LLMs for spoken language practice

One use-case for large language models that I'm especially eager to see evolve is in assisting humans in learning languages. Once one has achieved roughly A2 in a new language, progress becomes much more rapid by holding spoken conversations in the new language. It is something which an LLM should be reasonably good at:

• Large corpus of idiomatic written and spoken language available on general topics.
• Generate prompts for a few thousand hypothetical situations to navigate in the new language, as part of the curriculum.
• Doesn't require the LLM to be an expert in a factual area. Just converse.

One could offer 1:1 instruction with the human student paired with an LLM instance. The prompt could gradually adjust the sophistication of the language as the student progresses. The LLM could evaluate the human student's pronunciation and word choice, and offer tips for how to be more idiomatic.

The Running of the Proxmoxes

I update Proxmox every 1-2 years.

Today was the day.

Success!

Renewing US Passports early

If a US Passport is expiring in one year or less, there is now a very nice online portal to request a renewal. If the passport has more than a year left but one wants to renew it early, paper forms must be sent and the old passport mailed in.

We wanted to renew but our passports had a bit more than one year left, so we filled out the DS-82 forms and sent them with the old passports.

• We sent the mailer via certified mail in November, 2024.
• The new passport books were delivered to our home 17 days later.
• The new passport cards (first time!) were delivered to our home 1 day after that.

So passport renewals take less than three weeks right now, even without paying for expedited serice nor express mail shipment. The old passport books were returned a bit later, 22 days after we sent them in for renewal. We appreciate this, they had passport stamps which hold memories for us.

Installing Signal is Simple

In researching Signal Messenger I was left with the impression that it was difficult to use and tryig to get the whole family to use it would be painful. Having now finished getting it set up on everyone's phone I have to say: it was not difficult at all.

We each established a 1:1 channel with each other, and a group chat for the Family. I and one of the teenagers are admins of the Group. We've also used it for a 1:1 video call between an Android phone and an iPhone.

So far, so good.