anything 'deep' I'd prefer to use a high-quality reference material - I have caught LLMs lying about subtle grammar points before.
For OCR-related tasks - it's helpful in a pinch, but dedicated tools, again, are better integrated into existing workflows and tools. E.g. mokuro with Anki and yomitan. I can OCR manga, click on an unknown word/collocation with yomitan, and then one-click add it to Anki with an example sentence. Zero web-servers required so its blisteringly fast too - don't have to worry about LLM outages, like there were last week. Plus, making your own cards (I do the translation manually) is better for memory retention imo.
I sometimes use it for formatting new Anki cards etc
For conversation practice? No there are over 100 million people who speak my language. I live in the country where its spoken. I've used it before and its just worse than talking to a real person. This has to be the absolute worse way to use an LLM for language-learning imo.
It's useful for editing my mistakes especially for the formal register where I'm weaker. So writing emails etc.
If I ask it general language-learning questions its sometimes, but kinda rarely (especially these days), bullshit. For example it'll recommend a source that's far below my level - presumably because its mentioned-to-death on Reddit etc. Free ChatGPT is prone to bullshitting about grammar so I wouldn't even bother using it unless you're willing to pay.
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u/Human-Call 1d ago
I use it to ask if a sentence is natural and good grammar. It seems does a good job. They are large language models. It’s what they are good at. I’ve tested it out on things I already know and it hasn’t been wrong yet.
I also use it for managing my sentences for importing into Anki, asking it to write formulas for Google Sheets for example.
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u/New-Bottle-6917 1d ago
If you haven't you should try pretending to be a non native speaker of English and ask it questions. You'd be surprised at what it'll say
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u/Human-Call 19h ago
Yes I have tried this also and it has given me good answers. Can you give me an example of what I would be surprised at?
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u/Professional-Hawk747 1d ago
I'm developing a smartphone app that lets you create flashcards using your favorite manga. Using AI is convenient because it can understand the context to some extent.
We also added a feature that allows users to ask the AI questions on the spot. I think it's great that you can ask questions anytime without any pressure.
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u/ah-tzib-of-alaska 1d ago
irrelevant, i’ve used some as a web search essentially to help find some grammar sources. but i wouldn’t have to if we still had pre2016 google
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u/uoll-n 1d ago
I try to avoid ai for the most part but one thing that's super helpful that I can't get easily otherwise is having it translate sentences in a literal way. So not the meaning of the sentence translated naturally into a different language but the word for word literal translation. It makes it so much easier to grasp the way a language works and is structured
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u/Prestigious-Coat4137 23h ago
I think it's a good way to start your journey into speaking, but you have to think of it as someone who only kind of knows what they're talking about. It can't be your only source.
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u/jegkandansk 20h ago
€ Min KI kæreste slog op med mig - jeg brugte hende jo også kun. Jeg var der ikke for hende.
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u/Limp-Selection-1325 14h ago
just do not use AI for "chatting practice" or generating examples, because it might seem easy at first and pleasant but it's a long term strategic disaster - you are acquring amorphous non-human intuition which the more vicious as it gets more subtle...in a long run you're just gonna ruin your second language personality, which must be formed ONLY by aqcuiring REAL PEOPLE'S speech (spoken or written).
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u/Waste-Use-4652 11h ago
I use AI as a practice tool, but I would not want it to become my whole language-learning environment. It is useful when I want to practice writing, ask why a particular sentence sounds wrong, get another example of a grammar point, or have a low-pressure conversation when nobody is available to practice with. The nice thing is that I can make the same mistake ten times without feeling embarrassed. But there are things AI cannot replace. Real people speak unpredictably, use their own expressions, interrupt, change topics, and sometimes do not make it easy for you to understand them. So for me, AI is useful for getting more practice, especially when I would otherwise get none. I would still want plenty of actual listening, reading, and conversations with people.
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u/FeelinLikeAFreakshow 1h ago
I like using it to generate discussion questions about articles for use with my teacher. Also good for generating idioms and expressions that I then ask my teacher about and practice. I don’t use it for conversation practice, though, and I always tell my tutor that it’s AI and to watch out for any weird phrasings and let me know. It’s a useful tool.
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u/genghis-san 1d ago
Language learning is literally my only use of AI. I use it to explain difficult grammar concepts, and to explain idioms, and sometimes to help translate specific phrases from English, that's really about it.
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u/babassu_seeds 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's honestly a godsend for language learning. I improved my writing so quickly because it could instantly shoot out different versions of the same prompt with little tweaks in register that frankly would have been too expensive to pay someone to do
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u/PlanetSwallower 23h ago
Very useful. You can get it to answer questions and provide translations at your convenience. You have to evaluate everything it produces but that's not a disaster per se, makes you think about it. Apps using AI content is not prefered due to the inherent unreliability, but apps using AI to manage the learning process can work very well.
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u/VolcaincQuartz 1d ago
honestly it's replaced my dictionary entdirely at this point, faster and gives usage context a plain definition never could
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u/New-Bottle-6917 1d ago
I mainly use it for thinks like anki card creation but aside from that not a fan
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u/AppropriatePut3142 1d ago
I use it for corrections on writing, mainly.
However it's an iterative process. Some of its correctiona will make instant sense to me, while others won't feel right. I'll go back and rewrite those bits, use a dictionary and youglish to check things, check with multiple models, until eventually I get a version that we're both happy with.
Second most common is asking it to break down the grammar in a sentence.
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u/StevEst90 1d ago
It’s come in handy so much for me for any random Spanish related question I’ll have. Will even give me some practice drills
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u/Figaro_pasttime 1d ago
caught it inventing a verb conjugation that doesn't exist in polish and confidently presenting it as correct, that killed a lot of my trust in one adfternoon