The Real Impact Of AI On Language Learning

I recently started speaking French with AI, and although I was very sceptical at first, it enabled me to get French out of my mouth for the first time in over a decade. It was a really emotional experience actually.

This brings me to a question from Rob, who asks: “Can AI be a replacement for real people? I don't know any German folk these days. “

I'm going to guess from his question that he used to either live in Germany or have some German friends, and at that time he learned German. But then life moves on.

Then AI comes along, and now suddenly you have a way to practise anytime that you want. But how has AI impacted language learning? And can it help you learn?

The Challenge Of Maintaining Languages

This is something I can relate to a lot. I live in the English countryside, but I've lived all around the world – Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Qatar, Egypt, even Paris. In all of these places, I learned the languages. That was my main motivation.

I never learned languages for the sake of learning the languages themselves. I don't particularly enjoy studying as such. What I enjoy is connecting with real people.

But now, living where I do, there's nothing but English for miles around. There's a smattering of Hindi, a smattering of Polish, but it's few and far between. For many of my languages, I've really struggled to keep them up in recent years.

The only option for me to maintain a language like Japanese – because there ain't no Japanese people around where I live – is either to travel to Japan, which I do from time to time, or to book tutors on an online website. But both of these are quite inconvenient.

Travelling to Japan is not something you can do every day or even every year. And as great as it is to find a tutor online, there are certain drawbacks. It's expensive to do it regularly, and if you're busy like me, scheduling everything in advance can be difficult.

Has Technology Ever Really Changed Language Learning?

My fundamental starting point with language learning and technology is that I've always been a bit of a sceptic. There is, in my opinion, very little technology that actually changes the fundamental dynamics of language learning.

For me, it's not just a question of efficiency – memorising vocabulary with flashcard apps or whatever. Language learning is a holistic thing. We learn languages to connect with people, to bring the world closer together, to improve our lives.

So much of learning a language comes from depth of focus. It comes down to sitting for an hour or two with a book and struggling through it, realising you can't understand, having to do mental gymnastics to find your way. This is the way languages are learned.

There are some apps and technology I have really used and enjoyed. Flashcard apps, for example, can be very powerful if you use them properly.

I'm a huge fan of tools like LingQ, which encourages reading and listening and uses technology to elevate that experience with simple one-click definitions.

But even when I'm using something like LingQ, the reason I'm using it is simply to facilitate reading.

Why AI Is Different

In my view, there have been probably three major shifts in technology and language learning.

The first was when the internet came along, and you went from having to go to your local library to get content in a language to being able to look up a French newspaper online. The internet gave us access to content, which was a big game changer.

Then you had software. Most software, I think, is totally inconsequential, but some is useful – flashcard apps, for example.

But when AI came along, this has, I think, for the first time since the beginning of the internet, actually fundamentally changed the way languages can be learned.

Here's why: as sceptical as I might be about technology, as much as I'm going to push reading and listening as the core foundation, if you want to learn to speak a language fluently, then sooner or later you are going to have to speak that language a lot.

The way you get better at speaking is not by studying. You have to do the studying, but the way you actually develop a facility in speaking is by getting a lot of reps in, getting a lot of air time. Fluency is a consequence of speaking.

And that's where the problems come in – like Rob's question and like my situation, living in the countryside without people to practise with, having to settle for expensive online tutoring at inconvenient times.

The big thing AI has done is enable us, for the very first time, to simply open up an app or computer and start speaking our language at any point.

You can do this on ChatGPT, but most people would say it's not a particularly effective way because you can't really control the experience. This is why so many AI chat tools have been emerging. Two that I'm involved in are Langua and Teacher AI.

What these apps do is facilitate speaking practice, but so much of the work behind the scenes goes into making the interaction feel like a natural conversation.

If you can open up an AI, speak to it in French, have it respond and correct your mistakes, and it feels like a natural human experience – which it already does, especially with software like Langua and Teacher AI – then it becomes something you actually want to do.

What Is It Actually Like To Speak With AI?

I started using AI software to practise some French because I learned French when I was 19 years old, living in Paris. That was 25 years ago, and I really haven't spoken much French since – until recently.

At first, I was very sceptical. Speaking with an AI isn't perfect. If you've tried it, you'll know that often it asks an annoying number of questions, and obviously it lacks empathetic human responses.

But what it did was enable me to get French out of my mouth for the first time in over a decade. It wasn't even a question of having a perfect conversation. It was more that I realised I hadn't used these French muscles in my mouth for so long.

And now I was doing it for 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes. Then one, two, three, four, five days in a row. I was actually speaking French.

It was a really emotional experience because I just hadn't done it. You could say I could just go to Paris or take lessons online, and yes, I know.

But I don't, because I've got a million other things to do and multiple other languages as well. As with so many things in life, it just ends up not happening.

Does AI Replace Human Interaction?

I really don't think of AI as replacing anything in language learning. Rather, it's an addition – a new tool. It's supplementary. It augments the way we already learn.

If you've spent any time speaking your language with AI, you know it doesn't replace human interaction. I could spend all day speaking with an AI, and I'm still going to want to see an actual person.

The thing AI doesn't give you is the ability to read people. So much of communication is about body language, listening skills, human interaction and empathy. You don't get any of that with AI. It gives you the ability to practise, but it doesn't replace anything.

For people who suffer with social anxiety, this is actually a pretty big deal. Many people never get started speaking their new language precisely because of fear of making mistakes or nerves about speaking in front of another person.

The gift that AI gives you – to just practise, just get the reps in without having to worry about nerves or anxiety – is really significant.

And of course, it's not just the speaking with chatbots. It's all the other things you can do as well, especially the personalised nature of learning.

If you use a tool like Langua, for example, you can be speaking with the chatbot and have all the tools there – instant translation and corrections.

But you can also save and store vocabulary you like. Click on a word, save it, and then use the AI to quiz you on that vocabulary or write a story based on it. It amounts to personalised learning, and it really is amazing.

What The Future Of AI Language Learning?

The future of AI is anybody's guess. Broadly, there are two schools of thought.

One is that AI will continue to improve exponentially and end up with super intelligence. The other is that AI capabilities are going to cap out, and we'll just bump up against a ceiling where AI is no longer able to improve.

What I think will continue to evolve are audio and visual elements. We already have instant translation, but we're going to see the evolution of things like earpieces.

Before long, you'll be able to have a conversation with someone in a different language, they'll reply, and it will be instantly translated into your ear. We're going to have glasses that instantly translate things.

For many people who just care about the outcome, this will be very useful in a purely utilitarian sense. For everyone else who actually gives a damn about language learning, it's going to be utterly soul destroying.

I think we're going to see a lot of people checking out from all of this and saying, you know what, this is not what I signed up for. This is not what I want.

What I really want is to sit down and read a book in Norwegian. I want to have a long conversation with my mother-in-law in Italian.

I want to enjoy a glass of wine with my partner and speak in that language and then watch a movie in that language, because it's the human experience I care about.

How Has AI Impacted Language Learning FAQ

The Real Impact Of AI On Language Learning

So how has AI impacted language learning? It has given us something we never had before: the ability to practise speaking anytime, anywhere, without scheduling or additional cost.

For the first time, language teachers and course creators can help learners with the speaking part – something that was always out of reach before.

But AI hasn't changed what language learning fundamentally is. It's still about connecting with people, immersing yourself in books and films, and building genuine relationships across cultures.

AI is a powerful new tool in your toolkit, but the destination remains the same: the human experience of truly knowing another language.

As long as we hold on to that, we are going to be okay.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.