How ChatGPT became my language tutor at hand

10

October

2025

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The learning struggle

I’ve used a lot of apps and platforms that have been developed to enhance the language learning experience. I wanted to learn Spanish because it was my ultimate dream to watch “Case de Papel” without any subs. So I tried doing Duolingo, watching Youtube videos, listening to podcasts and memorizing vocabulary using flashcards. But they were never enough. In fact, I always felt that something was missing.

And it was the lack of having a conversation with a native speaker. 

AI has been used by a lot of students, to increase their skills, fix the mistakes by providing a safe space for feedback for improvement(Du, J., & Alm, A, 2024). Moreover, it’s not just the students who gain advantages from integrating AI in their journey. Even teachers use AI and have said that the majority of them find their experience much better as they have used AI in creating lesson plans, modules, creating assessments and others (Nugroho et al, 2024). 

Retrieved from: Ds. Prodco(2023)Language Learning with ChatGPT: A Step-By-Step Guide to Fun and Effective Language Learning with Chat GPT.

How I use Chat as my language tutor

Recently, the majority of people use AI tools to even learn a new language. There are pretty much tons of prompts available on the internet, even targeted at everyone’s level of fluency. There are prompts for beginners who like to improve on their grammar, for advanced learners who like to improve their speaking skills. And this is insane, that we are now even “customizing” the AI experience. 

There are many advantages in learning a new language with AI. Firstly, I could do daily conversation practice by using the voice message tools. I could set up ChatGPT as a Spanish speaker and we could converse with each other via voice message. This helped me to improve my fluency in speaking skills and pronunciation. 

It’s not just the technical skills but I could also ask ChatGPT about cultural related questions, then it would bring it up real quick, a very clear and straightforwarded answer that sometimes even a native speaker would take time.

Why it works?

I think its because there is zero embarrassment first of all. A lot of speakers who learn a new language are scared of making mistakes but with ChatGPT, knowing that this is AI, people can confidently make mistakes and learn from it. And also, pretty much affordable and cheaper than hiring a language tutor. 

Retrieved from: Steve Kaufmann(2024).”How to use ChatGPT to learn a language: tips and prompts.”

Things for improvement

Enhancing the small details would be amazing. Lets say including some features like dialect, or slang would be nice. But I think maybe in the future adding features like ChatGPT tracks the learning progress, remembers the verb and grammatical weaknesses of the user, and slowly blends it in the daily conversation. 

Looking forward to the future where AI has developed even better than now and gives us unique and upgraded experiences.

References


Du, J., & Alm, A. (2024). The Impact of ChatGPT on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Language Learning Experience: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective. Education Sciences, 14(7), 726. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070726

Nugroho, A., Putro, N. H. P. S., Syamsi, K., Mutiaraningrum, I., & Wulandari, F. D. (2024). Teacher’s Experience Using ChatGPT in Language Teaching: An Exploratory Study. Computers in the Schools, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2024.2441161

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K-pop on a digital transformation

18

September

2025

No ratings yet.

When we hear the word “Korea”, it naturally bridges us towards some big players, and you can never mention Korea without talking about K-pop. Today, K-pop is not just about a music but it remains as the one of the biggest content and a culture within South Korea’s entertainment industry. The K-pop entertainment industry does not rely solely on sales on album, or their concert tickets. like they did in the past. They have successfully developed a whole new platform based digital transformation that built more connection between idols and fans, but also on the revenue side.

Case 1- Living in the bubble?

The bubble-Dear U is a subscription based app, where fans pay money(subscribe to the specific idol they want) and pay the money, then they can experience the private-style messages from idols(Zhang, Y. 2022). This gives an another level of connection, that as a fan you are privately having a conversation with your idol(But you’re not). To target users from different countries, they provide a translate features within the app as well so the language barriers is reduced.

Case 2- V Live

V-Live, as from the name you can see it is a digital platform where idols can livestream and fans can join their live with their comments, likes and etc. This was also intended to make more communication and connection between idols and fans(Park, S., Jo, H., & Kim, T. 2023). It was originally owned by Naver(another big company in Korea), but recently it was integrated by Weverse (HYBE’s platform which is another big entertainment industry)And this clearly depicts the envelopment strategy where swallowing up on the compliments.

K-pop industry builds on parasocial relationship

Looking at these examples and cases of digital platform integrated in the K-pop industry, we can clearly see that the K-pop industry builds its backbone on a parasocial relationship between the fans and idols. It’s not just about listening to their music anymore, it’s about how to satisfy the needs and desire of the fans.

Then what is this parasocial relationship? The parasocial relationship refers to a one-sided connection and feelings you get towards celebrity, influencer or a fictional character that is not based on the reality, and you experience feeling of intimacy, friendship, and some connection. So they key is that you do not know this person personally, but based on the marketing strategy and tools, you can feel this strong connection and intimacy.

This trend on K-pop displays on the downside of the industry, that the idols are commodified. Meaning they became a certain products that the entertainment industry produces based on the social beauty standards or other norms, and their worth matters only when they are consumed by the consumers(fans).

Do you think this platform based model of K-pop industry is the only solution of entertainment industry to survive in the future? or do you think this will create a negative effect where fans will get burned out from paying for so much subscription?

References:

Lee, S., & Prey, R. (2025). The Labor Process of Relational Labor: The Case of the K-Pop Fan Platform “Bubble.” Popular Music and Society, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2025.2492505

Jang, G., & Paik, W. K. (2012). Korean Wave as tool for Korea’s new cultural diplomacy. Advances in Applied Sociology, 02(03), 196–202. https://doi.org/10.4236/aasoci.2012.23026

Park, S., Jo, H., & Kim, T. (2023). Platformization in local cultural production: Korean platform companies and the K-pop industry. International Journal of Communication, 17, 2422–2443.

Zhang, Y. (2022). A study on the para-social interaction between idols and fans in virtual applications: Case study of Lysn Bubble. In Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, Volume 631. Duke Kunshan University.

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