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Learning languages by speaking to real people (or imaginary ones)
Is the bell tolling for the likes of Duolingo, Babbel and LingoDeer? This article looks at how you can have conversations with the likes of ChatGPT and Langua to improve your ability to speak and understand a foreign language, and also considers human alternatives.
Wnat to speak and understand a foreign language? Forget the likes of Duolingo and Babbel - maybe it's an AI conversationalist you need (or even a human one)!
Three possible apps that you can use for learning to speak and understand a foreign language.
This blog is for people like me, who want to focus on learning to communicate in a foreign language, with the emphasis on the correct pronunciation and interpretation of words. It was prompted by the fact that I keep failing to learn Spanish because while my vocabulary and grammar may be OK I can't understand what people say because they speak too quickly, nor can I formulate proper sentences in real time.
This blog gives an overview of the 3 conversationalists shown above, although as this table shows they're not the only game in town:
Conversational app
Type of app
Notes
Possible alternatives
ChatGPT
Standard AI tool
You can speak to ChatGPT in any language you choose, and ask it to critique your grammar and pronunciation.
Claude, Copilot, Gemini
Langua
Dedicated language AI tool
You can choose a language, a person and a speed of delivery, and see live transcripts (should you wish) of everything said.
Gliglish, TalkPal, Teacher AI
Verbling
Real people
This app allows you to book lessons with a real person (the screen shot above shows I have two Spanish lessons booked in with Alejandra, who is in Mexico as it happens).
Preply, Italki, Cambly
General AI tools (like ChatGPT)
I've found ChatGPT to be excellent - up to a point, the point being that you must already know a language reasonably well. This video shows an example of me speaking (or trying to speak) French to ChatGPT, and it speaking fluent French back to me:
This works superbly - IF you can speak the language to a an adequate level. Where this method falls down is when you need ChatGPT to slow down, as this transcript from a recent session I had with ChatGPT illustrates:
For those (like me, it seems) who don't speak Spanish, I'm basically pleading with ChatGPT to slow down and it is reassuring me that it will do so - but then speaking at its normal speed!
The last line translates to something like "Got that, I'm going now to speak more slowly so it's better for you. Like this it'll be hunky dory, and we'll speak as slowly as possible". Al spoken, needless to say at its normal speed.
My verdict is that ChatGPT is a perfect conversational tool if you want to improve your speech and understanding in a language you already know, but is not much use for learning new langauges or ones you only speak at a very basic level.
Dedicated AI language tools (like Langua)
Websites like Langua allow you to chat to an AI tool. The first thing you can do in Langua is to choose a language:
There are about 20 languages, and I liked the way that I could then choose my dialect of Spanish.
You can then control how your conversation goes:
There are about 20 AI personas you can choose to talk to, with different genders and native countries. I'm chatting to Sofia from Colombia - but slowly!
Langua recommend that you use the app, not the website, and it's certainly better looking:
Here I'm about to start chatting to Sofia.
I like the way that you can click on the eye symbol to reveal a transcript of what was said if you get stuck (I read Spanish much better than I write it!):
I could click on the eye symbol shown to reveal what Sofia just said.
However the app can be a bit laggy in response, so it never quite feels like you're talking to a real person. At £24.99 a month it's also expensive.
I think if I knew some basics of a language and had a need to become fluent in the shortest possible amount of time, an AI conversationalist like Langua would be a good way to go, but it's definitely more fun speaking to a real person!
Websites with real people (like Verbling)
Websites/apps like Verbling are language tutor brokers. They allow you to book sessions with anyone in the world who has signed on as a teacher. You can choose from about 40 languages:
The last few languages in the alphabetical list for Verbling.
You can book a free 30 minute trial with any tutor, and then buy as many lessons as you want. When reviewing who you want to choose to be your tutor you can filter by hourly cost or a number of other critieria:
A typical teacher's bio (I hope he doesn't mind me using his details as an example).
You can see from tutor snapshots like the one above:
What languages the trainer speaks (in addition, presumably, to the one you're learning, which in my case is Spanish)
How much they will charge per hour (£11.14 is about average)
A video giving a profile of the tutor.
The procedure for booking, cancelling and rescheduling sessions is pretty slick:
If you're booking lessons with people in South America you tend to be restricted to evenings.
So I've had two lessons now with Alejandra, and have two more coming up:
Unfortunately I missed my last lesson because I'd set Verbling to work on French time, so everything was one hour out!
The great thing about the lessons is that if you don't like your teacher you can always choose from the hundreds of others listed on the site!
If I had a bottomless budget I would learn Spanish entirely through Verbling. Note that there is a cheaper competitior called Preply, but I like the fact that Verbling pay teachers something for test sessions, and also charge their teachers a lower commission (15% rather than 25%).
Some other pages relevant to the above blog include:
