how can AI help you? - language learning

"Trojan Horse" - illustration by Matt Dawson.

Is AI a scam? Are we being sold a load of rubbish? What can it actually do for ordinary people?

Lately, I’ve seen lots of comments on social media that fear, dismiss, or demonise AI. As a part-time, freelance AI language trainer, I read them with curiosity and interest, feeling a bit like I’m siding with the enemy to build some kind of Trojan horse that will end civilisation as we know it, stripping away all humanity. I’m fascinated by the possibilities AI offers, even though it’s still developing. But mostly, I admire the talent and hard work of the programmers behind it. I’ve read opinions that slam AI, saying that using it for things we used to do ourselves, like writing an email, will make us dumb. Many people also think it’s useless for their daily lives.

Speaking for myself, though, I'm finding it more and more helpful. It’s become a valuable assistant for many of my daily tasks, making them easier, helping me be more productive, and giving me more free time for other things.

A few weeks ago, over a casual chat after lunch, someone said, “Until AI finds a cure for cancer, I think it’s pointless.” I replied that, while that’s probably still a long way off, AI could take the load off many routine and tedious tasks that researchers do every day. And that could help them find a cure faster or at least make quicker progress.

I think that, rather than seeing it as a menace, we can try and find ways in which it can boost our abilities. So I’ve decided to start a series of posts showing practical examples of how AI can help us in everyday life.

Today, I’ll focus on the use of AI as an aid in learning a foreign language. As someone in the linguistics field, I’ve made plenty of exercises for students to practise various grammar points. I actually made a whole book of them. And after a while, trust me, coming up with more and more sentences for fill-in-the-blank exercises, adjusting the vocabulary to different learning levels and so on becomes a headache, especially when you're working with a deadline. Whether you are a language teacher in need of extra exercises for your class, or a student learning on their own or wanting more practice for a language exam, AI can help you. For the examples in this series I will be using Grok 3, X's AI assistant. Let's imagine you are a teacher and need an exercise for your students to practise phrasal verbs at a beginner level. We'll start by giving the AI the following prompt:

Please, compile a list, in alphabetical order, of the most important phrasal verbs a beginner- level ESL [English as a Second Language] student should learn.

Grok produced a bulleted list, but for space reasons I'm formatting it with commas. Notice that at the end it states the sources it gathered the information from, which are also reliable sources (the British Council website and Cambridge’s English Phrasal Verbs in Use):

Below is a list of 25 common English phrasal verbs suitable for beginner-level ESL learners, arranged in alphabetical order. break down, call back, come back, come in, find out, get in, get out, get up, give up, go back. go out, grow up, hang out, look after, look at, look for, pick up, put on, run out, set up, sit down, take off, turn off, turn on, wake up This list draws from common ESL resources like the British Council and Cambridge’s English Phrasal Verbs in Use, focusing on high-frequency verbs for beginners.

Next we will ask Grok for suggestions on what type of exercises we could make:

What would be the best types of exercises to test students on that list of phrasal verbs?

In my prompt I forgot to specify that exercises are meant for "beginner-level ESL" students. But, as you can see from Grok's response, it has been programmed to infer, from the previous turn in the conversation, that it is an implicit requirement. So even though I didn't specify it, Grok included it to tailor its response. It also supplemented the description of each exercise with suggestions on how to implement them and a brief explanation of why these types of exercises would work for our purposes. At the end it also added some useful general tips. Grok suggested 7 different types of exercises, but for space reasons I'll be cutting them down to 2:

