AI for English: Can it replace your teacher?

A lot of people ask me, "Hadar, what do you think about AI in

the English language industry?"

Or, "Hadar, what do you think about using an AI tutor to practice English?"

So, in this video, I'm going to share with you what I think about

practicing with an AI tutor.

Because right now there are a lot of apps out there that allow you to

practice in real time with an avatar that actually corrects you and gives you

feedback and has a conversation with you.

Now, if you had told me back when I first started teaching English,

that one day this would have been possible, I would have told you that

"you are crazy, my friend, we are not going to be speaking to robots".

And here we are, speaking to robots.

Now, I'm going to be honest.

First, I'm not worried about my job, because I think people understand

that it's impossible to replace the human aspect when it comes to

language learning, because it's all about the interaction between people.

But there's a lot of good in AI and ChatGPT that could be

so helpful for learning and practicing English on your own.

And definitely with those apps that offer this robot or avatar

for you to practice with.

So while I am concerned a little bit about where the world is going with AI, I

also want to acknowledge and say, there's also a lot of good stuff happening here.

And we as learners, we have to be mindful of that and make smart

decisions, understanding the impact each decision we make has

on our progress, on our confidence, and definitely, on our fluency.

So, let's go back to the question, what do I think about practicing with an AI tutor?

So let's start with the pros.

Having a robot to practice with on your phone is cheaper, it's more accessible,

and usually it's pretty accurate.

And you can do it anytime.

That alone is a lot.

Because when you work one on one with a teacher, you have to schedule, you

have to find time, you have to show up live, making sure that your hair

looks okay, right, that you're well dressed, and this you can do in your

bed, right, talk to your robot teacher.

Not saying it in a derogatory way, by any means, maybe a little bit.

So it's really accessible, it's easy, it's cheap.

Why shouldn't you just do that?

So it's definitely valuable to use an AI tutor.

Because you can actually add a lot of speaking opportunities and get feedback.

However, and this is the part where I discuss the cons,

there are consequences to that.

It's really important that you don't just do that, okay?

And here's why.

First, the human connection and any human interaction has a lot more in it

than just proper grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and all of that.

When we speak to other people, there's another element that comes into play,

which is the our mindset, how we feel, how we show up, the thoughts we have

about what the other person is thinking about us, about what we're going to say,

about understanding them, about what happens if we don't understand them.

That aspect adds a whole lot into any interaction.

Maybe tension, anxiety, fear, excitement, focus.

Right?

All of that doesn't happen when you speak to your AI tutor.

This aspect needs to be practiced as well.

Because in real life, when you speak to people, all of this, all the things

that I mentioned, they happen too.

And you need to know how to manage them while speaking.

Because when you speak to your AI tutor, you're probably

going to improve your accuracy.

You're going to make less mistakes, you're going to use better words, which is great.

But fluency is not just about that, fluency is the back and forth.

It's being able to listen, to understand others when there are distractions, when

there are people speak with different accents, when you have to manage your own

thoughts, and you need to respond while all of that is happening, which is not

possible when you practice with your app.

So while this is good, and it's great that you can add more speaking

practice for better accuracy, if you want to improve your fluency, you

have to practice with real people.

Now, I might even say that it's important to practice not just with real people

who are teachers, but real people who are people interested in speaking with you.

Because if you want to get better at something in life, which is

probably to speak with people, you need to do more of that something.

And more of that something could be speaking to your real tutor,

a real person, but also with people from all around the world.

So, to summarize this, having an AI tutor is going to offer you limited progress.

It's going to help you with your accuracy, maybe, because sometimes we need to

also be consistent and build habits, so you also need to be very, very much in

ownership of what you practice, how you practice, how you implement the feedback.

Just speaking is not enough.

Okay?

So there is that aspect.

Which is fun because you can do on the go, at times where you can't

really speak with a real person.

Maybe when you're waiting in line, when you're stuck in traffic, when

you're in the bathroom, when you do the dishes, when you walk your dog.

Right?

So this is why it's extremely valuable.

But do not, do not neglect the part of speaking with real human beings

because that's what language is about – the real human interaction.

So this is why all the apps, like all the Duolingos and all the...

like everything that...

it's just you and your app – it's good to a certain degree, but it will not

get you to where you want to be, which is to completely feel like yourself,

like English is second nature to you.

It's not going to help you feel authentic and free because for

that you need the real life interaction with other human beings.

Now, you're probably saying to yourself, "Okay, but it's impossible for me

to find people to practice with".

Or, "It's really hard to find partners without paying them or teachers".

And maybe you can't afford it.

So, in case you don't know, I wanted to tell you that I have a free community on

Facebook called the InFluency Community.

And in the community, we have weekly topics where you can

record a video and upload it.

Knowing that people might watch it will also help you with managing fears or

managing the judgment that you have.

So that's one way for you to practice effectively.

But also we have conversation groups regularly.

So you can actually join, for free, the community and practice with real

people from all around the world.

So that you will train yourself to understand different

accents and different people.

You will train yourself to stay focused when listening to others.

You will train yourself and build confidence, speaking to other people

without worrying about what they think about you or about making mistakes or

any type of limiting belief that you might have about you and your English.

And when you do that, you actually create the best circumstances for yourself

to speak confidently with real people.

Because we don't need confidence to speak with our AI tutor.

We know that it's not going to judge us.

We know that it's not going to make a face, not understanding us.

We know that we can just turn it off whenever we get tired or

bored or angry or frustrated.

But you don't want to speak to robots all your life, right?

And you want to practice the real thing.

And this is why I think AI tutors are okay.

But they're not going to get you to where you want to be, if you

want to speak English clearly, confidently, and with freedom.

So make sure you join the InFluency community.

It's absolutely free and it's a lot of fun.

And also check out my website for a lot of additional resources,

free resources at hadarshemesh.com.

Get on my email list to get the weekly lesson every single week.

And you can get all the practical strategies to practice English in

a more holistic way, in addition to what you do with your AI tutor.

Anyway, tell your tutor I said hi.

And I hope this is helpful.

I'm really curious about what you think.

And if you have had practice with an AI tutor, how was it for you?

Let me know in the chat and let's start a conversation.

Have a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful rest of the day.

And I will see you next week in the next video.

Bye.