Does AI make reading apps like Du Chinese and maayot redundant?
Learning Chinese with an AI assistant
This is an exchange with ChatGPT exploring the use of ChatGPT in language learning. I’m specifically interested in practicing my reading and so I eventually ask ChatGPT to produce a story that I can use to practice reading along with a list of vocabulary and grammar points. I asked ChatGPT whether apps like maayot or Du Chinese might be ‘disrupted’ by ChatGPT. The answer below. Finally, I generated illustrations for the story from Midjourney using prompts suggested by ChatGPT. The prompts to generate the pictures are shown as captions under each picture. I specifically asked ChatGPT to choose styles that match the story.
In principle each step here could be automated to generate say a daily story including a vocabulary list, grammar points and illustrations. An app unifying all these features could also include Q&A around the story. maayot provides a simple questionnaire after its stories and asks users to share their experience. In a ChatGPT derived app all this could be interactive.
I’ve put the various parts of the exploration/exchange in Mandarin first followed by a translation.
与AI助手学习汉语
在这段对话中，用户想要学习汉语并向AI助手请教。AI助手通过回答问题和提供一个HSK4水平的故事来帮助用户学习汉语。
用户: 我想跟你学习汉语好吗？如果我写的错了，你能告诉我， 好吗？
AI助手: 当然可以！我很高兴能帮助你学习汉语。如果你写错了，我会帮助你纠正错误。请随时向我提问或分享你想要练习的句子。
….
用户: 我没有钱，这两个APP太贵了。 你能不能写一个故事。 HSK4水平的故事。然后我可以复习这个故事。我要用你的故事学习汉语，不要用Maayot 或者 Du Chinese.
AI助手: 当然可以！这是一个简短的HSK4水平的故事，供你学习和复习。
Translation
In this conversation, the user wants to learn Chinese and consults the AI assistant. The AI assistant helps the user by answering questions and providing an HSK4 level story for learning.
User: I want to learn Chinese with you. If I make mistakes, can you correct me?
AI Assistant: Of course! I'm happy to help you learn Chinese. If you make mistakes, I'll help you correct them. Please feel free to ask me questions or share sentences you'd like to practice.
….
User: I don't have money, and these two apps are too expensive. Can you write a story at the HSK4 level? Then I can review the story. I want to learn Chinese with your story, not with Maayot or Du Chinese.
AI Assistant: Sure! Here's a short HSK4 level story for you to learn and review.
故事：《善良农民与会说话的小鸟》
从前，有一个善良的农民在他的田地里发现了一只受伤的小鸟。农民把小鸟带回家，精心照顾它，让它恢复了健康。令农民惊讶的是，小鸟竟然会说中文，它感激地道谢并与农民成为了好朋友。他们每天都在一起聊天，享受彼此的陪伴。
有一天，小鸟告诉农民，在森林深处有一个隐藏的宝藏。他们决定一起去寻找宝藏，开始了一场冒险。在寻找宝藏的过程中，他们遇到了许多挑战，但通过友谊和团队合作克服了这些困难。
最后，他们找到了宝藏，一个装满金子和宝石的箱子。农民把发现的财富与村民们分享，大家一起庆祝这个喜庆的时刻。
Translation: The Kind Farmer and the Talking Bird
Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a kind and hardworking farmer named Li. One day, Li found a little injured bird in his field. He took it home and carefully nursed it back to health. After the bird recovered, it didn't want to leave Li and stayed with him.
Months passed, and the bird learned to speak Chinese. It could understand and communicate with Li. The bird told Li about a hidden treasure deep in the forest. Eager to find it, Li and the bird embarked on a journey together. They encountered many challenges, but with the bird's guidance, they overcame them all and found the treasure.
Li decided to share the treasure with the villagers, and they all lived happily ever after.
Comment: What do you think of the story and the translation?
Learning Material for the Story
ChatGPT can of course generate a vocabulary list and a list of grammar points.
词汇表（Vocabulary List）
农民 (nóngmín) - farmer
村庄 (cūnzhuāng) - village
鸟 (niǎo) - bird
受伤 (shòushāng) - injured
照顾 (zhàogù) - to take care of
康复 (kāngfù) - to recover
学会 (xuéhuì) - to learn
森林 (sēnlín) - forest
宝藏 (bǎozàng) - treasure
一起 (yīqǐ) - together
遇到 (yùdào) - to encounter
指引 (zhǐyǐn) - guidance
重要语法点（Important Grammar Points）
一...就 (yī...jiù) - as soon as
虽然...但是 (suīrán...dànshì) - although...but
把 (bǎ) - used to indicate the handling of something
又 (yòu) - again, once more
ChatGPT versus Dedicated Reading Apps
关于ChatGPT是否会对类似Maayot和Du Chinese这样的应用产生颠覆性影响的问题，我的观点如下
ChatGPT具有潜力对类似Maayot和Du Chinese这样的应用产生一定程度的影响。作为一种强大的语言模型，ChatGPT可以实时生成各种教学材料，包括故事、对话、语法解释和练习等。对于学习者来说，这意味着他们可以获得定制化的学习资源和与AI助手的互动式学习体验，而不是仅仅依赖于预先创建的内容。
然而，Maayot和Du Chinese等应用在某些方面仍具有竞争优势。它们的内容通常由专业的汉语教师和母语人士编写，这意味着它们的材料在质量、准确性和适用性方面可能更可靠。此外，这些应用可能提供了更丰富的功能，如词汇表。
Translation
Regarding the question of whether ChatGPT could have a disruptive impact on apps like Maayot and Du Chinese, my view is as follows:
ChatGPT has the potential to impact apps like Maayot and Du Chinese to some extent. As a powerful language model, ChatGPT can generate various teaching materials in real-time, including stories, dialogues, grammar explanations, and exercises. For learners, this means they can access personalized learning resources and an interactive learning experience with an AI assistant, rather than relying solely on pre-created content.
