From a native speaker: please don't use ChatGPT to learn English.

Yes. This is along the lines of not recommending for learners to rely on things like google translate. These are all great tools that can be extremely helpful to people who already have a good knowledge basis and are able to figure out when something is likely wrong even if they don't know why, but should be avoided by beginners.

I find ChatGPT (as well as other LLMs) very valuable to learn English and in many cases other resources you mentioned are not as helpful. For example, I often describe a certain situation (typically in an overly formal way) and ask what's the idiomatic way to describe it. ChatGPT might provide a sentence with a different meaning, but I think it's almost always good. Realistically the only alternative here is to ask a real human, but ChatGPT's answers are instantaneous and I don't want to bother anyone.

ChatGPT will almost always write sentences that are grammatically correct. it does not, however, know why they are grammatically correct. if you ask, it will make up an answer that it thinks sounds good.

> As a native English speaker and professional writer, I just have to say...please, please, please do not use GPT as an educational tool. Maybe you could provide examples where ChatGPT is blatantly wrong regarding grammar or vocabulary? Not everybody has access to a professional linguist 24/7. I think, when it comes to helping with language learning, ChatGPT is much better than the average English speaker.

I use ChatGPT for learning Danish rather than English, but I find it great at correcting errors or producing grammatically correct text. It's pretty bad at different tone or registers and I ignore its suggestions for what would sound more natural, but it's still an incredibly valuable tool.

Can you give us some examples? Why were you saying that ChatGPT is not a really reliable source? For example, is the text it generates not so natural and too formal?

So far I only have good experiences with ChatGPT for language learning. I use it for Japanese. Nothing it has told me has been contradicted by other sources. It is supremely useful to look up words I hear or for it to explain stuff. I am also pretty good at English (native German), and I have not seen any problems with it's English. It translates better than most humans. (Also it's answers are at least on the same level of accuracy as the upvoted answers in this sub, sorry to say... I just tested it with some of the posts here.) Ai may be the best tool for learning languages.

Your title is an overreach and flat out bad advice. In the body of your post and in comments you explain that you really mean that ChatGPT does not \[currently\] provide reliable guidance on grammatical rules. That's my experience too and I'm happy to agree. Although it's worth adding that it makes a great starting point to explore the rules. In my view this is an issue of users becoming more sophisticated in their use of AI tools. Meanwhile there's lots of other ways that ChatGPT really is a first-rate way to learn a language like English. For example it provides grammatical sentences in response to inputs and is a good reliable conversational partner. There are limitations of course, especially around nuance, context, dialects and so on. But those are far outweighed by availability and usefulness for beginning and intermediate students at the very least. Even as a native speaker it's a really fast way to generate grammatically perfect alternative phrasings for example.

I find these AI search engines to be very useful for pointing me in the right direction when I need a specific rule explained. Perplexity running Claude gives me sources for everything, so it’s a pretty good index. AI chatbots are also really useful for exposure. You can have a verbal conversation with Chat-GPT in English, and that’s something that’s very valuable for ESL. AI also uses “perfect” grammar, which is similarly helpful. When you’re hunting for a reference, trust but verify. For everything else practice-wise, AI is a great ESL tool. It has its limitations, but to say “Please don’t use AI to learn English” is tantamount to saying “Please don’t use wikipedia to get an overview of history.” You should absolutely use the tool.

Counterpoint: The best learning resource is direct conversational contact with native speakers. But if that is not possible, use the best resources available to you. If that means AI tools like ChatGPT—great. But be skeptical, be aware of their limitations, and accept that some portion of your learning could be misleading. But that’s no reason not to use it, as the net experience may be very positive.

I am also a native speaker and I would say it is a better guide to grammar than native speakers. Most native speakers have no idea how their language works as they just learned by "that is right" and "that is wrong". Native speakers don't know typically that adjectives are ordered as determiner, opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, and purpose. However they do know that you write "little, red house" not "red, little house" but not why. Most native speakers will make up justification for rules they have internalized without understanding and will not recognize the correct rule when shown it.

The real problem is that the default settings are always "High Ass-Kisser." You don't want to sound obsequious like that. It's downright unnatural.

I imagine someone using chatgpt to learn English would be in a similar boat as those who use anime to learn Japanese.

I understand your point. Occasionally, AI can be inaccurate and provide wrong answers. However, I believe it remains a powerful resource for language learning. Firstly, when it comes to general grammar rules and everyday language, ChatGPT is quite accurate. Additionally, you can use it to practice speaking, which enhances its effectiveness as a tool. Many researchers, including myself—who use English as a second language—rely on AI, particularly ChatGPT, to improve our written academic papers. It significantly enhances the quality of our writing by reducing grammar errors. Moreover, in another context, I frequently use ChatGPT for coding. While it can sometimes produce inaccurate or subpar code, my overall efficiency in writing code greatly increases. Even with the mistakes made by ChatGPT, I find that I can work much faster. The time I spend correcting the AI's errors is compensated for by the time I save in the coding process.

Maybe I shouldnʼt be using AI for this, but I am poor

My experience with chatgpt is pretty different. Chatgpt has actually helped me a lot with my English. In fact, it's taught me things that no teacher was ever able to explain in a way I would understand. It has also helped me learn concepts and certain words in English that no video on YouTube covers. I do have to say though that when it comes to giving you feedback on something you write, it will always find something to correct which I find kind of weird and fishy but yeah. My overall experience with it is pretty good and I'm currently using it to study turkish as well as perfecting my English.