To effectively test beginner-level ESL students on the phrasal verbs provided, exercises should focus on recognition, comprehension, and basic application in context, while keeping engagement high and complexity low. These exercises align with ESL pedagogy, emphasizing repetition, context, and gradual progression. 1. Matching Exercises: Provide a list of the phrasal verbs (e.g., "get up," "turn off") and a separate list of definitions (e.g., "to rise from bed," "to stop a device"). Students match each phrasal verb to its correct definition. Why it works: Reinforces recognition and understanding of meanings without requiring production, ideal for beginners. Implementation: Use paper worksheets or digital quizzes (e.g., Kahoot) with 10–15 verbs at a time to avoid overwhelming students. Include distractors (incorrect definitions) to challenge them slightly. 2. Fill-in-the-Blank Sentences: Provide sentences with a blank where the phrasal verb fits, e.g., "I need to _____ the light before leaving the room." Students choose the correct phrasal verb (e.g., "turn off") from a word bank or multiple-choice options. Why it works: Tests comprehension in context, helping students see how phrasal verbs function in sentences. Implementation: Use simple, everyday scenarios (e.g., "She _____ her jacket" for "put on"). Include 5–10 sentences focusing on different verbs to test variety. 3. [ ... ] Tips for Implementation: - Scaffold difficulty: Start with recognition-based exercises (matching, multiple-choice) before moving to production (sentence completion). - Mix formats: Combine 2–3 exercise types in a single test to assess different skills (e.g., matching for recognition, fill-in-the-blank for context). - Keep it contextual: Use familiar settings (home, school, daily routines) to make sentences relatable. - Provide feedback: Review answers with students to reinforce learning, especially for open-ended tasks. - Limit scope: Test 10–15 verbs at a time to avoid overwhelming beginners, rotating through the list over multiple assessments.

We could go ahead as is and create an exercise on our own with Grok's suggestions, guidelines and tips. However, let us imagine we are in the middle of a very busy semester and we could use some spare time to prepare teaching materials, correct exams, etc. We are going to ask Grok to make the exercise for us too. We'll choose "Fill-In-The-Blanks", and since the list comprises 25 phrasal verbs, we'll ask Grok to make 2 exercises with 12 sentences each (I cut the list down to 24 to make it an even number). Grok will provide the sentences, but in the prompt we can specify whatever details we deem important for the exercises to be more challenging. For example, it's interesting for the beginner level students to practise at the same time the different verb tenses, and it's useful to stress the -s/-es/-ies suffix rule for third person singular verbs. Our instructions must be as detailed as possible to get the response we want from the AI assistant. Imagine you're ordering a pizza, and you're specifying all the ingredients you want it to have. We will also ask Grok for the answer key to the exercises, which will come in handy for correcting them ourselves or for students to check their answers against.

I want you to create 2 separate exercises for my students to practise the phrasal verbs they have learned in class. Each exercise should start with the following instructions for the students: "Fill in the blanks with the right phrasal verb from the list below in the appropriate person and tense." Then, each exercise must have a set of 12 sentences with a blank, where one of the phrasal verbs from the list attached at the end of this prompt would fit. E.g. "Please _____ the light before leaving the room." (the right phrasal verb would be "turn off") Use the verbs in a random order, but don't repeat any of them in the 2 exercises. Also, in each exercise use a variety of tenses and include at least 3 sentences in which the verb is in the present tense 3rd person singular. After each exercise, provide an answer key with the full sentences, highlighting the phrasal verbs in bold. List of phrasal verbs for the exercises: break down - come back - come in - find out - get in - get out - get up - give up - go back - go out - grow up - hang out - look after - look at - look for - pick up - put on - run out - set up - sit down - take off - turn off - turn on - wake up

Again, I could have also specified that the sentences in the exercises should use simple vocabulary, as they are for beginner's level, but as you can see in the notes Grok added, it already took that into account. Of course we must check the sentences, because AI still makes mistakes now and then, to make sure they make sense, and that the answer key is correct. And actually there are a few minor issues, as we'll see below. We also need to check that the response followed all of our instructions (number of sentences, not repeating the verbs, etc.). Just like you would check if you got the right pizza!

