Have you heard about Chat GPT? The latest chatbot from OpenAI, launched in 2015 by Elon Musk and Altman, can understand human speech and produce in-depth writing. It has lovers and haters, but we at Academia El Sur think that Chat GPT can be a great tool to complement your Spanish lessons at our language school. Keep reading to find out how you can use Chat GPT to improve your level of Spanish.
Chat GPT can present information and respond to queries in a way similar to what would occur in a normal conversation, as it has been educated by artificial intelligence and machine learning. This takes Google out of the game, as with Chat GPT you can conversate as you would do in real life. The bonus is, Chat GPT is also available in Spanish! So, you can just start typing in Spanish and the chat box will automatically respond in Spanish. A new smart way to practise your learning language. But what can Chat GPT exactly do to help you improve your level of Spanish? Keep reading because the opportunities are endless.
1. Translate between your mother tongue and Spanish
Not every language is yet supported by Chat GPT, but you can translate from English to Spanish and vice versa. On Chat GPT, the translation is more personal; you can give it feedback and ask questions about the translation. This way, Chat GPT can be a private tutor and help enrich your learning and understanding.
2. Add accents or signs to a text in Spanish
Something students of Spanish always struggle with is accents and related signs. Punctuation rules, foreign keyboard… is it porque or por qué? You can now work on your writing assignments and, when finished, you can have your text optimized by Chat GPT regarding accents and other signs. Chat GPT can do your homework, yes, but the idea is that you learn from it. If you try to have a conversation with the chatbox and ask questions about what it does, you can learn more Spanish.
3. Create frequency lists of Spanish words and verbs
There are so many words in Spanish, but, which ones should I prioritize? Chat GPT can help you here. Now, this feature is a bit limited, but if you ask it, you can get a list of some of the most frequently used words and verbs. Once you get that list, maybe you can learn a couple of words per day. Turn it into a routine!
4. Generate paragraphs in Spanish on any topic
Do you have some writing homework? You can do some writing yourself and then ask Chat GPT to write another paragraph with the same requirements and the same topic. Then, you can compare what you wrote to what Chat GPT wrote.
Also, if you are interested in a specific topic, maybe you can create a daily reading habit with a piece of the text created by Chat GPT on your topic of preference. Experiment with the platform! You can even ask Chat GPT to create a text with easier or more complicated words, you can ask it to generate a piece fully adapted to your level of Spanish, etc.
5. Have a conversation with Chat GPT
You can think of Chat GPT as another version of WhatsApp. Start a conversation in Spanish and Chat GPT will follow. This is a great way to learn vocabulary and expressions safely for you. Ask Chat GPT a grammar-specific question, a culture question… you can learn everything about Spanish by asking Chat GPT.
These are some of the advantages we have found when testing Chat GPT for Spanish learning. But you need to keep in mind that there are also some issues and limitations. Keep reading to find out some of our most important disadvantages of using Chat GPT.
1. Access to the Internet and Location-Based Information
OpenAI cannot access the Internet. It cannot provide real-time information or location-based information. You cannot provide it with URLs or references from the Internet. This severely limits the functionality of the application and the types of services it can provide, which means you need to beware of the questions you ask Chat GPT and their link to the Internet.
2. Outdated data
The most recent training data Chat GPT has received is from September 2021. Since then, programming languages may have been updated, libraries may have new features, and the world has changed. Therefore, it is important to know that Chat-GPT is operating off an outdated set of data.
3. Inability to make Qualitative Judgements
Language has qualitative aspects to it such as stance and sentiment. While Chat GPT can determine these things, it is unable to extend this to aspects such as whether a text is offensive, what is good and what is evil, etc.
4. Lack of Multimodal Output and Input
Something to consider is that the model is purely textual. You cannot provide Chat GPT with images, audio, or any other mode of input. Similarly, it cannot output this kind of input. It can however output code that can generate those things. Perhaps in the future, this will come as a new feature.
5. Generic Output and Plagiarism
Likely, a plagiarism checker would flag Chat GPT’s output as copied. As mentioned before, try to use Chat GPT as a tool rather than an assistant.
All in all, we have seen some of the benefits of using Chat GPT to boost your Spanish learning experience. Translation, adding accents and punctuation signs, creating word lists, generating paragraphs in Spanish, having a conversation… The opportunities to learn Spanish with Chat GPT are endless! It is important to be aware of the downsides of this platform, but at Academia El Sur we believe in progress and are fans of innovation. Give it a try and let us know! We would love to know if you found another way to learn Spanish with this platform that we have not mentioned here. Leave a comment or get in touch with us!
Remember that, even if Chat GPT is a tool with great potential for Spanish learning, in-person or online lessons with a teacher should be your main resource to learn Spanish. At Academia El Sur we start courses every month for all levels of Spanish with highly experienced, native teachers. Click to find out about our course offer and do not hesitate to get in touch with us at megusta@academiaelsur.nl or 06 44010696
