Whenever I queried my instructors about why English includes the verb “to be” or why subjects and verbs need agreement, I frequently received dismissive responses. They would often just state, “That’s how English works,” or even more frustratingly, “It’s a pointless question.”
I spent my childhood in rural areas where educational resources were scarce. My exposure to English began in sixth grade, but opportunities for listening practice were minimal. Whenever our teacher attempted to play an audio clip, the cassette was usually so distorted that we could barely catch a handful of words.
Of course, my English proficiency stayed quite limited. Even when I started university, I was still having difficulties with it. Subsequently, in my professional life, I hardly ever encountered foreign languages, which led me to slowly lose whatever knowledge I had gained earlier. Despite enrolling in classes at various private institutions, I found myself unable to follow along or comprehend the coursework effectively.
The approach to teaching English in Vietnam tends to be quite strict, emphasizing set structures such as subject, verb, object, without providing explanations for their necessity. This made me hesitant to seek clarification; whenever I asked questions, I usually received unclear responses. For instance, I frequently pondered about several aspects: precisely what function does “to be” serve? Why do we require it in English even though it’s absent in Vietnamese? Additionally, why should the subject and verb agree with each other?
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A lady uses ChatGPT on her smartphone for studying purposes. Stock image courtesy of Pexels/Shantanu Kumar. |
It all clicked for me once I stumbled upon AI tools, particularly ChatGPT. This allowed me to start posing questions that had previously intimidated me. I’d input a paragraph or brief conversation into the chat window, and the AI would dissect it for me, pointing out new vocabulary, grammatical elements, and sentence construction.
It was mentioned that “to be” serves as a link between the subject and its characterization—whether it describes who or what they are, their current state, or their location. For example:
I’m a student. The weather is chilly. She’s staying at her house.
That straightforward explanation made everything fall into place.
Whenever I required assistance with pronouncing words, I relied on artificial intelligence for transcription tasks. Over time, as these tools enhanced, they enabled me to engage in verbal dialogues. Starting from stumbling over phrases, I eventually got to a stage where the AI could easily comprehend my speech and respond just like an actual conversationalist.
Through bold questioning and consistent engagement, my English skills advanced significantly. Within merely three months, I achieved greater improvement than in the previous 16 years.
For those studying a new language, I think AI has the potential to become an extremely useful instructor, provided they engage proactively by asking questions and adopting an active learning approach.
