Speaking another language in public makes many people feel nervous. In fact, the sensation has its own label – xenoglossophobia is the sense of unease when talking in a language other than your native one. The problem though, is that to improve your language proficiency, you simply have to speak it. Practice is how you can identify mispronunciations and syntax errors, but moreover, it’s how you develop confidence in a language. 

Still, you don’t need to force yourself into uncomfortable situations to practice your English speaking. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help.

AI – specifically generative AI (GenAI) like that powering ELSA – can be a virtual partner (and teacher) for anyone learning a new language. The technology can provide human-like questions and responses in English, and create a safe space for you to practice speaking, on the go, and whenever suits you. What’s more, the ELSA AI tutor will give you feedback on your speaking to help you correct your speaking errors and improve quickly. 

Below are five role plays to enact with your AI English tutor, to advance your language skills, build your confidence, and communicate more effectively when speaking in English! 

1. Having a job interview

Job interviews are already scary, but taking a job interview in another language adds an extra layer of nervousness. With an AI English tutor, however, you can prepare for difficult questions ahead of time, and perfect your responses. You can also ensure that you speak at a slower pace (people tend to speed up talking when they’re nervous) and keep your answers clear and concise. 

Your AI English tutor could ask you common interview prompts like:

• Could you introduce yourself and explain how your previous experience relates to this role?
• What interests you about this position?
• Can you give me an example of when you had a problem at work and how you solved it?
• What do you believe are your strengths and weaknesses in the workplace?

Not only can you practice responding to these questions, you could also practice posing your own questions to the AI English tutor. For example, you could put together questions like:

• How would you describe the work culture here?
• What development opportunities are there for me in this role?
• How am I expected to work with other teams/departments?

2. Ordering in a cafe 

One of the first places you’ll likely start applying your English is in a cafe or a restaurant. Interactions here are typically short, and are a great way to recognize patterns in English and to understand the cultural norms of the country that you’re in. Of course, before you actually order, you can use your AI English tutor as your digital waiter.

Your tutor could start by asking you:

• What would you like to order? / What can I get for you?
• Do you have any allergies or dietary requirements?
• Are you interested in hearing the deal of the day?
• Would you like your order for here or to go?

These prompts are open-ended, so you can practice putting together full sentences and becoming more confident with expressing yourself and what you’d like to buy. You could similarly ask your AI English tutor follow-up questions such as:

• Do you have vegetarian/vegan options?
• When will the order be ready?
• Do you have a bag/cup holder to carry the drinks out?

3. Attending a university tutorial

Lots of English learners dream of studying abroad, and many of the best universities in the world are English-speaking. Still, no matter how good your English is, speaking up in a university tutorial is intimidating. Your AI English tutor can help you to practice your responses before you share your insights with your professor and your fellow students. 

The tutor could serve as your professor or as a fellow peer in the tutorial, and generate questions including:

• What is your opinion on the theory?
• Can you find evidence in the text that supports your claim?
• How could somebody argue the point from the opposite perspective?
• What bias do you think you have in your response?

Naturally, you can consider your own conversation points in a tutorial and put them to your AI English tutor. You may come up with questions like:

• How should we be structuring our responses to this text in the final exam?
• What have experts and other critics thought about the topic?
• What research is yet to be done to understand more?

4. Making plans to meet a friend

Making friends in another language can be tricky. When you’re building a friendship with English speakers, you need to know how best to communicate with them. There could be certain phrases that you’re not sure about, and you may be worried about not making sense when you suggest plans. Your English AI tutor can walk you through common social interactions and ensure that you’re ready to socialize in English when the time comes.

The especially cool part of an AI English tutor is that it can ask you things in a more casual tone, so you can try speaking informally and feeling relaxed among friends. For instance by answering:

• What time do you want to catch the movie?
• Do you want to swing by my place first?
• What do you feel like doing tonight?
• How are you getting there?

As always, you can rehearse questions that you frequently ask friends when organizing to hang out. These could be:

• What day works best for you?
• Who else should we invite?
• Do you know how much the entrance is?

5. Leading a marketing meeting

For the majority of people, professional interactions are daunting when speaking English as a second language. Giving a presentation or facilitating a meeting in English can be downright terrifying! But, using your AI English tutor, you can go through your material, receive accurate feedback in real-time, and role play Q&A sessions. This ability means you can memorize core points, master your business pronunciation, and be primed to defend your arguments. If you feel more prepared, you won’t be as nervous when it’s time to lead a meeting. 

For the Q&A section, your tutor might focus on queries like:

• What metrics will you be prioritizing?
• What data is there to support your hypothesis?
• What resources do you need to complete the project?
• How will the change impact the budget?

It’s always professional to bring a set of questions you’d like to concentrate on during the meeting too. You could therefore ask your tutor the following:

• Do you know of any existing obstacles that would prevent my proposal?
• Has anything like this project been done before? How did it perform?
• How does this information align with our business goals?

An AI English tutor is such a powerful tool because it can be accessed on-demand from your device. You don’t need to wait to practice speaking, nor do you need to worry about any consequences when making errors. Instead, you can simulate circumstances that you will find yourself in, and role play in them until you’re ready to transfer your brilliant English speaking skills into the real world.

Start chatting with your AI English tutor now.