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with the right phrasal verb from the list below in the appropriate person and tense. Phrasal verbs: break down, find out, get up, give up, go out, hang out, look after, look at, put on, run out, set up, sit down 1. Yesterday, she _____ her coat before going outside. 2. He _____ the room every morning to start the day. 3. They _____ of milk last night and had to buy more. 4. My friend always _____ with her cousins on weekends. 5. The teacher asked the students to _____ the picture on the board. 6. We _____ the new computer system last week. 7. She _____ the truth about the surprise party yesterday. 8. The car _____ on the highway, so we called for help. 9. He _____ smoking last year because it was unhealthy. 10. My sister _____ the kids while their parents are at work. 11. They _____ to the same café every Friday night. 12. Please _____ before you start eating dinner. Answer Key for Exercise 1: 1. Yesterday, she put on her coat before going outside. 2. He gets up every morning to start the day. 3. They ran out of milk last night and had to buy more. 4. My friend always hangs out with her cousins on weekends. 5. The teacher asked the students to look at the picture on the board. 6. We set up the new computer system last week. 7. She found out the truth about the surprise party yesterday. 8. The car broke down on the highway, so we called for help. 9. He gave up smoking last year because it was unhealthy. 10. My sister looks after the kids while their parents are at work. 11. They go out to the same café every Friday night. 12. Please sit down before you start eating dinner.

So, checking carefully, the AI did great in this first exercise, with one small exception. In sentence number 2 the words "the room" are missing in the answer key. Grammatically the phrasal verb "get up" fits well, but the sentence sounds unnatural. 1. He _____ the room every morning to start the day. 1. He gets up every morning to start the day. Let's see how Grok did with exercise 2...

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with the right phrasal verb from the list below in the appropriate person and tense. Phrasal Verbs: come back, come in, get in, get out, go back, grow up, look for, pick up, take off, turn off, turn on, wake up 1. The plane _____ in ten minutes, so we need to hurry. 2. She _____ the bus every morning to go to school. 3. He _____ to his hometown last summer for a visit. 4, Please _____ the TV; it’s time to go to bed. 5. They _____ to the party late last night. 6. My brother always _____ his keys before leaving the house. 7. She _____ in a small village where everyone knew each other. 8. He _____ the radio to listen to the news every evening. 9. We _____ of the car after arriving at the beach. 10. The teacher _____ every morning before the students arrive. 11. I _____ my glasses right now; have you seen them? 12. They _____ the room quietly to avoid disturbing others. Answer Key for Exercise 2: 1. The plane takes off in ten minutes, so we need to hurry. 2. She gets in the bus every morning to go to school. 3. He went back to his hometown last summer for a visit. 4. Please turn off the TV; it’s time to go to bed. 5. They came back to the party late last night. 6. My brother always picks up his keys before leaving the house. 7. She grew up in a small village where everyone knew each other. 8. He turns on the radio to listen to the news every evening. 9. We got out of the car after arriving at the beach. 10. The teacher wakes up every morning before the students arrive. 11. I am looking for my glasses right now; have you seen them? 12. They came in the room quietly to avoid disturbing others. Notes: - Each exercise uses 12 unique phrasal verbs from the provided list, ensuring no repetition across the two exercises (Exercise 1 uses 12, and Exercise 2 uses the remaining 12). - Tenses vary within each exercise: present simple (including third person singular), past simple, and present continuous. Each exercise includes at least three third person singular present tense verbs (Exercise 1: gets up, hangs out, looks after; Exercise 2: gets in, turns on, wakes up). - Sentences are simple and contextual, using everyday scenarios suitable for beginners. - The answer keys highlight the phrasal verbs in bold for clarity.

Grok did pretty well again, but this time there were 3 minor issues in 3 sentences. In sentence 2 the AI used a noun that doesn't work with the prepositional phrase, because you don't get *in the bus, but on the bus. 2. She _____ the bus every morning to go to school.

2. She gets in the bus every morning to go to school. Grammatically, there's nothing wrong with sentence 10, but it sounds a bit strange... unless the teacher sleeps in the school!

10. The teacher _____ every morning before the students arrive. 10. The teacher wakes up every morning before the students arrive.

Finally, the sentence the AI came up with for "come in" is not grammatically correct because you come into a room, not *in a room. This problem could have easily been avoided omitting "the room".

12. They _____ the room quietly to avoid disturbing others.

12. They came in the room quietly to avoid disturbing others. But all in all, as you can see, aside from these minor issues, which can easily be corrected, Grok followed perfectly all of our instructions, and this took just a few minutes. What do you think? Useful or not? CREDITS: The Trojan Horse image featured in this article is an original illustration by Matt Dawson (http://www.mattdawsonillustration.com).