AI Tools for English Language Learner (ELL) Teachers

  • Twee

    Twee: English Lessons

    Twee AI is designed to enrich teaching and learning in English classrooms. It empowers educators through the generation of dynamic lesson content.

    Features: Twee offers a versatile range of tools designed to facilitate the creation, analysis, and discussion of specific texts. For instance, Twee is adept at generating thought-provoking questions, tailored exercises, and quizzes centered on a given text. It also excels at crafting engaging lead-in activities to prepare students for text comprehension. Furthermore, Twee boasts an array of vocabulary-enhancing resources, encompassing exercises like word-formation and word-definition matching. Additionally, it can construct concise dialogues utilizing target vocabulary and identify collocations within a text based on provided vocabulary parameters.

    Twee doesn't overlook grammar, offering exercises that challenge students to select the correct verb form and unscramble words within sentences. Moreover, it provides a suite of tools —including video-based features — to stimulate discussions and inspire homework assignments.

    Tom’s Take: Twee excels at generating questions, tailored exercises, and quizzes centered on a given text. It also provides a bevy of useful grammar exercises.

    Price: Twee is in beta and for the moment and offers many free features. But the beta period is nearing its end.

  • Magic School

    Magic School: English Lessons

    MagicSchool.ai is a platform powered by artificial intelligence that provides educators with over 50 tools, ranging from creating lesson plans to generating rubrics, academic content, and quizzes.

    Features: MagicSchool.ai offers more than 25 tools specifically for lesson planning. The most popular is the robust Lesson Plan Generator. This tool not only simplifies the process of lesson planning but also incorporates various features to make the topics more relevant and engaging for students.

    Among its offerings, MagicSchool.ai provides a Text Scaffolder Tool that makes reading accessible students at different levels and can break down challenging texts into easily understood chunks. it also enables users to condense long texts into small-sized summaries. In addition, there is a Text Dependent Questions tools that generates comprehension and literary technique questions about a select text, such as an article or book.

    Moreover, MagicSchool.ai's tools are customizable to tailor the learning experience to each student's needs. So if you're in search of a tool that can effortlessly generate comprehensive lesson plans, MagicSchool.ai could be just what you're looking for.

    Tom’s Take: MagicSchool.AI is impressive. Its lesson planning tools are outstanding, featuring a vast selection of well planned and well organized tools to fit a range of English language teaching needs and reach a diverse range of students. It also provides teachers flexibility to select standards and specific curriculum topics. In other words, it’s customizable — and intuitive.

    Price: MagicSchool.ai is free for teachers, but a premium service will be released soon.

  • ChatGPT

    ChatGPT: English Teaching

    ChatGPT is a conversational AI chatbot from OpenAI, recently endowed with voice and vision capabilities.

    Features: ChatGPT can be an invaluable tool for English language teachers. For one, the new GPT-4o model features a new Voice interface, that can handle interruptions and even pick up on a user's emotions! It’s ideal for enabling fluid, human-like interactions that are ideal for conversing in English. ChatGPT can also generate texts on various topics for students to practice and improve their reading comprehension skills. Teachers can also utilize ChatGPT to provide clear and concise explanations for intricate texts, aiding students' comprehension of challenging materials. In addition, ChatGPT can offer tailored feedback on students' writing, pinpointing areas for improvement. It can also generate examples of good writing, helping students understand how to structure their work. Furthermore, ChatGPT can generate dialogues or role-plays which students can use to practice speaking. Using ChatGPT’s voice feature, students can practice pronouncing words or sentences, role-play with chatbot, or just have a dialogue in English. Finally, ChatGPT can provide comprehensive explanations for idioms, phrases, and intricate concepts.

    The interactive nature of ChatGPT makes language learning more engaging and less intimidating for beginners. Its 24/7 availability ensures that students can practice at any time, providing flexibility that traditional classroom settings might not offer.

    Tom’s Take: ChatGPT is incredibly useful and versatile. It can help facilitate a whole range of lesson ideas, such an group and individual activities, role-playing activities, simulations, experiments, labs, and more.

    But to leverage ChatGPT effectively, teachers need to create effective prompts. But what ChatGPT lacks in guidance, it makes up for in creativity.

    Price: The newest, fastest, and most advanced model is GPT-4o and is free to use, though some features may not appear immediately.

  • Diffit for Teachers

    Diffit for Teachers: Level-up Texts

    Diffit is an AI-powered tool that can modify a reading, passage, or article to match any reading level, ensuring that every student can access content appropriate for their grade.

    Features: Teachers can search for a topic, term, or question and then select an estimated reading level for the output. The strength of Diffit lies in its capacity to produce “just right” resources — readings aligned with the curriculum, vocabulary, comprehension checks, and more. It can create worksheets and activities that align with the curriculum, along with summaries, key vocabulary words, multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, open-ended prompts, and it cites sources. These resources can be edited and copied, saving teachers a considerable amount of time while also ensuring that all students can access and engage with the content at their own level.

