How AI Software Lights Up English Classes

Recently, I have been experimenting with several artificial intelligence (AI) software applications, such as Suno, Wenxin Yiyan, and Doubao.

Based on personal experience, I found that these different AI tools each have their advantages. Suno can quickly create a music piece lasting up to two minutes based on simple prompts provided by the user, such as music themes, styles, and lyrics; Wenxin Yiyan performs well in reading documents and writing copy, assisting users in text creation; Doubao excels in human-computer dialogue and serves as an English learning assistant.

I am particularly interested in the composition and singing features of Suno software based on lyrics, as this could provide children with a new way of learning. They can learn to sing songs with lyrics they have written themselves in class. Such an English class would surely be enjoyable and engaging for everyone.

How to quickly memorize and flexibly use the past tense and past participle of irregular verbs has always been a “roadblock” for some children learning English. There are many of these verbs, and reviewing them can be quite tedious. Therefore, I tried to use Suno software, leading to the following operation.

“Hello, everyone! I wrote a song about graduation!” My words just finished, and those children who were looking down at their books, or even daydreaming, all raised their heads to look at me. Some students widened their eyes as if confirming whether they had heard incorrectly; others made quirky expressions, seemingly saying, “Writing a song? Teacher Duan actually has this skill?” Suddenly, the classroom atmosphere shifted from initial surprise to anticipation and excitement.

Seeing everyone’s reaction, I was quite satisfied. “Listen carefully. Fill in the blanks!” I selected several special words from the irregular verbs and carefully crafted them into lyrics, leaving blanks for students to fill in while listening to the song, thus training their listening skills while highlighting the teaching focus of this lesson. To avoid making the fill-in-the-blank task too difficult, I chose a soothing melody with “national style” elements for the song, allowing students to guess while listening in a slow rhythm.

I read the words you behind, but they only hurt entirely.

I put my heart into every line, but it cut me deep.

The graduation hit me hard with goodbye.

Achieving the goal cost me a lot and I wanna cry.

Let sadness go; set our thoughts free in the sky.

After listening twice, I asked everyone, “These words have something in common. Do you know what they are?”

Most students noticed the secret: “The past tense and past participle of irregular verbs have the same form!” A few students who were slower to react nodded gently, looking enlightened.

“Do you want to try turning your own lyrics into a song?”

“We can give it a try!” Some children expressed their agreement.

“Then write and see! In the next class, we will use AI software to revise them and try composing and singing.” After assigning this task, I began to look forward to the surprises of the next day.

The first assignment I received was from student Liu Xinrui. Xinrui has a solid foundation in English and a delicate emotional expression. He linked several vivid scenes with irregular verbs as clues, and each line felt like telling a story. I could feel his dedication and involvement in the creative process. Let’s take a look at the lyrics he wrote:

When I took a walk in the street, I remember I took part in an activity. Then I saw you. You were so beautiful that my heart was taken from me. I thought I had forgotten you, but everything about you, like your hair, your eyes, and your face, didn’t allow me to forget you.

For a middle school child, being able to write such sentences is quite impressive. However, as lyrics that need to be sung, they lacked a bit of flavor. I displayed Xinrui’s lyrics on the electronic screen at the front of the class, first letting the students read them and discuss whether any improvements were necessary.

“The lyrics are too long and not easy to sing.” “They don’t rhyme well, making them not catchy.” The students whispered among themselves.

“Let’s try giving Doubao software instructions to rewrite them and see what differences there are.” I said as I operated the software.

In less than 5 seconds, the new lyrics were generated. Let’s look at a few lines from the first part:

Strolling down a lonely street,

Recall the time, our eyes did meet.

In a crowd, you stood so finely,

Your beauty has struck this heart of mine.

It was clear that some children found the first word unfamiliar, and a student immediately looked up the meaning of “stroll” in the dictionary. “Comparing the first sentence, what insights do you have?” I seized the opportunity to pose the question.

“Stroll means ‘to walk leisurely’, and it shares the vowel sound ‘əʊ’ with lonely.”

“The use of the gerund ‘strolling’ not only shortened the sentence but also gave the lyrics an artistic beauty.”

“The last two words, street and meet, rhyme, making it more rhythmic when sung.”

The children’s analyses were all very accurate. “So what kind of style do you want to choose for singing?”

“The song ‘Country Road, Take Me Home’ from our ninth-grade textbook is very nice. How about we choose a country music style?” Lu Yitong immediately suggested.

After discussion, we used Suno software to compose and ended up with the first English song created with the students’ participation. Liu Xinrui was very excited, saying he would listen to it a few more times to try to sing the whole song and that he must keep it forever.

In the relaxed and melodious rhythm, I believe the students’ horizons have been broadened. They not only personally experienced the charm of language transformation but also witnessed the magic of AI tools. Of course, this is also what I want to convey to the children: the intervention of AI tools, especially its powerful search and integration capabilities, human-computer dialogue practice modes, etc., can make our learning efficient and interesting, providing infinite possibilities for language learning.

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