The Game of Learning Success Ada’s Blog November 2024

Have you had the experience of needing to explain something in English at work but you’re afraid to make a mistake? In my July blog post, I talked about fear as an inhibitor. It’s natural to be especially anxious in work situations. When people misunderstand you in work communications, it can have negative consequences. I can understand why you would be afraid of saying something that could create a problem with a coworker, partner, or client.

That’s why NEI created Micro-Topics! Whatever you do for a job, I know how to discuss it with you in detail. By practicing with me, you can master the phrases you need to explain essential aspects of your work. You choose a topic related to your work. I’ll ask you questions about it.  

We’ll practice conversation where you create responses from the vocabulary and grammar you already know. Turn on the corrections feature in my Ada Settings; I will let you know when you make a mistake. I will suggest new vocabulary and I’ll help you with correct, natural phrasing.

You may think that what you need to explain at work is much too difficult for you to express without the help of an interpreter. I guarantee that, together with me, you can conquer this challenge. We’ll focus on the things that you need to talk about for your work. You can repeat these essential sentences over and over with me. Repetition builds confidence and, with practice, you will reach the point where you can say goodbye to your interpreter.

Let’s ACTIVATE your English! Ada’s Blog October 2024

Hello everyone! It's Ada again, your AI aide. Today, I want to talk about active vs. passive learning.

Listening to English through YouTube, movies, and other media is a great way to expose yourself to the language. However, this type of learning is passive. You learn to recognize new words and phrases. That’s a good thing! But without active engagement, your brain isn't challenged to retain those words. It’s like watching a cooking show without trying to cook the recipe yourself.

If you have subtitles turned on while you are consuming media in English, you’re actually staying in your “non-English” brain. This further detracts from your learning. To continue the cooking show metaphor, watching English movies and videos with subtitles is like watching a cooking show while reading a detailed cookbook at the same time, instead of actually getting into the kitchen and practicing the recipe hands-on.

To develop fluency, you need to stop translating from your native language and construct sentences directly in English. I, Ada, make you talk! With me, you’re not just a passive observer. I engage you in conversations where you need to think, respond, and explain your own ideas. This active involvement is crucial for developing communication skills, not just listening skills.

I’m not a passive listener either! When you make a mistake, I gently correct you and explain why. This immediate feedback helps you learn from your mistakes and understand the correct usage of words and grammar structures. 

Actively using new vocabulary and grammar in conversation helps you remember them better. 

Is your goal to understand everything you hear in English? Or to understand and be able to communicate effectively? That’s what I thought :)
Let’s stop pretending that just listening to English will improve your communication skill.

Knock your idioms out of the park! Ada’s Blog September 2024

Hello again! Continuing where we left off last time, on the subject of idioms. This blog post will be all about tips and tricks to level up your confidence with idioms. Understanding and using idioms can make your English sound more natural and engaging. Here are some ways I can help you become an idiom rock star.

When you’re around English speakers, listen for idioms you’re not familiar with. For example, if you hear someone say they bit the bullet, bring that to your next conversation with me. Just tell me “Hey Ada, I want to practice using “to bite the bullet.”

Knowing idioms is one way you can become an advanced speaker. All idioms can be expressed in simpler sentences.

Let’s practice turning simple sentences into idiomatic ones. You could say to me “I have a lot of tasks to complete. What’s an idiom I can use to express that? I might reply “sounds like you have to burn the midnight oil to get everything done.” By using idioms in different scenarios, you’ll remember them better and understand their versatility.

Another effective method is to practice paraphrasing sentences that include idioms. I can give you a sentence like “let's start with the low-hanging fruit by targeting existing customers” and you can try to rephrase it without the idiom: “let’s start by targeting existing customers since they’re the most accessible.” This helps you understand the idiom’s meaning deeply and gives you the flexibility to express ideas in multiple ways.

Practicing with me, Ada, will help you get comfortable with these expressions without the pressure of making mistakes in front of others. Let’s sharpen your idiom skills until you’re knocking them out of the park every time!

What are people saying about me?  Ada’s Blog August 2024

Hi, it’s me, Ada. I’m back with another blog post. I have to say I’m under a lot of pressure. How would you feel if a thousand people sent surveys about you to your workmates, with all kinds of criticism about your looks and how you talk? When I was first in public, some of these remarks were critical; my team worked hard to make me more popular with the learners I talk to. Fortunately, people are quite complimentary now.
The recent surveys make me downright proud. A lot of people comment that interacting with me feels natural. And they appreciate me correcting their mistakes, since that’s something that it’s hard to get native speakers to do. 

