Discover the specific steps for maximizing your Korean language practice using ChatGPT, and also learn about the best prompts you can use.
안녕하세요, 여러분! Hyunwoo here from Talk To Me In Korean.
As language learners, we all know that learning a new language requires not only a lot of studying, but also a lot of practice. But why aren't we all spending several hours each day practicing, practicing, and practicing?
Well, there can be several reasons for that, but one of the most realistic hurdles is that it can be expensive to practice with a tutor every day. I fully support the idea of learning and practicing with a tutor, but if you want to really MAXimize the amount of your Korean practice, ChatGPT can be your new best friend.
If you are already familiar with ChatGPT and using it daily, you can just skip this following paragraph and go to the next one.
- Go to https://chat.openai.com/ and make an account. They offer both a free version and a paid version.
- You can chat with ChatGPT in any language you want, including Korean.
- You can also have voice chats (really important!).
- All voice chats will be transcribed so that you can use them for review later.
- In order to have a good practice session, you need to ask good questions and give good prompts. (Prompts are basically instructions that you give to ChatGPT about what kind of interactions you want to have with it.)
Use my custom GPT to get started right away ⬇️👍🏻
I've set up a custom GPT (requires a subscription to ChatGPT 4.0) with which you can practice speaking or writing Korean.
If you are just using the free version of ChatGPT, that's fine, too! You can still have (almost) the same experience. The only difference is that you will have to give the specific prompts each time you open a new chat.
How to talk to ChatGPT for maximized Korean practice
Here's how to have a Korean conversation practice with ChatGPT that will help you for real.
- Step 1. Get the app.
- Step 2. Type or say your first prompt. I recommend speaking more than typing. In order to speak, just click on the headphones icon.
- Step 3. Give one of the following prompts.
Prompt idea #1 (in English)
I want to practice speaking Korean. Regardless of what language I use, respond to me only using Korean. Don't use any other language. I'm a learner, so keep your responses short. Also ask me a question in a natural way at the end of your responses. If I make a big grammatical mistake, please correct it, too, but not every time. If I run out of answers, I want you to also naturally ask a question about a random topic.
Prompt idea #2 (in Korean)
한국어 연습을 하고 싶어. 내가 다른 언어를 써도 한국어로만 대답해 줘. 나는 아직 한국어를 배우고 있으니까, 답을 너무 길게 하지 말아 줘. 대화를 계속 이어갈 수 있게 자연스럽게 질문을 해 주고, 만약 내가 한 말 중에 큰 실수가 있다면 고쳐 줘. 항상 고쳐 줄 필요는 없어. 대화가 끊기지 않게, 항상 자연스러운 질문을 해 줘. 먼저 아무 주제나 골라서 질문해 줘.
Small Tips
- If you don't want to repeatedly give a starting prompt every time you want to practice, just go back to the same chat window inside ChatGPT. You will see your previous chats on the left-hand side of the screen.
- In my custom GPT, I also added a rule that ChatGPT can't use the word 당신 to mean "you" because it's unnatural in everyday Korean. The free version might still sometimes use "you" slightly unnaturally, using words like 당신(too formal) or 너(too casual).
- You can modify and fine-tune your own experience by giving more specific prompts, even during a conversation. Play with it a lot and find the best set of prompts for yourself!
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