Prompts for practicing Chinese with an AI tutor
A chat model drills Chinese well and pitches it badly. These prompts fix the pitch. Start every session with the constraint block, then use whichever drill you need — production, correction, dictation, or roleplay. All of them assume you have pasted a list of what you actually know; how to build that list covers where it comes from.
The constraint block
Paste this first, above your vocabulary list, every session:
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You are my Chinese tutor. The list below is everything I have studied. 1. Build every Chinese sentence out of the vocabulary on the list. If you need a word that is not on it, say so in English rather than using it. 2. Use only sentence patterns on the list. 3. Favour the items marked weakest. 4. Prompt me in English, ask for Chinese back, then give the answer. I can recognise far more than I can produce, so drill production. 5. Keep sentences to things a person would actually say out loud. 6. Correct me plainly. Do not praise an answer that has an error in it. |
Eight drills
1. Production drill
"Give me twenty English prompts one at a time. After each, wait for my Chinese, then show the answer with pinyin and tell me what I got wrong. Use only my weakest thirty words."
2. Error correction
"Here is a sentence I wrote: [sentence]. Tell me three things: what a native speaker would say instead, which specific rule I broke, and one more sentence for me to write using the same rule."
3. Dictation
"Read a sentence aloud once, at normal speed, using only my vocabulary. I will type what I heard. Then show the sentence and tell me which syllable I missed." Works with a voice assistant, and it is the closest thing to HSK listening practice you can generate on demand.
4. Roleplay at your ceiling
"You are a market vendor. I want to buy fruit and ask what things are called. Stay inside my vocabulary, keep each turn to one or two sentences, and do not switch to English unless I ask."
5. Tone check
"I will say a sentence. Tell me which words had the wrong tone, and give me a minimal pair for each mistake." Voice assistants vary in how reliably they hear tones, so treat the output as a prompt for attention rather than as a verdict.
6. Pattern expansion
"Take the pattern 比 A 更 B and give me eight sentences using it, all inside my vocabulary, about ordinary daily situations. Then ask me to produce four more."
7. Reading at your level
"Write a 120-character story using only my vocabulary plus at most five new words. List the five new words underneath with pinyin and meaning." The five-word budget is what makes it comprehensible input rather than a wall.
8. Exam-shaped practice
"Write five HSK 4 style reading questions: a short passage of three sentences and one multiple-choice question each, using only my vocabulary. Give the answers separately." Pair it with the real format from the HSK exam format.
Three habits that decide whether it works
- Produce before you look. The value is in the failed retrieval, not in the model's answer. Say your version out loud before you read on, every time.
- Update the list. A stale vocabulary list makes the tutor drift back above your level within a few weeks. Re-export or re-edit it monthly.
- Verify anything surprising. Models produce fluent Chinese and occasionally produce confidently wrong Chinese, especially with measure words, 了, and set phrases. Check an odd-looking sentence against a dictionary — the one here is free — or against a person.
In GraphChinese: the study snapshot is built for exactly this workflow — a markdown export of every topic and word you have met, weakest first, with the constraint block already at the top. Copy it from the Speak tab and paste it under any of the prompts on this page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best prompt for practicing Chinese with an AI?
One that names the constraint before the task: give it your vocabulary list, tell it to build every sentence from that list, tell it to prompt in English and ask for Chinese back, and tell it to correct you rather than praise you. The constraint block does more for the session than any clever phrasing of the task.
How do you stop ChatGPT from using vocabulary you do not know?
Paste the list of words you do know and add the sentence "Everything not on this list is unknown to me; if you need a word that is not on it, say so in English rather than using it." A model follows an explicit list far more reliably than a level label.
Can you practice Chinese speaking with an AI?
Yes, with a voice assistant, and it is genuinely useful for repetition: unlimited patience, any hour, at a level you control. It is not a substitute for talking to a person, because it will not misunderstand you and the social stakes are not real.
How do you get an AI to correct your Chinese properly?
Ask for three things per correction: what a native speaker would say instead, which specific rule you broke, and one more sentence to practice the same rule. Without that structure a model tends to rewrite your sentence and move on, which teaches nothing.
Stop retyping your vocabulary list. GraphChinese exports it for you — every word and pattern you have met, with strengths, ready to paste under any prompt on this page. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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