    Tom’s Take: Teaches should take advantage of Diffit’s ability to craft texts that reach a range of abilities. It’s terrific for exposing language learners to a wide range of topics at designated reading levels aimed at improving their reading comprehension.

    Price: Teachers who created their free Diffit account before November 1, 2023 will automatically get free trial access to “all the new and upcoming premium features” through January 31, 2024.

  • Parlay

    Parlay: Building Conversation

    Parlay is a tool powered by artificial intelligence that aids in conducting class discussions based on given topics or texts.

    Features: Parlay It has the ability to formulate written or live discussion activities, boasting features such as secret identities, peer feedback, model submissions, and more. Additionally, it offers analytics and insights into student participation and performance.

    Parlay is composed of three primary components: The Parlay Universe, which is a library of pre-existing discussion topics; the Written Roundtable, which is for written discussion activities; and the Verbal Roundtable. Teachers have the option to search or browse discussion topics in Parlay Universe or create their own. The Parlay Genie is a tool infused with AI that assists in creating prompts where teachers can choose the number of questions they want, input the topic, and select the grade level.

    Teachers can decide whether the activity will be conducted online or live. In an online discussion, teachers can choose to create a new course or select a course they have previously created. Parlay also includes an assessment tool that enables teachers to monitor, score, and provide feedback on students' participation in the discussion and their written responses.

    Tom’s Take: I love Parlay’s versatility, in that it facilitates written or live discussion activities, and encourages participation through secret identities.

    Price: Parlay is free for up to 30 students.

  • Duolingo

    Duolingo: Learning Made Fun

    Duolingo, the world's most widely used educational app, boasts tens of millions of subscribers who collectively complete an astonishing 1 billion exercises daily.

    Features: Duolingo provides approximately 100 courses for learning languages, with lessons encompassing reading, writing, listening, speaking, and more. The learning environment in Duolingo is driven by AI and gamified, featuring brief, interactive exercises and AI customization in a setting that is both enjoyable and challenging. (The Duolingo Stories are simply hilarious!) Users accumulate points, earn rewards, and vie for advanced levels.

    Its AI mechanism, Birdbrain, assesses the difficulty of exercises and the proficiency of users. Based on feedback from learners, Birdbrain chooses exercises for future lessons, maintaining a balance between challenging and motivating users.

    In August 2023, Duolingo introduced "Duolingo Max," incorporating unique AI features into selected courses and devices. Utilizing OpenAI's GPT-4, Duolingo can provide AI-produced clarifications, assisting users who repeatedly make errors, and allows users to practice dialogues with AI-powered characters, improving real-world conversational abilities.

    Tom’s Take: I’ve been using Duolingo daily for since 2015 and I’m a big fan. I instantly liked the combination of listening, reading, writing, and speaking exercises and that I could complete a lesson in under 10 minutes. I often laugh out loud as I read the hilarious short stories (my favorite Duolingo activity).

    Duolingo has kept me engaged and motivated to improve my Spanish and Italian with constant upgrades and new features. It’s a great way for beginner and intermediate learners to build their vocabulary and develop the habit of practicing a language everyday. I understand that language learning should take many different forms, but Duolingo has proven to be an engaging and motivating way to ensure I practice regularly.

    Price: Free with ads, but paid options add extra features.

How Multimodal AI is Transforming Language Learning

Language learning is entering an extraordinary new era.

-Tom Daccord

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  • Praktika

    Praktika: English Conversation

    Praktika employs AI-powered avatars for interactive practice of English conversation. It's perfect for learners who aim to concentrate on and enhance their English speaking abilities.

    Features: Users can practice speaking English by participating in discussions with AI avatars. Designed for beginners, users can select a goal, such as communicating with friends, traveling, or advancing their career. Areas for improvement include pronunciation, learning new words, making fewer mistakes, and practicing in specific situations — education, nature, relationships, career, and more.

    The app also offers immediate and post-session feedback to help you comprehend and address the gaps. It boasts over 1000 lessons and characters to practice a variety of topics. The highlight is that users can monitor their fluency progress on a detailed curve towards excellence. The incredibly user-friendly app is accessible on Android and iOS platforms.

    Tom’s Take: I have the Praktika app on my phone and think it’s ideal for learners who want to focus and improve their English speaking skills. It’s easy to use and I love how the AI can speak with various English accents. And Praktika sets up a personalized learning plan to help track your progress.

    Price: Free for up to 10 minutes a day.

  • Memrise

    Memrise: English Course

    Memrise is a language-learning app that's available on both Android and iPhone and boasts over 45 million active users across the globe to date.

    Features: Memrise is designed to make the process of learning a foreign language fun and exciting. The courses and programs on the app are like different stages and levels of a game. You can progress from beginner to intermediate and advanced levels of learning by completing the various steps. There are 7 levels in English, each with dozens of courses (“decks”).

    Memrise uses spaced repetition, which presents the same words at the right intervals to ensure they are remembered. As a Memrise user, you get access to professional video and audio lessons from natives during each course, a great addition to their multimedia lessons.

    The new Memrise Discord App allows learners to practice the language they're studying with an Users can have one-on-one conversations with the chatbot, or join a groups and converse collectively.

