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.
You're listening to the Influency Podcast.
I'm Hadar, your host, a pronunciation expert, fluency coach, and a proud non -native speaker.
With over 16 years of experience teaching, I am here to share with you all my secrets on how to show up in English clearly, with confidence, and freedom.
On this podcast, I'll provide step -by -step strategies, lessons, stories, and practical tips to keep you inspired and motivated on your English journey.
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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 is 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 is another element that comes into play, which is 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 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 for 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 you, 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 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!
