My AI Language Tutor

Is ChatGPT the perfect speaking partner?

I’ve been using ChatGPT to help with my Italian lately (I’ll share an update on that next week-read this post for the original plan). I’ve also used it to get feedback on my writing and grammar in French, and it’s played a role in my Slow Language Learning experiments.

While I know I need to focus more on speaking French, it isn’t my top priority right now. My options for regular conversation practice are limited, and I’m not ready to sacrifice flexibility or budget to fix that. So, I decided to give ChatGPT a go as a speaking partner.

My 15-Minute Experiment

This was a short practice session while I made my morning coffee (my favorite time for language practice). I did everything in voice mode, which means my speech is much less polished than if I were writing. Please keep that in mind when you see the results!

Here was the plan:

1. Have ChatGPT create a character I could talk to

2. Have a realistic conversation

3. Get feedback on my language use

I gave ChatGPT a score out of 10 for each area. I wasn’t expecting a full language class, like those I’ve written about here, but did want to evaluate it as a language speaking partner.

1. Creating a Character

ChatGPT introduced me to Sophie: a French woman who loves yoga and pastries. Basic, but I figured that it was fine. I could get to know her like I would a real person. As we talked, I learned Sophie wasn’t just into pastries; she was a pastry chef. She and her partner own a pâtisserie and share the responsibilities. They love to travel, and she enjoys creating new recipes.

That’s... about it.

Sophie felt completely two-dimensional. No quirks, no imperfections, nothing that made her interesting or relatable. I hoped she might eventually open up, maybe share a bit of gossip or something odd that made her feel more real. But during this first 15-minute chat, that didn’t happen.

Score: 5/10

There’s potential here, especially with a bit more customization or maybe a trained GPT. But as it is, Sophie was far too bland to sustain my interest.

2. Having a “Realistic” Conversation

When I use ChatGPT for Italian, I know the conversations are textbook-style. That’s fine because I’m focused on understanding and producing basic language. But with French, I need something more advanced and lifelike.

Sophie responded well and followed the conversation formula I teach my own students:

• Respond to what the other person says

• Ask a question to keep the conversation going

This kind of interaction builds trust and helps conversations feel natural. But with Sophie, the interaction felt forced. I wasn’t that interested in answering her questions, even simple ones about my routine or weekend. Maybe it’s because I didn’t “know” her well enough to want to open up.

Another issue: Sophie didn’t sound like a real person. Her speech was too perfect. Real conversations are messy. People interrupt, change direction mid-sentence, use fillers, ask for clarification. My speech sounded like that—hers didn’t. There were no “euh,” “bref,” or “tu vois,” and certainly no slang or verlan. The lag time also made it hard to interrupt or jump in naturally. It didn’t feel like dialogue.

There were some weird problems with the transcription of my speech, but you may notice that my speech includes filler words and short sentences, whereas Sophie “speaks” like she’s writing or reading from a script written by the tourism board of Saint-Malo 😅.

Score: 6/10

The conversation wasn’t interesting or natural, but it was still useful. I had to think, search my memory for words, and practice fluency. I didn’t feel nervous, she prompted me to keep speaking. It was just a step up from speaking to myself. (I’ve written a whole post about building spoken fluency without a partner if you’ve missed it!)

3. Getting Feedback on My Speaking

This was the part I was most excited about. I use ChatGPT all the time to get feedback on writing and grammar, and I hoped it could do something similar for my speaking

When I work with students, I note mistakes or areas to improve during our conversations and we review them afterward. I was hoping ChatGPT could do the same for me.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t give me any feedback on my performance. I assumed it would have access to the transcript of our voice conversation, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Oddly, it did give feedback on Sophie’s responses—thanks, I guess?

Score: 0/10 (this time)

Next time, I’ll try priming it to keep a transcript and ask for feedback at the end. I may even record our session, have it transcribed separately, and feed that into ChatGPT for analysis. While I didn’t get grammar or vocabulary corrections, the fact that it accurately transcribed what I said tells me my pronunciation was at least intelligible. Still, I’m sure a real French speaker would have loads of corrections in that area, too!

---

Overall Rating: 6/10

Using ChatGPT as a speaking partner isn’t perfect, but it’s still a useful tool in my language learning toolkit.

What I liked:

• No extra cost (I’m already paying for ChatGPT for work)

• Available anytime

• Totally flexible

• Great for grammar or vocabulary queries

• Let me practice fluency without pressure

What could be better:

• Conversations and characters lack personality or humanness

• ChatGPT’s “speech” sounds like writing, not talking

• No personalized feedback (yet)

Like other language learning tools (Duolingo comes to mind), ChatGPT might be most useful at beginner levels. It’s excellent at generating vocab lists, controlled dialogues, and personalized grammar exercises. But as I’ve said many times before, real language learning requires meaningful engagement. ChatGPT offers more than a phrasebook, but it’s not the same as human interaction.

I’m still working on a more in-depth post about using AI in language learning. For now, I hope this gives you a starting point if you’re curious about experimenting with ChatGPT in your own practice.

How do you feel about using AI with language learning? If you use it, what kinds of things do you do with it? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

---

Thank you so much for reading Love to Lingo.🤍

I love making resources like this available to everyone, without a paywall. If you'd like to support that mission, you can buy me a coffee. Every contribution helps me make the time to write and create helpful tools for language learners.

If that’s not possible right now, sharing or recommending Love to Lingo with other learners or teachers is another important way to support this work. Happy Language Learning! 🤍