This one’s pretty good
https://twitter.com/miblogestublog/status/1674294893219397634?t=X8P_6trgTFC937nUcPp4qA&s=19
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So. Turns out ChatGPT is amazing for language learning.
It’s fluent in Tagalog (Filipino), so I assume it’s fluent in nearly everything else too.
It’s can provide definitions for words, use them in sentences, provide additional detail or clarify, and explain root words and etymology.
It can explain different tenses and give me examples. It can provide vocabulary lists in a topic.
Honestly this feels like a game changer, definitely worth trying out
This is the kind of stuff you can get out if it. Customised explanations and context, for any word, in any language.
This shit is wild.
It’s clear that the power of ChatGPT is not how smart or deep it is, but it’s breadth of fairly shallow intelligence.
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That’s pretty cool, will probably check it out in Thai and see if it’s useful. I should be fluent in that language in about 379 years, it’s going well.
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Haha. I feel you.
I’m probably started learning tagalog in 2012, and I still suck.
I can follow conversations if they sprinkle in english occasionally, but I can’t hold a full convo or watch a tagalog movie without subtitles.
I reckon another 4 or 5 years and I’ll get there… Haha
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A Duolingo tactic I stumbled on is closing my eyes when I click to move onto the next item, so I hear the audio rather than read the text, whenever possible. That small change has improved my listening.
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In no way am I conversational, but I can mostly read it, ask for things and describe some stuff. I have mostly redirected my habit of scrolling Insta to learning Greek.
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Why did you go with Greek? Sorry if I missed it somewhere.
Update. ChatGPT plus anki flash cards still nailing my tagalog learning. Making huge progress fast.
I want from too shy to say much and could follow the gist of a conversation if there was lots of sprinkled english to full on conversational in 6 weeks.
To accelerate I’ve just signed up to italki as well for a tagalog tutor. Seems great value and very flexible
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Forvo is a great resource for checking/brushing up/practicing pronunciation in your foreign language of choice. I’m plenty fluent in mine, but I still spend 10 minutes a day or so just going through lists of words to keep my pronunciation on point.
I believe the site has other language learning resources as well.
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I learned Spanish years ago during school and still retain a fair amount of it. I wanted to learn a new, non-Latin based language. It’s maybe a poor algorithm, but if I sort by “Time Spent Countries Where English Isn’t the Primary Language” Greece is #1 for me. My partner also has a path to citizenship through descent and we are seriously considering their Golden Visa for the future.
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Kinda random, but I decided I’m gonna give learning Japanese a shot. I guess I’ll be in Asia for the next 5 years, so kinda relevant, albeit in Thailand. But still will probably visit Japan once a year during that time and maybe try a longer stay in the future.
One thing I like about it is that so many nerds are learning it that the resources created to help learn are incredible. I’m enjoying a space invaders type game to start learning the letters and people have even created RPG type games to learn Japanese. It also has Duolingo (Thai does not).
Probably stupid to not devote my time to Thai instead, but the learning materials are boring and there aren’t really many songs, movies, and series to draw me in. With Japanese, obviously there’s a near endless supply of content if you like anime/manga, which I do.
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Wish I had begun learning Japanese today rather than the 90s. Kids coming in fresh off the plane fully fluent–having spent their childhood consuming nothing but anime. While olds like me were playing and rewinding audio tapes. No Internet. No YouTube. Anime not yet a thing. Life isn’t fair…
I hear ya. It’s tough for me to grind audio tapes and grammar books, but if there’s a game element involved (Duolingo a bit) and some of these Japanese games + an abundance of media, then I can grind for months and it feels like more of a hobby than study.
One example is this game where you explore a Japanese city and take photos and learn the names of common things that way. I’ll give it a try once I’ve learned the alphabets.
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I never really got anywhere with Japanese but still found it interesting enough to make it worthwhile. There’s something to be said for learning how a language that’s completely different from Euro languages can work.
I’ve also switched from Duo to Busuu, which doesn’t use AI and frankly seems better anyway. I’m prepping for the Spanish C1 exam, which is still very basic but it surprises me since I haven’t been studying hard at all, just using apps and watching Spanish-language shows.
Nice, I’ll take a look at Busuu
Which Spanish shows have been your favorite?
La Reina del Sur, for reasons I will not elaborate on
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There’s also plenty of Japanese content on Netflix to binge on. Anime if fine, but it is more practical to find a nice situational daily life drama from which to glean phrases that are actually used in real life.
One of the funny things about living in Japan is encountering gaijin who, while quite fluent, clearly learned Japanese from watching hours upon hours of anime. They don’t talk the way people talk in real life.
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Do they ever make an ahegao face in conversation?
Do they finish every statement with weird breathiness for no good reason?