by If you have painful memories of high school Spanish, or find yourself getting into trouble ordering a meal while traveling abroad, you’re not alone. Although more Americans than ever reported speaking a second language at home, many Americans are still monolingual. Language learning apps have tried to change that for over a decade, and many of them have recently been championing their new use of artificial intelligence as the most effective way to learn a language.
Apps like Duolingo have adopted AI to generate various exercises and provide users with basic grammar lessons. Natulang, a new AI-powered language learning app, is one of the first to feature a fully AI and audio-based curriculum. Through its speech recognition and synthesis model, it promises to teach the speech skills that many apps have tried and failed to teach effectively.
Language learning has undergone a revolution in the last decades. Gone are the days of learning cassettes in your car or phonics phrase books. Apps like iTalki or Verbling that pair users with inexpensive contract tutors can make it possible to learn an entire language from your phone or computer for little money.
You can find adults adopting self-study methods on various web forums such as Reddit’s r/LanguageLearning subreddit where thousands of users provide tips and support to hopeful divers.
Natural spoken conversation is a final frontier for many learners who are not immersed in their language of choice. Anyone who has taken a language class can probably relate: sometimes facing textbooks, conjugate tables, and flashcards doesn’t necessarily translate to fluent conversation. So how should learners who don’t have the time, money or confidence to work with a human teacher learn to speak their new language?
Your Robot Language Teaching
Many of the most popular apps have long relied on speech synthesis, a type of AI that helps the robot voice sound more human by imitating speech patterns and tone while preserving that amazingly perfect diction . But each app has embraced the ongoing AI revolution in a different way.
For example, Babbel has introduced a new classroom program where users can book a drop-in virtual language class the same way you book a yoga practice. Memrise, an app that relies heavily on the sight and sound of native speakers chatting, has developed a language bot that will type in chat messages almost– real time with users (there is still a significant delay between the prompt and the message). On the extreme side of the commitment to AI is Duolingo, which created the third series of its subscription model for improved AI learning (and notably fired 10 percent of its contracting team at the end of 2023).
However, Natulang represents the far end of the AI usage spectrum with its speech recognition model. Unlike apps that rely on tapping preselected words, Natulang is almost entirely a speech-based app. The app only shows a continuous chat log, no ads, flashy animations or streaks. This is intentional, app developer Maksym “Max” Hryniv told The Daily Beast. It is also part of why he believes Natulang is effective.
The concept is simple. The app asks you to say a short phrase in your target language. If you get it right, you move to the next sentence. If you get it wrong, the app corrects you. You move through simple conversation this way, reusing grammar and vocabulary structures until it becomes second nature.
Are AI Chatbots About to Make Work Meetings Worse Than Ever?
Natulang was born out of Hryniv’s desire to teach language the way he learned it – as a Ukrainian who grew up speaking Ukrainian, Russian and Polish and later learned French and English – it: immersion continuous sound. Immersion is key to language learning. It’s how young children acquire language long before they go to school, and research has shown that immersion can train adults learning a new language to “think” like a native speaker. The app has a team of human linguists who build the progressive lesson plans and use AI for speech recognition and synthesis.
While Hryniv admits that AI is imperfect and that humans need to be involved in the education process, he strongly believes in the power of Natulang and its technology. “All aspects of classical education will be transformed or even replaced by AI,” he said.
Use With Caution
Not all language learning experts are convinced that AI can or should replace human teaching. Marta García, who teaches English as a language of learning to grades K-5, has deliberately resisted bringing technology into her post-pandemic classroom.
“The emphasis needed to be on developing relationships, social skills, and how to be in public after months of school closures and online learning,” she said. “Language cannot be separated from culture or social interaction.” While she believes AI can be incorporated as a supplement to language learning, she says students are already struggling with the “robotics” of the classroom.
García’s students are mostly immigrants, and her teaching is intertwined with anti-racism, social justice and decolonization. These are factors that we know AI is uniquely ill-equipped to deal with. There are many examples of AI replicating human bias, such as image generators that generate hypersexualized images of women, facial recognition software that cannot match Black faces, or chatbots that spew racist language.
How Porn Stars Fight Back Against AI
Linguistic discrimination can be perpetuated by robots that never imitate overtly racist language. AI favors standard American English over syntax related to working-class English variations (for example, it prefers “is not” to “ní’l” and “tú” to “y’all”). All languages have flavors and regionalisms that speak to class, age, and race identity markers that AI is trained to ignore.
Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr., the 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, has incorporated AI into his high school English curriculum, and has considered using AI in his limited-ability French classes. But he expressed similar concerns to García about letting AI take over classroom planning or teaching.
“AI was built from the language of people: a huge body of people with bias, racism, sexism, trans and homophobia,” he said. “I regret that we are condemning future generations to be limited by the advent of the social justice movement in the early 21st century.”
Most language teachers and experts agree that time, immersion and motivation are the ingredients of language proficiency. But for shy learners with an internet connection, an AI bot could be a useful way to get started. Don’t be surprised when native speakers stop at your slightly mechanical speech.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.
Stay informed and get unlimited access to The Daily Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
