20 language learning prompts that correct you at your level

01. Find your level with a short placement chat

Before you pick a course, an app level or a study plan.

I am learning [language]. My native language is [your language]. I have studied for [how long and how: app, classes, self taught].

Run a placement chat to estimate my level on the CEFR scale (A1 to C2). Ask me one question at a time in [language], starting easy and getting harder as I answer well. Mix short replies, describing something, giving an opinion and one question about a past event. Wait for each answer. Do not correct me during the chat.

After about 10 questions, give me:
1. Your estimate for speaking, writing, reading and grammar, each as a CEFR level.
2. The three things that held my level down, with one example from my answers for each.
3. How confident you are in the estimate, and what a real placement test or teacher would check that you cannot.

02. Build a 30 day plan around the one thing you need the language for

You have a real goal and a date, not just "get better".

My goal in [language]: [for example, hold a 20 minute conversation with my partner's parents, pass a B1 exam, handle meetings at work].
Date I need it by: [date]
My level now: [CEFR level or a plain description]
Time I have: [minutes per day, which days]
What I already use: [apps, textbook, tutor, podcasts]

Build a 30 day plan as a table by day. Each day names the task, how long it takes and what I produce (a recording, a paragraph, a list of words). Put speaking or writing in every week, not only input. Bring back what I learned in week one during weeks two and three.

Every seventh day is a check: tell me what to do to see if I am on track, and what to change if I am not. Then tell me which part of the goal is unrealistic in 30 days, if any.

03. Role play a real situation and get corrected at the end

A conversation you will actually have soon and want to rehearse.

Role play this situation with me in [language]. My level is [CEFR level].

Situation: [for example, calling a landlord about a broken heater, a parent teacher meeting, returning a jacket without a receipt]
You play: [who, and their mood: busy, friendly, impatient]
I want to get: [the outcome I need]

Stay in character the whole time. Speak at my level, one or two sentences per turn, and react to what I say the way that person really would, including misunderstanding me if my sentence would confuse a native speaker. Do not correct me during the scene.

When I write END, step out of character and give me:
1. Whether I got what I wanted, and the moment it went well or badly.
2. My five most useful corrections, each showing what I said, what a native speaker would say, and why.
3. Three phrases I should have used, ready to copy.

Unlock the other 17 prompts for free

Sign up for the Whizi newsletter to read the rest of this pack.

4. Correct a paragraph you wrote and explain only the patterns
5. Get a short story written at your level with a glossary
6. Learn vocabulary from the things you already care about
7. Turn the words you missed into a spaced review schedule
8. Understand one grammar point through contrasting pairs
9. Get a shadowing script with stress marked for pronunciation
10. Translate your diary entry both ways and compare
11. Learn the phrases your job actually needs
12. Write a message to a native speaker friend that sounds like you
13. Say the same thing at three levels of politeness
14. Rehearse a speaking exam with timed parts and a band estimate
15. List the false friends between your two languages
16. Practice listening with a transcript you paste
17. Learn idioms with when not to use them
18. Check whether a sentence sounds natural or like a textbook
19. Review your mistake log and pick what to drill next
20. Have a second model check the first one's corrections