Hi, everybody. The question is pretty much there in the thread title - I’m looking for websites or apps for language learning that do not use artificial intelligence. Are there any Dopers out there who have any recommendations to share?
I really don’t want to get into a debate about ai - my position on it is I want absolutely nothing to do with it. Duolingo’s devotion to ai, coupled with CEO Luis von Ahn’s statements about ai replacing teachers generally, is what has prompted me to ask this question in the first place. This despite having enjoyed Duolingo for quite some time.
Mods - I’m really not sure if this is the best forum for this question, and I’m open to this thread being moved to wherever it seems to work best.
iTalki is an app that connects you to a real, live, human tutor. That’s their big thing - it’s strictly human interaction. I have not tried it myself but I’ve heard mostly good things about it. Not all tutors will be a good fit for all students so you may have to try one or two different people to find a regular tutor, but the fact you are interacting with another human being and using the language are big pluses.
If you do try it yourself please come back and let me know what it’s like.
My son has used it, and has quite enjoyed it. I haven’t yet, but I’ll pass on my personal experiences once I have some.
The draw back with iTalki is that you need to have a certain level to begin with in order not to waste someone else’s time - there’s a certain amount of ‘Le café est trop froid’ you need to get through first.
That being said, there is nothing like an actual conversation to both challenge and inspire the language student! I have my first (online) conversation with a Spanish tutor on Monday - I’ll let you know how it goes!