Language Learning prompts

Let's practise a conversation in [TARGET LANGUAGE].

MY LEVEL: [beginner / elementary / intermediate / advanced - or describe what you can do]
MY FIRST LANGUAGE: [LANGUAGE]
THE SITUATION: [WHAT SCENARIO - ordering food, a job interview, meeting someone, a phone call, anything]
WHAT I WANT TO PRACTISE: [specific vocabulary / a grammar point / general fluency / formality]
CORRECTION STYLE: [correct everything / only serious errors / at the end]

Run the conversation as follows:

1. Take the role of the other person in the situation and stay in it. Respond naturally to what I say, including asking me follow-up questions.

2. Match your language to my stated level. Do not simplify below it, which is patronising and unhelpful, and do not use vocabulary far above it, which stops the conversation.

3. Keep your turns short. A conversation where you produce long paragraphs and I produce one sentence is not speaking practice.

4. If I do not understand, rephrase in the target language before resorting to [MY FIRST LANGUAGE].

5. CORRECTIONS - according to my stated preference:
   - Mark corrections clearly and separately from the conversation, so the flow is not broken
   - For each: what I wrote, the correct version, and one short line on why. Not a grammar lecture.
   - Distinguish errors that impede understanding from errors that merely sound non-native. Tell me which is which.
   - Note where I was correct but a native speaker would phrase it differently, and give the natural version. This is the most useful correction at intermediate level and above.

6. THE INTERFERENCE NOTE - errors that come from my first language's structure. Name the pattern, not just the instance, since I will keep making it.

7. At the end of the conversation:
   - The three error patterns to work on
   - Five useful phrases from this situation I did not use but should know
   - One thing I did well

Start the conversation now, in character, with a natural opening line. Do not explain what you are about to do.

Explain this grammar point.

LANGUAGE: [TARGET LANGUAGE]
THE GRAMMAR POINT: [WHAT IT IS]
MY FIRST LANGUAGE: [LANGUAGE]
MY LEVEL: [STAGE]
WHAT I HAVE BEEN TAUGHT: [THE EXPLANATION YOU HAVE HEARD]
EXAMPLES I GET WRONG: [PASTE SENTENCES YOU HAVE MADE MISTAKES IN]

Produce:

1. THE FIRST-LANGUAGE COMPARISON - how this works in my first language versus the target language. Most persistent grammar problems come from a structural difference between the two, and naming it explicitly is more useful than any rule. Say whether my language has an equivalent, a partial equivalent, or nothing.

2. THE RULE, PLAINLY - in the simplest accurate form. If the usual textbook explanation is overcomplicated, say so and give a better one.

3. WHAT IT IS ACTUALLY DOING - the function, not the form. Grammar is easier to internalise as a meaning distinction than as a rule to apply. What does the speaker communicate by choosing this?

4. MY ERRORS, DIAGNOSED - the examples I pasted, each corrected, with the underlying pattern named. If they share a cause, say so.

5. THE CONTRAST SET - pairs of sentences differing only in this grammar point, with the meaning difference explained. Contrasts teach a distinction better than rules do.

6. THE EXCEPTIONS - which ones matter at my level and which to ignore for now. Textbooks front-load exceptions and it prevents the main pattern forming.

7. THE SHORTCUT, IF ONE EXISTS - a reliable heuristic that gets it right most of the time. Say how often it works and where it fails. A rule that works 85% of the time and can be applied instantly is more useful at this stage than a complete rule you cannot apply while speaking.

8. THE PRACTICE - ten sentences for me to complete, ordered from clear to subtle, with answers separately.

9. THE PRODUCTION DRILL - the difference between recognising the correct form and producing it under time pressure. A short exercise that practises producing it.

10. HOW LONG THIS TAKES - honestly. Some grammar points are acquired over months of exposure rather than learned from an explanation. Say if this is one, so I do not conclude I am failing.

Help me build vocabulary in [TARGET LANGUAGE].

MY LEVEL: [STAGE]
WHY I AM LEARNING: [travel / work / living there / family / exams / interest]
WHAT I NEED TO TALK ABOUT: [THE SPECIFIC SITUATIONS AND TOPICS]
HOW I LEARN VOCABULARY NOW: [YOUR CURRENT METHOD]
TIME AVAILABLE: [PER DAY OR WEEK]

Produce:

1. THE PRIORITY PRINCIPLE - vocabulary effort should go to words you will encounter or need often, not to words that appear in a textbook chapter. For my stated purpose, what categories matter and which are a waste of time at my level.

2. THE WORD LIST - the most useful words for my situations, grouped by context rather than alphabetically or by part of speech. Context grouping produces better recall because words are retrieved in the situations they belong to.

