I use artificial intelligence in the way I learn languages already. I think we’re just at the beginning of what AI can do to help us enjoy language learning more, and consequently do better.
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Great to hear Steve weigh in on AI. Here are some of my ideas for possible applications of AI within LingQ:
- pronunciation assessment: let the browser or app accept audio input and analyze it for accuracy, I’ve tried this one previously: Use pronunciation assessment - Azure Cognitive Services | Microsoft Learn
- allow users to use a transcription service seamlessly from within LingQ, I use Amazon’s AWS transcribe (Amazon Transcribe – Speech to Text - AWS), but there are many alternatives (Azure, Google Cloud, wit.ai); a potential problem could that this might require separate billing and the current 1h audio limit would have to go obviously
- maybe add more TTS providers, I really like https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/cognitive-services/text-to-speech/ for Chinese; but I would understand if you want to stay with AWS Polly, but consider adding their “neural” voices which are imho way better than the basic one
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It’s great that you shared this. I’m just thinking about learning a new language for myself, Spanish. And visited https://edureviewer.com/cambly-vs-lingoda/ with reviews of learning platforms. I want to be able to have group classes and Lingoda platform will be useful for me.
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voiser.net does absolutely amazing text to speech using AI.
What I’m really into also is having texts rewritten by an AI so it has only 2% words I don’t know. If AI could do this it would be epic.
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This is exactly it - highly personalised graded readers.
Paul Nation mentioned in one of his papers that, with the AntWordProfiler, “a Mid-Frequency Reader can be produced in a few hours.”
I haven’t tried the software myself: Laurence Anthony's AntWordProfiler
An extension of that is getting the computer to do it for you.
I imagine you uploading some copyright-free (or ticking a box saying so) book or news article or blog post and then the software will look at your known works (or alternatively you select based on the level you want) and then it will reduce that text to a graded reader.
The AI comes in because you have to deal with words with multiple meanings (polysemy). The AI needs to understand the context or the whole sentence to be able to differentiate which meaning is appropriate before giving the word an appropriate synonym. Furthermore, an even more advanced version of this would be to reduce grammatical structures too.
This is probably at least a few years away before LingQ could offer something like this though. It’s a big task, if you demand high accuracy.
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I love this idea of AI rewriting books and texts. Thank you for your tip. There are already some AI’s on the Internet that could rewrite for you a difficult text into easier one. One, that I know of is called ChatGPT. You can find this bot here. https://openai.com/. I hope that this ideas will be brought to reality in the next years. 
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ChatGPT on the topic:
A system that could rewrite a given text in simpler vocabulary could be extremely helpful for language learners, particularly for those who are practicing extensive reading. Extensive reading is a language learning technique that involves reading large amounts of authentic texts in the target language in order to improve vocabulary, reading fluency, and comprehension. By simplifying the vocabulary of a text, such a system could help language learners to better understand the content of the text and to more easily identify and learn new words and phrases.
There are several ways that a system that could rewrite a given text in simpler vocabulary could be used to support language learning:
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Vocabulary building: By simplifying the vocabulary of a text, language learners can more easily identify and learn new words and phrases. This can be particularly helpful for learners who are working on expanding their vocabulary, as it can allow them to focus on understanding the overall meaning of the text rather than getting bogged down by unfamiliar words. -
Reading comprehension: By simplifying the vocabulary of a text, language learners can more easily understand the content of the text, which can improve their reading comprehension skills. This can be especially helpful for learners who are working on extensive reading, as it can allow them to more easily follow the plot and main ideas of the text. -
Fluency practice: By reading texts with simpler vocabulary, language learners can practice their reading fluency and build their confidence in reading authentic texts in the target language. This can be particularly helpful for learners who are working on extensive reading, as it can help them to more easily and efficiently read large volumes of text.
Overall, a system that could rewrite a given text in simpler vocabulary could be a valuable tool for language learners, particularly for those who are practicing extensive reading. By simplifying the vocabulary of a text, such a system could help language learners to more easily understand and learn from authentic texts in the target language, and to make faster progress towards fluency.
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I think such a system would have to be quite sophisticated, as a simple search and replace procedure replacing unknown words with ones you know, will likely not suffice. A complete rewrite is probably necessary it should also consider other dimensions like, grammatical complexity and the complexity inherent in the subject matter, which may also pose difficulty. For example, here is chat GPT explaining quantum entanglement to a child:
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ChatGPT might be able to do it in some future incarnation.
I would like to be able to say to it: here’s a CSV of the words I already know in my target language. Here is a text I want to read. Now go and rewrite this text in using only words from this CSV list.
THAT would be epic.
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ChatGPT> Please write a 4 paragraph story in Dutch at an A2 level using minimal simple past tense grammar.
I love it!
Finding or creating text on the internet based on a certain set of vocabulary would help a learner read at 98%. Or stating the readability or vocabulary range .
(I haven’t watched the video yet) To me, AI is Google translate, DeepL, Naver etc. I poo poo’d these tools for years and years but I had an eye open in Japan when I took a picture of a sign at a park with detailed Japanese and seconds later I had a really good English translation. Now I’m using Google Translate to read novels sentence by sentence in Korean although I have about an A2 level in Korean. It’s really helpful.
I more think AI could work quite well for finding Indigenous languages you want to learn that aren’t of your own country, like Ainu or Hmong.
I mean you can use AI to generate completely original stories containing vocabulary or other linguistic parameters that you want to learn or to drill. For example, I use OpenAI and I can instruct it to generate for example a one-hundred word story including the terms “cat”, “newsreader” and “flight of stairs”, as well as any other high or low frequency words and various tenses or conventions that I tell it to.
Didn’t someone here mention a free AI to use for translation that isn’t Chat.ai? He said it was like 95% accurate on written transcripts of audio.