However, apps like Maayot and Du Chinese still have competitive advantages in certain areas. Their content is often created by professional Chinese teachers and native speakers, which means their materials may be more reliable in terms of quality, accuracy, and applicability. Additionally, these apps may offer more comprehensive features, such as vocabulary lists.
Comment: The point about content being created and developed by experts makes good sense. The point about vocabulary lists makes less sense. As we see above, ChatGPT can also generate vocabulary lists.
Additional Material: The Story in Pictures
We might like to be able to visualise the story. This sequence of eight pictures illustrating the story were generated on Midjourney with prompts suggested by ChatGPT (including style). Midjourney initially generates for choice for every prompt. I kept the selection of four pictures rather than choosing one.
A mix-up along the way
There was a bit of a mix-up with ChatGPT along the way. After the initial exchange and prompt to act as a reading-app substitute it initially gave me a story in Chinese about a Chinese idiom. But then somehow the story was “lost in translation”! When I ask for a translation of the story it gave me the translation for the story above about the farmer and the talking bird. How strange!
I apologize for the confusion earlier. It seems I made a mistake in providing you with two different stories. The first story I provided was based on the Chinese idiom 狐假虎威, which is about a fox taking advantage of a tiger's might. The second story I provided was about a kind-hearted farmer and a talking bird.
I'm sorry for the mix-up. If you would like me to provide a single story based on either the idiom or the farmer and bird, please let me know, and I will gladly do so.
For the sake of completeness, here’s the other story!
故事：《狐假虎威》
从前，有一只狐狸在森林里散步。突然，它发现了一张虎皮。狐狸非常聪明，它想出了一个坏主意：把虎皮披在自己身上，然后去吓唬其他动物。
狐狸穿上虎皮后，开始在森林里游荡。看到狐狸的动物们都非常害怕，纷纷逃跑。狐狸很得意地笑了。它觉得自己变得很强大，就像一只真正的老虎。
有一天，狐狸遇到了一只猴子。猴子看见“老虎”后，立刻爬上了树。狐狸走到树下，炫耀地说：“你看，我是森林里最厉害的老虎，谁都怕我！”猴子仔细观察了一下，发现这只“老虎”走路的样子和狐狸一模一样。猴子恍然大悟，笑着说：“你不是老虎，你是狐狸！你披着虎皮，假装自己是老虎，想吓唬我们！”
听到猴子的话，狐狸无地自容，羞愧地逃离了森林。
这个故事告诉我们：外表不能说明一切，真实的实力和能力才是最重要的。
Translation: The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Might (狐假虎威 - Hú jiǎ hǔ wēi)
Once upon a time, there was a fox walking in the forest. Suddenly, it found a tiger skin. The fox was very clever and thought of a bad idea: to drape the tiger skin over itself and then scare other animals.
After the fox put on the tiger skin, it started to wander in the forest. The animals that saw the fox were very scared and ran away one after another. The fox laughed proudly. It felt that it had become very powerful, just like a real tiger.
One day, the fox encountered a monkey. The monkey saw the "tiger" and immediately climbed up the tree. The fox went to the bottom of the tree and boasted, "You see, I am the most powerful tiger in the forest, everyone is afraid of me!" The monkey observed carefully and found that the way this "tiger" walked was exactly like a fox. The monkey suddenly realized and said with a smile, "You are not a tiger, you are a fox! You are wearing a tiger skin, pretending to be a tiger, and trying to scare us!"
Hearing the monkey's words, the fox felt humiliated and fled the forest in shame.
The story tells us: appearances cannot explain everything, real strength and ability are the most important.
Comment: This feels like an interesting choice of story given the question I asked it about other apps just prior to asking it for a story!
Note on the idiom in the title
狐假虎威 (hú jiǎ hǔ wēi) is a Chinese idiom (成语 chéngyǔ) that literally translates to "the fox borrows the tiger's might." It is used to describe a situation where someone takes advantage of the power or authority of another, more powerful person or entity to intimidate others or achieve their goals. In other words, it refers to someone who relies on powerful connections to exert influence or control, rather than their own abilities or merits.