Name: AI Can Speak English Better Than You (So Why Are You Still Learning It)
Uploaded: 2026-03-17T10:39:32.000Z
Duration: 5 min 44 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Adverbs of degree

So right now, AI can translate almost anything.

It can write better emails than anybody else.

Adverbs of manner

It can hold a conversation more confidently than your co workers.

So do we still need to learn any English right now?

I'd say yes, because learning English is not only make you more competitive in your workplace, but

also it will change how your brain works.

If you want to speak English more fluently right now, you need to pay attention to completely different concept and, and

to know how your brain works different from AI.

The first thing is that you need to know the knowing and the doing gap.

There is this concept in linguistics called the difference between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge.

Sounds a little bit fancy, a little bit difficult, but it's actually super simple.

First, declarative knowledge is stuff, you know, like grammar, rules, vocabulary lists.

The fact that effect is a noun and effect is a verb, that's knowledge, right?

You can ace a test on this stuff, but procedural knowledge is stuff you can do.

It's when someone asks you a question and the right words just come out without any kind of thinking, without you having to think about a grammar or translate in your head.

Knowing the rules of swimming is not the same as being able to swim.

You know, you can memorize every single stroke technique, but

if you've never been in the water, you're gonna sink, right?

And that's exactly what happens with English for so many people.

You, for years, you score well on test, but

the moment you need to actually speak in a meeting or conversation, you just freeze.

Actually, I spent years memorizing vocabulary and grammar, and

I was good at exams, but I couldn't actually speak.

But the turning point for me was that I started doing English debate and public speaking.

because I was forced to use what I actually knew under pressure.

And by the way, I started stop caring about my accent a long time ago.

Being able to clearly express what you think, that's what matters.

And second, the smarter way to test, we need test because we need feedback, right?

So if the real goal is turning knowing into doing, then shouldn't the way we test English reflect that too?

This is actually why I want to talk about the Duolingo English test.

Because most traditional exams are students still stuck in the knowing era.

They test what to memorize, like grammar or vocabulary But DET is so different.

It uses AI adaptive technology, which means that questions adjust to your level in real time.

So it's not just checking your grammar, but it's measuring what you can actually do with English.

If you're really in a rush, there's a 12 hour express scoring option.

The test experience is so super good, you don't need to book a test center or fight for a spot.

You take it online from home whenever you're ready.

So for a kind of lazy person like me, this kind of accessibility is Great.

That's about a third of what traditional language exams cost.

And over 6,000 institutions worldwide accept it.

Almost all the US news top 100 universities included.

So you can even try the math test their website for free.

So that's great to know your level and know what you can do.

They're unlimited and link is in the description.

Okay, so now you know there's a smarter way to test.

But let me zoom out and show you the full picture because testing is actually just one piece of much bigger shift happening right now.

So I think of it as a pyramid, four layers.

Like I will tell you in this part why we still need to learn English right now and how can we do that with AI or use a kind of pyramid mindset to do better.

So just think of it as a pyramid, four different layers.

And this is why everything we just talked about matters.

AI can now give you reading and listening materials that's perfectly matched to your level.

There is this concept in linguistics called comprehensible input.

The idea that you learn best when the material is just slightly above your current level.

For children, for adults, AI makes this effortless.

Next layer up, practice AI gives you a 24 second conversation partner.

You can practice speaking, get instant feedback, simulate real scenarios.

No scheduling, no awkwardness, no judgment.

And third layer, and this is the one AI cannot replace.

Debate presentations, job interviews, actual conversations where something is at stake.

This is what we call procedural knowledge.

You need a way to show the world what you can actually do.

And this is actually where a task like DET fits in.

Remember the AI adaptive technology I just mentioned?

That's actually the same comprehensible input principle applied to testing.

The question leads you where you are and it's not trying to trip you up and use the same same questions for everybody.

This is the full stack and I call it the pyramid, the learning pyramid for modern English.

So AI is not going to replace you learning a language, but

it will make smart learners even stronger like you, right?

By the way, I'm curious if we think about that pyramid, which layer are you on right now and which layer do you think is the most important for English learner or a language learner?

If you want to go deeper on how to actually practice speaking with AI, I will make a video about that.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

AI Can Speak English Better Than You (So Why Are You Still Learning It)

stuff

stick

mindset

accent