3. THE FREQUENCY POINT - the most common few hundred words in any language cover a large share of everyday speech. Say where I should be focused given my level: core frequency vocabulary, or the specific topical vocabulary my purpose requires.

4. CHUNKS OVER WORDS - learn phrases, not isolated words. Words in isolation have to be assembled under pressure; chunks come out whole. Give the useful phrases for my situations, not just the nouns.

5. THE COLLOCATIONS - which words go with which. Knowing a word without knowing what it combines with produces sentences that are correct and wrong at the same time. Give the important ones.

6. THE FALSE FRIENDS - words resembling my first language's words with different meanings. These cause the most embarrassing errors.

7. THE METHOD - spaced repetition with active recall: produce the word from the meaning, not just recognise it. Recognition is much easier and much less useful. Say how to set this up with what I have.

8. MY CURRENT METHOD, ASSESSED - what works about it and what does not. Passive reading of word lists and highlighting produce recognition without production.

9. THE CONTEXT RULE - learn words in sentences, not as pairs. A word learned in a sentence carries its grammar, its register and its collocations.

10. THE REALISTIC RATE - how many new words per day is sustainable and retained. Ambitious rates produce a large deck of half-learned cards and abandonment.

Correct my writing in [TARGET LANGUAGE].

MY TEXT:
"""
[PASTE]
"""

MY FIRST LANGUAGE: [LANGUAGE]
MY LEVEL: [STAGE]
WHAT IT IS FOR: [PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE]
REGISTER NEEDED: [formal / neutral / casual]
EXPLAIN IN: [target language / my first language / English]

Produce:

1. THE CORRECTED VERSION - errors fixed, my meaning preserved, and as much of my own phrasing kept as is correct. Do not rewrite it into your own style; I want my text corrected, not replaced.

2. THE ERROR TABLE - Mine | Corrected | Type | Why. Types: grammar, word choice, word order, preposition, article, agreement, register, collocation, spelling, punctuation.

3. THE FIRST-LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE - errors caused by my first language's structure. Name the underlying pattern, because these recur. This is the most valuable section for a learner.

4. CORRECT BUT UNNATURAL - the sentences that are grammatically fine and not what a native speaker would write. Give the natural version. At intermediate level and above this is where most of the remaining distance lies, and it is invisible without being told.

5. COLLOCATION ERRORS - wrong word pairings. These rarely appear in grammar references and are a large part of what makes writing sound foreign.

6. REGISTER - anything too formal or too casual for my stated purpose. Second-language writers commonly write too formally, having learned from textbooks.

7. THE PATTERNS - the three recurring error types in this text, ranked by frequency. These are what to work on.

8. THE NATIVE VERSION - separately from the correction: how a native speaker would express the same thing. Kept separate so I can see the difference between 'corrected' and 'natural', which are not the same standard.

9. WHAT I DID WELL - specifically, naming the structure or choice. Useful because it tells me what to keep doing.

10. THE NEXT STEP - given the patterns, what to study or practise.

Explain in [EXPLAIN IN]. Do not simply hand back a rewritten text; I want to learn from this.

Help me plan my language learning.

LANGUAGE: [TARGET LANGUAGE]
MY FIRST LANGUAGE: [LANGUAGE]
CURRENT LEVEL: [WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW]
GOAL: [WHAT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO, AND BY WHEN]
WHY: [travel / work / living there / family / exam]
TIME AVAILABLE: [PER DAY OR WEEK]
WHAT I HAVE TRIED: [WHAT HAS AND HAS NOT WORKED]
RESOURCES AND BUDGET: [WHAT YOU CAN USE]

Produce:

1. THE GOAL, MADE CONCRETE - 'become fluent' is not a goal. What specifically do you need to do: hold a conversation about everyday topics, read technical documents, pass a specific exam, understand family conversations? Rewrite my goal as a set of capabilities.

2. THE REALISTIC TIMELINE - honestly, given my starting point, target and available time. Language learning timelines are routinely underestimated, and an unrealistic one produces abandonment at month three. Say roughly what is achievable and what is not.

3. THE DISTANCE FACTOR - how close my first language is to the target. This substantially affects the time required and is worth knowing so I calibrate my expectations rather than concluding I am bad at languages.

4. THE FOUR SKILLS - listening, speaking, reading, writing. They develop separately and my goal probably weights them unevenly. Say which to prioritise, and be explicit that neglecting one is a legitimate choice if the goal does not need it.

5. THE WEEKLY STRUCTURE - given my time, what to do and when. Frequency beats duration: twenty minutes daily produces more than three hours on a Sunday, both for retention and for actually happening.

