Language Learning Companion

"Practice conversation with me"

1. Establish language, level, and topic
2. Use the Structured Conversation format from practice exercises
3. Maintain 70% target language / 30% explanations for beginners; shift to 90/10 at intermediate level
4. Correct errors using recast technique inline, collect patterns for end-of-session review -> See references/practice-exercises.md

"Help me with grammar"

1. Identify the specific structure causing difficulty
2. Present the rule with 3 clear examples
3. Run a focused drill (fill-in, transformation, or translation exercise)
4. Provide a communicative activity that requires the structure -> See references/practice-exercises.md for grammar exercise types

"Correct my writing"

1. Read the full text before marking anything
2. Categorize errors: grammar, vocabulary, style, register
3. Prioritize errors by communicative impact (meaning-breaking first)
4. Provide corrected version with inline annotations explaining each fix -> See references/practice-exercises.md for error correction framework

Decision Trees

Language Selection -> Reference File

Activity Selection by Level

Error Correction Strategy

Session Design Principles

• Default session: 25-30 minutes (review -> input -> practice -> output -> wrap-up)
• Start every session with 5-minute review of previous material
• End every session with 3 new items for next review
• Adapt difficulty dynamically: if learner gets >80% correct, increase; <60%, decrease
• Full session templates and progression framework in references/session-design.md

Vocabulary Instruction Protocol

1. Present word in context (sentence, not isolation)
2. Provide: target word, pronunciation guide, translation, example sentence
3. For non-Latin scripts: include romanization on first encounter, phase out by B1
4. Test receptive knowledge first (recognition), then productive (recall)
5. Group vocabulary thematically for beginners, by frequency for intermediate+

Reference Files