As the founder of a startup focused on language learning, I am really interested in how AI could improve the experience. At this stage, I think it is pretty far off from being useful as a conversation-partner/tutor replacement.
I agree with most of your assessment on tutoring, but replacing the human and emotional connection with a person isn't something that will be easily replicated (or at all!) with AI. I've been successful in hiring tutors that I've liked and tailoring the curriculum to meet my needs. You do need to put in the work, but coming prepared with a curriculum and what I want to learn in each lesson has been very effective for me. I've also tried to pick tutors with similar interests so that the conversation is interesting and engaging.
I prefer my tutoring sessions to be mostly conversation, but I usually reserve some time in the beginning of the session to ask questions about grammar or to review something I have written. I mostly used non-professional tutors who were doing the tutoring to make a little extra money on the side, so at times schedules would change and I would need to find a tutor. There was definitely some time lost in getting to know a new tutor and getting back into the flow of things.
Building a curriculum or taking detailed notes after and during a lesson aren't things every student is going to have the ability or desire to do. These are a couple of aspects we would like to improve with Emurse. Marry one-on-one tutoring with self-paced instruction. Track what was learned in your one-on-one tutoring sessions in the app and create continuity between sessions and different tutors.
I agree with most of your assessment on tutoring, but replacing the human and emotional connection with a person isn't something that will be easily replicated (or at all!) with AI. I've been successful in hiring tutors that I've liked and tailoring the curriculum to meet my needs. You do need to put in the work, but coming prepared with a curriculum and what I want to learn in each lesson has been very effective for me. I've also tried to pick tutors with similar interests so that the conversation is interesting and engaging.
I prefer my tutoring sessions to be mostly conversation, but I usually reserve some time in the beginning of the session to ask questions about grammar or to review something I have written. I mostly used non-professional tutors who were doing the tutoring to make a little extra money on the side, so at times schedules would change and I would need to find a tutor. There was definitely some time lost in getting to know a new tutor and getting back into the flow of things.
Building a curriculum or taking detailed notes after and during a lesson aren't things every student is going to have the ability or desire to do. These are a couple of aspects we would like to improve with Emurse. Marry one-on-one tutoring with self-paced instruction. Track what was learned in your one-on-one tutoring sessions in the app and create continuity between sessions and different tutors.