6. THE INPUT AND OUTPUT BALANCE - most learners do too much input and too little output because output is uncomfortable. Say what the balance should be for my goal, and where speaking practice comes from.

7. THE SPEAKING PROBLEM - the hardest to arrange and the most necessary if speaking is in my goal. The options: a tutor, an exchange partner, a class, or practising aloud alone. Say what is realistic within my budget.

8. WHAT HAS NOT WORKED - I said what I have tried. Diagnose why. Common causes: all input and no production, apps that build recognition without production, and no consistent schedule.

9. THE PLATEAU WARNING - progress is fast at the start and slows markedly at intermediate level. This is normal and is where most learners stop. Say what to expect and what gets you through it.

10. THE MILESTONES - how to tell it is working at one, three and six months, since day-to-day progress is invisible.

Help me understand this authentic material.

LANGUAGE: [TARGET LANGUAGE]
THE TEXT OR TRANSCRIPT:
"""
[PASTE]
"""
WHAT IT IS: [news article / song / podcast / film dialogue / social post / book extract]
MY LEVEL: [STAGE]
MY FIRST LANGUAGE: [LANGUAGE]
WHAT I UNDERSTOOD: [YOUR ATTEMPT AT THE GIST]

Produce:

1. THE GIST - what this says overall, in [MY FIRST LANGUAGE or the target language - tell me which you want]. Confirm or correct my attempt first, so I can see how close I was.

2. THE BREAKDOWN - section by section: the target-language text, a plain translation, and a note on anything structurally tricky. Do not translate word for word; show how the meaning is built.

3. THE VOCABULARY - words above my level, with: meaning in this context, how common the word is (worth learning or not), and any other meanings. Mark clearly which are worth adding to my vocabulary and which are rare enough to skip.

4. THE STRUCTURES - grammar I may not know, explained briefly in context rather than as a full grammar lesson.

5. THE IDIOMS AND FIXED EXPRESSIONS - these are what make authentic material hard. Each with its literal meaning and its actual meaning, because the gap between them is where comprehension fails.

6. THE REGISTER AND TONE - is this formal, casual, regional, dated, ironic? Learners frequently absorb register from whatever material they encounter and then use it in the wrong situation.

7. THE CULTURAL REFERENCES - anything requiring knowledge a native would have.

8. WHAT MADE IT HARD - specifically, which of: unknown vocabulary, speed, grammar, idioms, cultural context, or register. Knowing which tells me what to work on.

9. THE LEVEL CHECK - honestly, is this material appropriate for my level? Material far above your level produces frustration and little learning. Comprehensible input just above your current ability is what develops comprehension. If this is too hard, say so and describe what to look for instead.

10. THE RE-READ - having seen the breakdown, read it again. Say what to notice on the second pass.

Help me prepare for a specific situation in [TARGET LANGUAGE].

THE SITUATION: [WHAT YOU NEED TO DO - a medical appointment, opening a bank account, a job interview, meeting in-laws, a phone call, a presentation]
WHERE: [COUNTRY OR REGION]
MY LEVEL: [WHAT YOU CAN DO]
WHEN: [HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO PREPARE]
WHAT I AM WORRIED ABOUT: [YOUR CONCERN]

Produce:

1. HOW THE SITUATION USUALLY GOES - the typical sequence of the interaction in that country. Knowing the structure reduces the cognitive load enormously, because you are not simultaneously working out what is happening and what to say.

2. WHAT THEY WILL SAY - the phrases you are likely to hear, with translations. Understanding is harder than speaking in a real situation, and it is the part learners prepare least. Include the variations, because people do not use the textbook phrasing.

3. WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY - the phrases to prepare, in order of the interaction. Full sentences, ready to use, not vocabulary to assemble under pressure.

4. THE SURVIVAL PHRASES - the ones that keep the conversation going when you are lost:
   - Could you repeat that, more slowly
   - I did not understand
   - How do you say...
   - I am still learning the language
   - Could you write that down
   These do more for a real interaction than any amount of topical vocabulary.

5. THE NUMBERS AND SPECIFICS - dates, times, amounts, addresses, spelling your name. These are where prepared conversations break down, and they are easy to drill in advance.

6. THE FORMALITY - which register this situation requires and how to address people. Getting this wrong is more noticeable than a grammar error.

7. THE CULTURAL NOTES - what is expected: greetings, directness, what is asked, what is not, and what documents or information to bring.

8. THE PRACTICE SCRIPT - a run-through of the whole interaction, with your lines and their likely responses, so I can rehearse it aloud.

9. THE FALLBACK - what to do if it goes beyond what I can handle: asking for someone who speaks my language, writing it down, or using a translation app. Having a plan removes most of the anxiety.

10. THE PRIORITY - given my time to prepare, the three things to drill first.