How to use ChatGPT to improve your journal entries in French
Dear Universe, Please Make Me Fluent
Learning a new language can be a thrilling adventure, especially when you find engaging ways to immerse yourself in it. If you’ve been around Bubbles of French a minute, you know that my absolutely favorite method to do so is journaling in your target language. Not only does this practice help you improve your writing skills AND speaking skills, it also serves as a journey of self-discovery. And now, with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT, you can get instant corrections and feedback, making your language learning process even more effective and enjoyable.
Dear Diary, yesterday I went to the mall…
The other day, I was having dinner with 3 of my lovely new expat friends that I’ve made here in Portugal - where I moved about 9 months ago - and the subject of learning languages came up. They were sharing with me how frustrated they were with themselves that they couldn’t get motivated enough to learn and practice Portuguese consistently, and that’s when - as the expert that can’t shut up about her expertise that I am - I told them all about the power of journaling.
At first, they were a little surprised - as I gathered by their frowned eyebrows and subtle compassionate but doubtful smirk.
“-Journaling? Like in “Dear diary, yesterday I went to the mall but they no longer had my favorite nail polish?!?” (group laughter)
“- Well, only if that’s the kind of stuff you want to talk about. Journaling is much more about introspecting, laying down your thoughts, naming your emotions, bringing yourself clarity, compassion, you know, holding space for yourself. Only instead of doing it in your native language, you do it in Portuguese. Or in French. Or in any language you’re learning at an intermediate level and you want to feel confident speaking in. Because when you journal your thoughts, when you follow prompts and you lay down words onto paper in your target language, you give yourself the time to select the words you want to use, choose the language structures that would be the most accurate, without feeling the pressure to just blurt something out fast as you would in a conversation. So you’re more precise, you activate passive knowledge, and you foster this safe space within yourself where it’s ok to make mistakes and to learn from them. Plus you know, it’s good for your mental health.”
Truth is, most people think journaling is for teenagers or for GenZ super manifestation powers. And although I’m pretty sure the formula “Dear Universe, Please Make Me Fluent” doesn’t bear conclusive results, let’s not disregard the practice altogether : Journaling is just about writing meaningful words onto paper.
You are the boss, you give it the shape and the purpose that makes sense to you.
Here, at Bubbles of French, we give it the purpose of making us feel comfortable writing and speaking the languages we learn, whilst we learn to love ourselves more.
And now, with modern technology, it gets even better! You no longer have to wait for a tutor or teacher to correct your (sometimes very vulnerable and intimate) journal entries. Instead, just ask the help of AI tools like ChatGPT and get instant corrections and feedback, making your language learning process even more effective and enjoyable.
Integrating ChatGPT in your Journaling in French Practice
ChatGPT has been revolutionising our world since 2022, and although I don’t entirely believe AI can replace the human care and intelligence that is needed to teach you a language, there are ways to use this amazing tool in your daily (or weekly) language learning practice, especially when it comes to journaling.
I’ve personally been using it with Portuguese for a few months now. I’ve been taking advantage of my own work for the Journal in French Club - where I share daily prompts for self-reflexion and guided journaling - which means that every day or so, I set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes and I write with my very pre-intermediate imperfect Portuguese skills about (for instance) how I could bring more compassion to myself. After pouring my heart onto paper, I then submit my journal entry to ChatGPT for corrections and explanations.
Within seconds, my ADHD brain is happy with the instant gratification and validation, and I have the necessary information to adjust my sentences, plus the opportunity to ask questions. Quite cool!
Instant Corrections
Open ChatGPT and enter “Please act as a compassionate and professional French teacher : give me detailed corrections for my journal entry, together with clear explanations or tips on how not to repeat the same mistakes in the future.”
Tadaaam, ChatGPT reviews your journal entries and provides corrections on grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. This instant feedback is invaluable as it helps you understand your mistakes and learn from them immediately. It’s not always 100% accurate, and it does sound a bit robotic, but I’ll take that over no feedback any day.
Explain it to me!
Beyond simple corrections, ChatGPT can explain why certain corrections are made. Why is it this “de” instead of “à”? Why “passé composé” instead of “imparfait”? This can help you grasp the underlying rules and nuances of the language, aiding long-term retention and understanding. The big plus, compared to Google, is that you can have actual conversations with AI as you’d have with a teacher : don’t hesitate to tell it if you don’t understand something, or if you need more examples. Better yet, submit your own examples or your own explanations to see if you’ve got it right!
Train it over time
ChatGPT has a memory capacity, which means that it will remember previous conversations from within the same file. A great way to use this feature is to ask your new best friend to give you an overview of your progress after a few weeks or months : How have I progressed? What are some of the mistakes that I keep repeating? What do you suggest I should work on next? Be careful however, ChatGPT will flatter your ego - which is nice for the days that you’re doubting yourself, but like I said, nothing truly replaces the precise touch of an experienced teacher.
Try it out - Bonus Sample Prompts
I want to encourage you to get started right now. Do you have 10 minutes? Come on, I’m pretty sure you have 10 minutes. Look, I’m giving you a few prompts right here, so no excuses. Let’s get your journaling in French started!
Describe how your perfect day would look like - À quoi ressemblerait ta journée idéale? (Beginners : write it all in the présent - Intermediates - try the conditionnel présent)
Write about a challenge you recently overcame and how it affected you. - Écris sur un défi que tu as dépassé et comment cela t’a affecté (Hint : this will require the use of passé composé et imparfait, perhaps even plus-que-parfait if you’re more advanced)
Imagine you could have dinner with any historical figure. Who would it be and why? - Si tu pouvais diner avec n’importe quel personnage historique, qui choisirais-tu et pourquoi?
Conclusion
Journaling in a foreign language is a powerful way to enhance your language skills while engaging in deep self-inquiry. By leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT, you can receive real-time corrections and insights that accelerate your learning process. So grab your journal, choose a prompt, and start writing your way to fluency and self-discovery today!
Looking to learn more about the benefits of Journaling in a foreign language? Check out these amazing posts and essays I’ve written on the topic:
And if French is your target language, check out the Journal in French Club - a tiny but mighty community that fuels your motivation and sparks your imagination to write and practice French every day.
Coming up in Bubbles of French
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Dedicated private chat on Substack to share your thoughts and reflexions on the weekly topic directly en français! You’ll also be able to ask me questions there :)
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