I think concept-wise, it is a great idea. I saw some other examples in the GPTStore - e.g. https://chat.openai.com/g/g-RR3RCyK8N-language-teacher-ms-sm...
Show HN: Learn any language with an AI tutor at your own pace
41–44 of 44 posts
Re: Show HN: Learn any language with an AI tutor at your own pace
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Edit: One super interesting aspect is that to speak fluent native English you have to do it wrong. Californians, for example, don’t use the plural contraction. You have to say “there’s many options” instead of “there are many options”. Otherwise you sound like a weirdo. You’re viewing it the wrong way around. L1 speakers almost never use formalized grammar rules (especially not in everyday speech). Instead, the rul…
> never use formalized grammar rules > the rules are formulated post-hoc Not sure what you mean by this. This post-hoc formulation is how you define formal grammar rules, at least in a modern linguistic approach. If the grammar rules you're referring to are nonsense prescriptivist things like "don't end a sentence with a preposition" that you get taught in school, then yeah you can completely disregard them. It is po…
I’m referring to the way language students are taught, which is usually in a classroom setting involving lots of grammar drills.
As a personal example, when studying German in high school, I had to rotely memorize charts for article declension [1], prepositions [2], etc. Being able to regurgitate these charts helped me pass standardized tests, but they didn’t actually improve my ability to speak German.
Similarly, students of English are encouraged to painstakingly study rules such as those differentiating ‘I’, ‘my’, ‘me’, ‘mine’ and ‘myself’. [3] Personally, I learned English through immersion instead, acquiring these rules subconsciously rather than consciously studying them!
This is what input-based learning gets at. The theory goes that understanding input, and not conscious learning, is the only way to increase linguistic competence. [4]
(again: not a linguist, any errors are mine)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_declension#Articles
[2] https://www.fluentin3months.com/german-prepositions/
Re: Show HN: Learn any language with an AI tutor at your own pace
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But: if I can get thru that, and start to engage with (say) Italy at a deeper level I was at a native+ level of English in high school according to an IELTS test I took for fun. During college my English improved further. When I moved to USA … ho boy the difference between fluent English and culturally fluent idiomatic English is surprisingly vast. Much hilarity, frustration, and subtle misunderstandings ensued. It…
> Californians, for example, don’t use the plural contraction. You have to say “there’s many options” instead of “there are many options”. Otherwise you sound like a weirdo. Don't extrapolate too far from a small sample. I don't think anyone would recognize you as a non-Californian just for saying "there are". Now, if you refer to highways US-101 or I-5 as anything other than "The 101" or "The 5", then you're clearly…
> Now, if you refer to highways US-101 or I-5 as anything other than "The 101" or "The 5", then you're clearly not from here!
Ah see here's where it gets interesting! Up here in SF, 101 and 5 are names. You say "On 101". It's the weirdos down there in LA who say "On the 101" :)
Re: Show HN: Learn any language with an AI tutor at your own pace
#44I'm curious how much effort goes into the management of these LLM backed language tools? I'm learning a less popular language (Dutch) and almost none of them support the it out of the box. Is this a marketing decision? What is the overhead to add support for a new language?
We do! We have a free tier if you want to try it out. This was our launch:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36973400
Hope it helps with your Dutch :)