Learning English as a Non-Native
So I asked AI (ChatGPT to be exact) to rate my English while speaking to it. I mostly don’t write using the keyboard unless necessary, but while asking it to rate my English while speaking, it gave me a solid idea on how I can improve my English. Here’s what I learned from it and what my current mistakes are:
I’m Not Getting Corrected
I thought that just by watching YouTube videos or movies in English with subtitles, I would slowly learn — like my brain would just absorb the information: how they talk, their grammar, or their tone.
I mean, sure, watching YouTube and texting in English is great for fluency, but it doesn’t tell you when you’re wrong. Turns out I’m reinforcing fossilized mistakes — errors I repeat so often they “feel” correct. I think they’re correct. That was the biggest observation it made.
I Skip Structured Grammar Practice
When the AI said that, I was blown away. How could it know? It’s actually true — I tend to avoid or not focus on grammar lessons when the teacher explains.
Even when exams are near, I still don’t revise that much or focus on grammar. Because I go with what “sounds” or “feels” right, and usually I get the answer right because of that.
I Think More Than I Speak or Write
I don’t force myself to write or speak a lot. I mostly think — and that doesn’t give my brain proper exercise.
Even reading subtitles or typing small things doesn’t trigger the deep processing that writing full thoughts or being corrected does.
How I’ll Use ChatGPT (and Other Tools) Daily for Grammar + Fluency
Step 1: Daily Writing Practice (10–15 mins)
Write one paragraph every day based on a topic. You can ask ChatGPT to give you one. Example topics:
- “Describe your day.”
- “What’s your opinion on social media?”
- “Tell me about a childhood memory.”
Anything works. It doesn’t matter.
Then say to ChatGPT:
“Please correct any grammar or sentence structure mistakes in my paragraph, and explain why.”
ChatGPT will:
- Fix your grammar
- Explain what was wrong and why
- Give better phrasing suggestions
Repeat this daily, and read out loud the suggestions ChatGPT gives you. That helps too.
Now you’re probably wondering — that’s only reading and writing. What about speaking?
Step 2: Voice Message Simulation (Speaking Fluency)
ChatGPT has a feature for voice conversations — you can speak like you’re talking to a human being. You can tell the AI:
I’m going to describe what happened today as if I’m talking to a friend. Correct my grammar like I’m speaking.
There are a couple more prompts I found useful, like:
“Act like a job interviewer. Ask me questions and correct my grammar after each answer.”
Or:
“Let’s talk about a movie/game I watched/played. I’ll explain it to you, and you fix my grammar as we go.”
This simulates real-life speaking situations — with grammar correction.
Step 3: Grammar Micro-Lessons (3–5 mins)
Ask:
“Teach me 1 useful grammar rule I can apply in my writing and speaking today.”
Then ask:
“Give me 5 sentences with that rule and ask me to fix any mistakes.”
Step 4: Weekly Progress Review
Ask once per week:
“Based on our past chats, what grammar mistakes do I repeat most often?”
This builds long-term improvement and highlights weak points.
Extra
Now, everything I mentioned above was AI-related. I’m going to use it as much as I can if I have time. But there are other things I’ll do instead of relying on just these.
And the first is reading books. Don’t stop reading. I don’t care if it’s 1 page per day or even half a page. Just read — no matter what.
Try to do as much as you can without burning out. Highlight words you don’t understand. Use AI to explain them or search online. It builds vocabulary.
Also, you don’t need any fancy course or perfect program. You can start with any book you have. Personally, I’m using English books from my father’s library. That’s enough. Just start. Just show up. Don’t be perfect — just start.
Summary of Steps
- Consume English daily (reading + listening)
- Speak or write daily, even to yourself or to the AI
- Get feedback
- Correct your mistakes and apply them immediately
If you found this post helpful or have your own way of improving, drop a comment below. I’m open to adding new tips to this blog (with credit).
Also, if you want to join my Discord server and talk about this blog or share your English journey, feel free to join.