bzylich

Hi everyone! I have been studying Spanish off and on now for about 10 years throughout middle/high school and now in college. It wasn't until I began doing language exchanges as an assignment for my college Spanish class that my conversational skills really began to improve. Currently, I am looking for a research topic for my Masters in Computer Science, and I would like to know whether anyone has used chatbots before to practice their language skills. I believe at least Mondly, Duolingo, and Memrise have made chatbots available for this purpose. In my opinion, chatbots have a lot of potential to help language learners develop their conversational skills to the point where they are comfortable enough to participate in language exchanges with native speakers. Especially for those just beginning to learn a language, chatbots might provide the opportunity to practice putting vocabulary and grammar into a conversational setting without the added pressure or expense of taking part in language exchanges or hiring a tutor. I would be interested to hear about your experiences using similar chatbots. What do you like/dislike about them? What would make interacting with them more interesting and engaging? Do you see chatbots as a potential resource for language learners? I realize that many of the chatbots available now are quite limited, but I am interested in learning what features, if any, would make a chatbot a useful tool for the language learning community. Best, bzylich

Thanks for the welcome! If you don't mind me asking, what specifically didn't you like about Mondly's chatbots and what, in your opinion, would make a chatbot engaging for language learners? Best, bzylich

Hi everyone! I started studying Spanish in middle/high school and recently had the opportunity to continue learning Spanish in college, studying abroad in Paraguay and Spain. I really enjoy learning languages, although sometimes find it hard to make time for language learning while working and studying. I am currently pursuing a masters in computer science, and I am interested in pursuing research that combines computer science and language learning. Of particular interest to me is the potential for chatbots to be used by language learners as a way to improve conversational skills without the added pressure of talking with a native speaker. Do any of you have experience using chatbots for this purpose (I know at least Duolingo/Mondly have this feature)? If so, what chatbots did you use, and what did you like/dislike about them? If not, do you think this would be helpful, and what would your expectations be with respect to the chatbot's capabilities? Thanks, bzylich