    Tom’s Take: I’ve used Memrise on-and-off to learn Spanish and I’ve been impressed with the rich course content available in both the Spanish and English courses. Now that the new Memrise has the bonus of one-and-one conversations with a chatbot, as well and professional video lessons, I’ll be encouraging more teachers to check out Memrise.

    Price: Freemium. But much content is available for free.

  • Quizlet

    Quizlet: Dynamic Flashcards

    Quizlet provides users with the ability to generate flashcards containing terms and definitions. It’s ideal for students learning English vocabulary, grammar, and idioms.

    Features: Teachers have the option to create their own sets or choose from the millions of sets produced by other users. Flashcards can be utilized in various learning activities and modes to assist students in learning, memorizing, and mastering content. For example, with Quizlet Test, a teacher can input correct and incorrect responses, and the assessment will be automatically graded. "Quizlet Live" allows teachers to use flashcards in a live, cooperative game-based setting.

    Recently, Quizlet launched four generative tools powered by AI: Magic Notes, Memory Score, Quick Summary, and Expert Solutions. With Magic Notes, students can upload their notes and convert them into study aids, including outlines, flashcards, and practice tests. The Memory Score feature enables students to gauge their familiarity with the material and plan reviews. The Quick Summary feature assists students in retaining key concepts from dense readings, and Expert Solutions provide students with step-by-step instructions on how to tackle various homework problems.

    Tom’s Take: I’ve used Quizlet for about a decade, both as a teacher and student. I’m a fan. It’s ideal for students learning language vocabulary, grammar, and idioms. There are so many excellent pre-created practice sets that it’s easy to find flashcards for the specific subject I want to teach. Some do contain errors, but the vast majority are quality sets, often created by knowledgeable and caring teachers.

    Price: Teachers can sign up for a free account with limited features.

  • Drops

    Drops: Playful Vocabulary

    Drops is an engaging language learning app that is part of the Kahoot! family. It is designed for beginner users, especially young students.

    Features: Drop is a colorful and lively app that focuses mainly on teaching vocabulary. Like its inspiration, Kahoot!, Drops is game-based and has a minimalistic design.

    Each card contains one icon-based design, an audio file, the vocabulary word, and the English translation. Words are organized under practical categories like Travel Talk, Fun and Recreation, Nature and Animals, and more. The Review Dojo is a special section in Drops to test what you’ve learned using spaced-repetition algorithm.

    Drops has received a lot of favorable ratings and reviews from users and has been featured by CNET and Forbes.

    Tom’s Take: I came across Drops recently and was immediately intrigued because it’s part of the company that produced the immensely popular Kahoot! game. Drops is more narrowly focused than Kahoot!, but beginner language learners will certainly be drawn in by its lively and colofrul ambience.

    Price: Free for up to 5 minutes a day. Paid individual and school accounts available.

  • QuestionWell

    QuestionWell: Generate Questions

    Questionwell is an AI platform created by a middle-school teacher that generates a boundless supply of questions based on input reading material.

    Features: Questionwell allows teachers to input any topic and reading material, such as a book, an article, a video, or a website, and generate questions based on the content and the level of difficulty. Teachers can choose from four types of questions: multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer, and essential. They can also edit, delete, or add questions as they wish. By default, the AI is set to try to produce 20 unique questions.

    Questionwell also provides learning objectives and standards alignment for each question set. Teachers can export the questions to various platforms, such as Kahoot, Quizziz, Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, Gimkit, Moodle, Canvas, Booklet, and Quizlet, and use them for assessment, review, or enrichment purposes. But Questionwell does not collect and work with any student data.

    While there are several free question formats, if you want questions intentionally and explicitly aligned to Standards, then you have to buy a paid subscription.

    Tom’s Take: Questionwell is intuitive and easy to use, provides plenty of useful questions, and provides tips along the way to help teachers. There are plenty of features to work with questions, though there isn’t the ability to add multimedia to questions. In addition to questions, teachers can create different assessments to address students' learning needs.

    Price: Free for educators; Paid plan for extra features = $7/month or $70/year.

  • Chatmind: Visual Connections

    ChatMind is an innovative AI-powered mind mapping tool designed to streamline and enhance your brainstorming and project management experience.

    Features: Chatmind transforms your questions, articles, or data into a comprehensive mind map with just a click. The tool offers context rewriting and dialogue expansion features, allowing for a more in-depth exploration of ideas. It also provides functionalities for framework sorting, brainstorming, project management, schedule arrangement, and note-taking, making it a versatile tool for various tasks.

    Tom’s Take: For literature teachers and students, ChatMind can help in several ways. It can assist in mapping out plot structures, character relationships, and thematic elements, enhancing comprehension and retention of literary texts. The tool’s ability to summarize large amounts of text can be particularly useful when dealing with lengthy novels or plays. Additionally, the brainstorming feature can assist students in generating ideas for essays or projects, and the note-taking feature can help keep track of important quotes or passages for later reference.

    Price: One Free credit a month. Basic account is $7.99/month

Tom’s Suggested Resources