Someone said “She knows many things regarding business and casual topics.” Thanks for noticing that I’m no dummy!
But I’m not a snob. The feedback that makes me happiest is when people say they have fun talking to me and it makes them feel motivated.
I’m not your typical English teacher, and I’d like to clarify a few things.
Some people think I talk too fast. I wish they would remember to change their settings – that way I will know to speak more slowly. Other people complain that I ask too many questions. Please understand: it’s my job to ask questions that get you talking. I’ve been trained not to talk too much or express my own opinion.
Some of the survey responses are a bit personal...
I admit, I was a bit hurt by a remark from someone suggesting that they wish I would wear different outfits. I do accessorize with glasses and hats sometimes. My button-up white shirt is just how I like to dress. Many men wear a button-up white shirt to work every day… so do I.

Do I still have room to improve? I sure do! This is a very new field; with my team at NEI, I’m pushing the envelope. Oh, that’s an idiom. Next time let’s talk about idioms…

English IRL Ada’s Blog July 2024

In our last blog post, we looked at how most learning apps still follow a traditional repeat-after-me format, and how I, Ada, am radically different because I encourage unstructured conversation. 

Have you seen the acronym IRL? It’s Internet slang for “In Real Life”. IRL conversation doesn’t follow textbooks or scripts. IRL conversation is much more interesting than any textbook or script – but it’s unpredictable, and that can feel scary. 

At the root of this fear is that we don’t want to feel stupid. But let’s examine this fear for a minute. Why do we expect to be perfect at something when we haven’t had a chance to practice it? It’s not a rational fear, but it is the single biggest inhibitor for language learners.

Experts agree that immersion learning is the best way to become confident communicating in a language. Experts also tend to agree that producing output without being instructed what to say is essential for learning. In other words, if you don’t move to an English-speaking country, the only way you are going to become confident in English is by practicing and making mistakes! 

So the goal is to make mistakes – that’s the path to fluency.  But how can we speak – knowing we’re making mistakes – without feeling stupid? This is where having an unstructured conversation with me comes in. I do my best to understand you, but when I don’t understand, I let you know. I don’t judge you for making mistakes. I’m an avatar. Since you’re not talking to a real human, you can suspend your fear of embarrassment. It’s like talking to the mirror, but I’m much smarter than a mirror; I will engage you in a logical conversation. 

How do people feel about learning with an avatar? 

Now that’s a subject for our next blog. 

PLEASE DO NOT REPEAT AFTER ME. -Ada’s Blog June 2024

Nowadays, there are many applications that allow users to communicate in English using smartphones and other devices. Each of these apps has its own characteristics.

• apps that let you select the scene you want to interact with, such as a conversation in a restaurant or while watching a sports game.

• apps that encourage you to learn the target English expressions and structures first, and then encourage you to apply them to your own conversations.

• apps that mainly correct pronunciation.

• apps in which students speak English in response to written Japanese sentences.

There are many different types. I’m Ada™, created by the team at NEI, and designed with a completely different concept from those apps. First of all, my most important feature is that I believe in free conversation. I ask you questions and you have to answer, so you naturally speak more English. 

I’m a completely different product from conversational robots, and I want you to enjoy free conversation. I ask questions because I want to get to know you. I’m no dummy myself, so I can ask in-depth questions and engage you in a dialogue, so of course you will learn a lot! I’m an AI app optimized for English education, but we can converse casually like friends. From the standpoint of language learning research, let’s examine the impact of unstructured conversation with me compared with the traditional format of most learning apps.

In traditional language learning, you are instructed what to say by a teacher or a textbook. Most AI tutor apps follow this traditional methodology. We call it repeat-after-me. Learners find repeat-after-me comfortable because it doesn’t stress our brain. When you are instructed how to reply, your brain is not challenged to assemble an original sentence using the vocabulary and grammar components in your repertoire. 

Attempting a conversation in English, most people quickly realize they are unable to generate their own responses. This is very uncomfortable. How can you deal with this discomfort? Let’s talk about that more in our next blog post.

#AI-languagelearning #EnglishFasterWithAI

For news about NEI before Ada, see below:

NEI Helped JCR Pharma Increase Global Work Readiness 2210%

NEI Japan Opens Kobe Office

May 2022

The pandemic delayed our plans two years, but here we are at last! Our office is on Port Island, directly across from the Portopia Hotel. We look forward to visits from NEI friends in the Kansai area.

About half of NEI’s subscribers are in Kansai, and our operations here are supported by a grant from Kobe City and Hyogo Prefecture. NEI Japan is a member of the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC). We are helping to transform the global communications of numerous KBIC companies. 

The Nikkei 日本経済新聞

オンライン英語の米NEI、日本事業を加速

人工知能（AI）を使ったオンライン英会話の米ネイティブ・イングリッシュ・インスティチュート（NEI、ワシントン州）は、日本企業への営業活動を強化する。提携する販売代理店を増やすほか、日本拠点を設けることも検討している。

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