How to create personalized vocabulary lists in a flash using AI
Vocabulary lists are a common tool for language learning. But are they effective? Well, it depends on…
What’s in them
How you use them
In this post, we’ll explain why personalized vocabulary lists are better than premade ones and show you how to generate one quickly with AI.
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Why premade lists aren’t the most effective
Top 10,000 French words most frequently used in films. