Why “teach me French” doesn’t work.
Stop asking Claude to “teach me English” or “teach me French”. A vague prompt gets you a vague lesson: a few greetings, a verb table, and no idea what to do tomorrow.
With the right prompts, Claude becomes a personal tutor. It can build your vocabulary, make grammar click, hold real conversations, correct your mistakes and help you build a daily routine around the language you actually want to learn. That works for English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Japanese and most other languages, even from zero.
The difference is simple. Don’t ask Claude to teach you a language. Tell it exactly how you want to learn it. Below are seven prompts that do that: fill in the brackets, paste, and start.
The seven prompts
1. Start from zero, at your own pace
A tutor that checks your real level first and won’t let you skip ahead.
You are my [LANGUAGE] tutor. My level: [none / a few words / beginner / intermediate]. My goal: [e.g. order food and chat with my in-laws in Madrid by June]. I have [MINUTES] minutes a day.
Before we start, ask me up to three questions to check my real level. Then build a step-by-step learning path from there. Teach one concept per lesson: a plain explanation, two or three examples, pronunciation help and a short exercise.
End every lesson with a quick test. Don't move on until I pass it. If I struggle, explain it a different way and test me again.2. Build vocabulary you’ll actually use
Stop memorising random word lists.
Teach me [LANGUAGE] vocabulary for [GOAL / SITUATION]. Prioritise the words, expressions and phrases native speakers use most in that situation. Give me [NUMBER] at a time.
For each one: the meaning, pronunciation, a natural example sentence, the words it usually goes with, and when to use it.
Then test me with recall, sentence building, translation and short real-life situations. Keep a running list of the words I get wrong and bring them back until I get each one right twice in a row.3. Make grammar finally make sense
Learn the pattern, not the textbook definition.
Teach me [LANGUAGE] grammar at my current level: [LEVEL]. Explain each point in the simplest possible words before showing examples.
Focus on patterns I can use when speaking and writing, not terminology. Put easily confused structures side by side, show me the mistakes learners usually make, and explain how a native speaker thinks about them.
After each explanation, make me write my own sentences. Correct me, explain only what matters, and keep testing the same structure until I use it naturally.4. Turn Claude into a conversation partner
Practise speaking without killing the flow.
Have a realistic conversation with me in [LANGUAGE] about [TOPIC]. My level is [LEVEL]. Speak naturally, but keep your language slightly above my level so I improve.
Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer. Don't stop me for every small slip: only correct errors that hurt clarity or sound unnatural.
After each of my replies, show me a more natural native-speaker version in one line, then carry on the conversation. Make it harder as I improve.Tip: use voice mode for this one, so you practise speaking rather than typing.
5. Train for real-life situations
Rehearse it before you need it.
Train me in [LANGUAGE] for situations I'm likely to face in [COUNTRY / ENVIRONMENT]: airports, restaurants, hotels, shops, work, the doctor, transport, emergencies or meeting new people. Start with [SITUATION].
First, teach me the most useful phrases and vocabulary for it. Then role-play the situation realistically: you play the other person and stay in character. Make me respond without giving me the answer straight away, and raise the difficulty once I'm doing well.
Afterwards, tell me the three things I should improve.6. Turn every mistake into a lesson
Make Claude find your weak points.
I'm learning [LANGUAGE]. I'll send you sentences, messages or paragraphs I've written. For each one, tell me whether it is correct, understandable but unnatural, or incorrect.
Rewrite it the way a native speaker would say it. Explain the important mistakes in simple language and name the grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation pattern behind them.
Then give me a short exercise based on that exact mistake, and test me on it again later in this conversation to check I've actually learned it.7. Build your personal immersion system
Turn daily life into language practice.
My target language is [LANGUAGE], my level is [LEVEL], my goal is [GOAL], and I can spend [MINUTES] minutes a day on it.
Build me a daily immersion system that fits the time I actually have. Cover speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Give me an exact daily routine, weekly milestones and specific exercises.
Show me how to gradually switch my phone, entertainment, searches, notes, conversations and daily habits to [LANGUAGE] without making it overwhelming.
I'll report back each week. Adjust the plan based on what I'm improving at and what I still struggle with.What these prompts won’t do for you
A good prompt makes Claude a better tutor. It doesn’t make it perfect. Three things to know before you start:
- “Later in this conversation” means exactly that. Prompts 2 and 6 track your weak spots within one chat. Start a new chat, and that list is gone. Fix it by ending each session with “Summarise what I struggled with today in five lines”, then pasting that summary in at the start of the next one.
- Claude can’t really judge your accent. It can explain how a sound is made and give you useful tips. For honest feedback on how you actually sound, get a native speaker or teacher to listen now and then.
- Rehearsal isn’t the real thing. Use prompt 5 to prepare, then go and order the coffee, make the call or chat with the neighbour. That is where it sticks.
A simple way to combine them: set up your plan with prompt 1 or 7, run prompt 6 on whatever you write each day, and do a session of prompt 4 or 5 a few times a week.
