Learning German : Day 48 to 53

Currently the project is twirling down to minimal daily commitments, reduced the activity to listening around 20 Active Minutes, the news part is now much easier to follow, but this can be because of the news have pattern.

Now a seemingly unrelated yet related update

Interestingly, I already had basic working knowledge of German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese from my past experience publishing children's comics and short stories in these languages between 2020 and 2022. Back then, I relied heavily on auto-translation tools like Google Translate, but I quickly learned their limitations. Some translations were noticeably poor, which helped me develop an instinct for what worked and what didn't with these tools.

Fast forward to my German learning project, I leveraged advanced AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini AI, which I had access to through a subscription and my company. Initially, I used these AIs for job-related data analysis, but I started using them for German language learning at night. These AIs acted as my teacher, explaining basic concepts and providing general guidance. I was impressed by their depth of understanding and ability to explain the language.

During this period, I also kept up with updates in AI, especially in music generation. My knowledge in professional music is minimal, but my interest in AI and music led me to explore this field. I decided to document my German learning journey on my existing YouTube channel, which focused on publishing e-books and AI writing tutorials. Although the channel had only around 9 subscribers, the watch time was high because the tutorials were engaging for those interested in the topic.

On June 22, 2024, during some free time, I experimented with generating songs using AI. I wrote, co-wrote, and adapted folk songs and public domain works, then published them on YouTube. Surprisingly, the songs started to gain traction. I refined my process to include multiple iterations for writing, rewriting, context writing, meter correction, imagery correction, and cultural context correction. I also tested the results with native speakers.

I expanded this process to multiple languages, starting with Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Hindi, as I use these languages daily. Over the past 21 days, I've produced over 180 songs in various languages, including Punjabi, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, German, Portuguese, and some universal songs. Although the songs are of subpar quality, the process is resonating with a niche audience.

This experience taught me how starting a small project like learning German can impact other areas. Exposure to one capability can help solve problems in another. My YouTube channel, though small, is evidence that even someone with minimal music knowledge can achieve something significant with the right tools and approach. My main contribution has been in writing, as I've been in e-book publishing since 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/@iphIndie

#learinggerman #languagetools #aitools #musicai