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I don't know Mandarin, but I found this browser extension [1] very useful for quickly translating some words. It doesn't translate sentences unfortunately, but

I don't know Mandarin, but I found this browser extension [1] very useful for quickly translating some words. It doesn't translate sentences unfortunately, but I guess you can use machine translation for that. I'm curious if/how anyone here has integrated LLMs for their language learning process. Also after you learn a certain amount of basic words in any language, I recommend trying to learn that language from inside out. Basically instead of translating new words to your primary language, look for a dictionary which will explain those words with basic ones you already know. [1] https://github.com/cschiller/zhongwen https://github.com/cschiller/zhongwen

jimmywetnips 2y ago
GPT has been a godsend. For basically being a very competent super knowledgeable tutor of every single language. So if I have some weird question about some language mechanism I can ask it in the domain that I know which is English or a romance language and it will do some compare and contrast. I can ask it about the etymology of the word and the development of certain verbs which helps me to really remember things. The way that it knows what you mean because it has such a vast knowledge base but also the fact that it is an expert in both source and target languages, and how nowadays with voice chat it speaks it with a correct accent means there's really nothing else like it to be honest Like, is there potentially a human being who can surpass the abilities of GPT in this domain? Absolutely but that particular professor or tutor needs to not only be native proficient in both languages, speak both without accidents, but also be patient and understand what you're trying to ask without any judgment. And now try to do that for one to N language pairs and basically the talent pool shrinks to zero. Oh and you want it on demand to scratch a curious itch while driving down the road. No human can offer this service.
mncharity 2y ago
> integrated LLMs for their language learning process Fwiw, TFA's methods page[1] has a GPT section. [1] https://isaak.net/mandarinmethods/#use-gpt https://isaak.net/mandarinmethods/#use-gpt
mncharity 2y ago
> browser extension I've pondered doing a browser extension which invasively replaces bits of english web text with some other language(s). Mousing to get english (which also signals I haven't learned that bit yet), and spoken, and discussion. Bit selection probabilistic on commonness (in both the language and the web page), and on learning. Plus an "I want to learn this bit" list. A replacement aggressiveness slider for "not now please". Basically making all web pages into code-switching polyglots, and shifting general web surfing into an "always learning something" zone.

jimmywetnips 2y ago

GPT has been a godsend. For basically being a very competent super knowledgeable tutor of every single language. So if I have some weird question about some language mechanism I can ask it in the domain that I know which is English or a romance language and it will do some compare and contrast. I can ask it about the etymology of the word and the development of certain verbs which helps me to really remember things. The way that it knows what you mean because it has such a vast knowledge base but also the fact that it is an expert in both source and target languages, and how nowadays with voice chat it speaks it with a correct accent means there's really nothing else like it to be honest Like, is there potentially a human being who can surpass the abilities of GPT in this domain? Absolutely but that particular professor or tutor needs to not only be native proficient in both languages, speak both without accidents, but also be patient and understand what you're trying to ask without any judgment. And now try to do that for one to N language pairs and basically the talent pool shrinks to zero. Oh and you want it on demand to scratch a curious itch while driving down the road. No human can offer this service.

mncharity 2y ago

> integrated LLMs for their language learning process Fwiw, TFA's methods page[1] has a GPT section. [1] https://isaak.net/mandarinmethods/#use-gpt https://isaak.net/mandarinmethods/#use-gpt

mncharity 2y ago

> browser extension I've pondered doing a browser extension which invasively replaces bits of english web text with some other language(s). Mousing to get english (which also signals I haven't learned that bit yet), and spoken, and discussion. Bit selection probabilistic on commonness (in both the language and the web page), and on learning. Plus an "I want to learn this bit" list. A replacement aggressiveness slider for "not now please". Basically making all web pages into code-switching polyglots, and shifting general web surfing into an "always learning something" zone.