Comments on: Using AI chatbots for low-stress Mandarin speaking practice https://www.hackingchinese.com/using-ai-chatbots-for-low-stress-mandarin-speaking-practice/ A better way of learning Mandarin Sun, 10 Aug 2025 11:50:07 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Olle Linge https://www.hackingchinese.com/using-ai-chatbots-for-low-stress-mandarin-speaking-practice/#comment-139501 Sun, 10 Aug 2025 11:50:07 +0000 https://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=20548#comment-139501 In reply to vellocet.

Chinese Forums is still there, I just checked!

]]> By: vellocet https://www.hackingchinese.com/using-ai-chatbots-for-low-stress-mandarin-speaking-practice/#comment-139417 Sat, 09 Aug 2025 02:36:10 +0000 https://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=20548#comment-139417 What the heck happened to chinese-forums.net?
Just gone!
20 years worth of good answers that I still consulted. My whole bookmarks folder, useless.
I asked a great question about reading the Four Classics in English and users recommended great books, that’s gone. Now I finally have time to read.
where do people go now to just shoot the shit?
And don’t say Discord, I hate that service. No matter the topic, it very quickly becomes a little ingroup who boast to one another. Been there, done that.

]]> By: Olle Linge https://www.hackingchinese.com/using-ai-chatbots-for-low-stress-mandarin-speaking-practice/#comment-139263 Wed, 06 Aug 2025 09:15:46 +0000 https://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=20548#comment-139263 In reply to Ean.

I’ve mostly used it to explore fictional settings I’m building for other projects. I usually do this through rather open-ended stories focusing on one main character living in or moving through a space I want to explore.

I never use any rules beyond simple rolls (basically just to spice things up when the outcome of an action is not given). I basically compile some setting information, generate a character and the opening of a story, then just go.

It works pretty well, although it took some trial and error to come up with good prompts that stopped ChatGPT from either overstepping (deciding things for me) or deviating from the information provided about the setting.

My main gripe is that it seems like uploaded documents are often ignored unless you explicitly refer to them. So for setting information, just uploading a text file works less well than pasting the same information, but this also limits length quite a bit. I have tried a few stories like this, maybe for a total of a dozen hours or two.

I think it usually works really well at the start of each story, but as there’s more and more things that have happened to keep track of, the more obvious it is that ChatGPT really has no clue. It might, for example, drop a hint or strongly imply something, let’s say a conspiracy thing in a group. This sounds very exciting, but it then forgets about this and doesn’t follow up five hours later with a huge reveal, as a human storyteller would.

]]> By: Ean https://www.hackingchinese.com/using-ai-chatbots-for-low-stress-mandarin-speaking-practice/#comment-139185 Tue, 05 Aug 2025 02:34:53 +0000 https://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=20548#comment-139185 Hi Olle – I’ve only really tried D&D fantasy-style dungeon/forest crawls and the like. I have actually asked the AI to make games in that style with 5e rules. It works well – I’m also amazed how it understands my Chinese so well. I plan to try other genres but I’m not sure my vocabulary will extend that far! I’m ok with Sci Fi and fantasy because of Chinese-language novel reading. Your article is timely and very helpful for many, I’m sure. AI is a godsend for having complex conversations without needing a speaking partner or needing to feel embarrassed by mistakes. What genres do you like to use it for?

]]> By: Olle Linge https://www.hackingchinese.com/using-ai-chatbots-for-low-stress-mandarin-speaking-practice/#comment-138279 Fri, 25 Jul 2025 05:30:12 +0000 https://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=20548#comment-138279 In reply to Ean.

Hi Ean! Yes, this is a great idea! I’ve spent a fair amount of time experimenting with this myself, but mostly in English and not for language-learning purposes. It works pretty well, I think. The main issue is, like you said, that it requires fairly advanced listening and/or reading skills to be feasible. I’m sure you could adapt the third activity I describe here and make it more open-ended and more TTRPG-like (which I mentioned in the article, too), but the language requirements would also increase as a result. What kind of games/stories hav you tried?

]]> By: Ean https://www.hackingchinese.com/using-ai-chatbots-for-low-stress-mandarin-speaking-practice/#comment-138265 Fri, 25 Jul 2025 02:24:03 +0000 https://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=20548#comment-138265 Hi Olle, good article. One thing I like to do for practice with these AI chats is to ask it to create a TTRPG-style story or adventure in Chinese (on voice mode). You can essentially play the game with it as it creates the adventure for you. It acts as the DM with you as the player – all through spoken interaction. Although probably only for the advanced Chinese learner, it is good interactive practice for everyday actions like looking around at the scenery, manipulating objects, opening doors and so on. You also get a lot of more advance phrases and descriptions of objects and the like.

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