Being a native speaker does not give you any insight into language acquisition

I've heard people say this before and I'm not sure why there's so much opposition to practicing English with ChatGPT. I have a lot of complaints about LLMs and I do agree that people put too much faith into them. But I don't think that applies to just using it to practice conversational English, and I think posts like this are a continuation of the misunderstanding about how LLMs work and when and why they are unreliable. LLMs are designed to string together words in reasonable sounding/statistically likely ways. They aren't trustworthy when it comes to factual information or anything that requires coherent logical thinking, but if you just want to practice having a conversation then ChatGPT is fine. I still think it would be better to practice with humans because ChatGPT has a distinct tone and it's usually obvious when someone is using ChatGPT vs writing naturally. And you still shouldn't trust it for specifics of English, like certain grammar rules. But the idea that ChatGPT is "wrong" or "hallucinates" a lot doesn't really apply to language because that's the thing it was designed to do.

What other languages have you studied and to what level? It sounds like you have a firm understanding of English as a native speaker, but don’t have any experience with adult language acquisition.

How to crack IELTS (any tips)?

ChatGPT and other chatbots are becoming increasingly advanced and are regularly updated, making them less prone to errors and more capable of providing useful and accurate information (nearly all of which is sourced from the Internet). Additionally, if a language learner is skeptical about the validity of a piece of information, they can always use Google search to verify it.

ChatGPT is the most cost-effective way to learn English. Hiring a spoken English tutor can be quite expensive. When you're self-studying, ChatGPT can check if your sentences are correct, explain why, and clarify word meanings. I believe it's worth it. Some say that AI only ensures grammatical correctness without meaningful sentences, but these systems will continue to improve over time.

Use Deepl instead.

This is unfortunately a broader issue for all language learners... I've seen people using chat gpt to try and learn Japanese too...

I think it does a great job (most of the time, imo). I'm not a native, but my English level is quite advanced and I'm trying to read Lord Of The Rings and god, what a tough book to read, so many archaic words and Chat GPT is helping a LOT. Whenever I don't know what a word means or when I get lost in Tolkien's descriptive abilities I always ask it for an explanation, It clarifies things for me and puts me back in the rhythm. My vocabulary and reading ability have improved considerably thanks to this book and Chat GPT. Here's what I do: I send it the word I don't know, then after reading the explanation I google it, check images, look it up on 2 professional websites. GPT has been 100% right so far. Maybe it was different for me because I'm in a specific context, idk.

Dunno, is working fine for me

From an English learner: AI is one of the best tools to learn English 

chatGPT has meant a real game changer in my process of learning. As some have already stated, it might not be very useful to actually explaining things (sometimes messes it up and says what just sounds good for it) but it definitely is useful to maintain conversations, as its level is comparable to a very proficient, highly educated native. One just has to know its limitations. ps. Once I press the send button, I am going to copy my own text to chatgpt to have it corrected!

disagree

Okay, no. I think it’s a good STARTING point. However, if you want to do anything beyond sending emails at a desk job ChatGPT is not your friend. It cannot in any way imitate the tone you’d use for a social interaction, for one.

What do you think about using Grammarly?

Interesting! I also often notice weird collocations or made up words that literally have no meanings, or no one would ever say things that way with some genAI tools in Vietnamese. But I thought it was due to the lack of training data compared to the English language. Seems like a universal problem.

ChatGPT WILL give you a wrong explanation at some point. So if you get an answer from it, how do you know it's accurate or not? You double check the info yourself. Then... at that point, why even bother asking ChatGPT in the first place? You ended up researching it yourself anyway. That's why I think ChatGPT is useless and I think it applies to English learning too.

delve

I have no problem with *learners* using chatgpt if they choose. My pet peeve is when chatgpt is used to answer questions here or to correct others' responses.

ChatGPT is a powerful tool for language learners. You just have to take it with a grain of salt. That being said, it has saved me some embarrassment multiple times. Like when I wanted to say “I am excited” in Dutch and almost said “Ik Ben opgewonden” which means “I am aroused”. It does know the best word to use in most cases

I just think about "How many times does the letter 'r' appear in the word 'strawberry?'"

What do you think about platforms for learning English powered by AI like Langua or Praktika? Could they also be a bad choice for learning English?

I have to use it to have "somebody* to practice with. (Speaking)

I'd extend this to say don't use ChstGPT to learn anything at all. It just sucks up all the data it can get it's hands on. It has no way of knowing, or caring, about the accuracy of said data. Since there is at least as much wrong information out there as there is correct information you can see where the issue is. 

This is the biggest bovine manure I've read all day.

Disagree. For grammar ChatGPT actually does a good job. For knowledge that entirely different arguments, as the platform itself warned to always cross check the information provided by ChatGPT.

For what it is worth, every chat AI has its own strengths and weaknesses. It may well be that Google's succeeds where Meta's and Open AI's fails. Or vice-versa.

Hey, I don't use AI to learn foreign languages. What I do for English in particular is that sometimes I ask if the sentence is grammatically correct. Aaand I don't believe it in 100%. Sometimes I just have no idea how I can restructure the sentence and here I am. AI gives me the idea how I can make this one step forward.

Less and I use Google to get a straight answer.

langua is the best language ai you can get rn I pay 30$ a month just for Spanish learning and even some Spanish teachers on YouTube will back it up. Because it’s really damn good.