Learning English Vocabulary for your Future Career in Music, Art, Design, and Education with ChatGPT: A Guide for Japanese College Students

In my previous blog I mentioned that one way to improve your English is to read something you are interested in. However, that also applies to learning English vocabulary in your studies at Geidai. In this blog I will share some ways you can use ChatGPT to find useful vocabulary, to create interesting text to read in, and to followup your search with additional things you might want to read about.

English is a a very useful language for many creative industries, including design, art, music, and teaching. Knowing English can widen the scope of what you can easily understand. Of course you can always use translated pages using Google Translate or DeepL, but if you want to learn English so you can interact with someone else in the field in English, you need to study. Here are some ways you might learn the English vocabulary relevant to your major using ChatGPT.

In this blog we will explore how ChatGPT can assist you in building and practicing your English vocabulary in the areas of design, art, music, and teaching certification (I'll talk about how to use ChatGPT to create lesson plans in a future blog!). Additionally, we'll discuss the benefits of learning English for your future career and the advantages of using ChatGPT to help you reach your goals.

Let's start by looking at how you can use ChatGPT to generate vocabulary lists for your major. Rather than trying to choose the vocabulary yourself, you can simply ask ChatGPT for assistance. For example, if you're studying design, you could ask for a list of vocabulary related to color theory. If you're interested in music, you could ask for a list of musical notation terms. If you're pursuing a career in teaching, you could ask for vocabulary related to teaching methods. The list goes on and on! I will give some specific examples below.

In addition to generating vocabulary lists, you can also use ChatGPT to practice using the vocabulary in context. As I write this it is still not possible to interact orally with ChatGPT--most of your interactions will be in text you type and written responses. However, you can have Q&A interactions in English with ChatGPT and receive feedback on your use. You can even ask questions in Japanese and ask ChatGPT to respond in basic English. This is a great way to get comfortable using the vocabulary in real-life situations and to improve your understanding of the language.

When you ask your question to ChatGPT, you can ask it to write in easy English. For example, CEFR is a system for ranking difficulty of texts. Most students are at CEFR level A2, so you might ask, "Write me an essay on [music, design, art] at CEFR Level A2. If the text is too difficult, you can always ask ChatGPT to rewrite the text with easier language. You can always ask follow-up questions in English or Japanese about anything you don't understand and request additional information based on what you learn. For example, "What does 'contrapuntal' mean?"

For example, if you're studying design and want to learn more about color theory, you could ask ChatGPT the following:

"What is color theory?"

ChatGPT's response:

"Color theory is a set of guidelines used by designers to create visually appealing color combinations. It involves understanding how different colors interact with each other and how they can be used to evoke different emotions and moods." Is that too difficult? You might ask, "Please rewrite in easier English" and get the following: "Color theory helps designers pick colors that look good together. It teaches how different colors can affect the way people feel and how they interact with each other."

From there, you could ask follow-up questions, such as:

"Can you give me an example of a color scheme?"

ChatGPT's response:

"Sure! An example of a color scheme is a complementary color scheme, which uses colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as blue and orange."

As you can see, ChatGPT is a great resource for learning English vocabulary for your creative major. You can even input text from a webpage or from a scanned text (I will show you how to do that in a later blog, too!) and ask ChatGPT to create a list in English and Japanese for you to study.

By using ChatGPT to generate vocabulary lists, practice using the vocabulary in context, and ask questions, you'll be on your way to reaching your goals in no time!

In conclusion, learning English is essential for success in many creative industries, and ChatGPT is a powerful way to learn what you need, and you can do it anywhere, any time, at your own pace and without embarrassment.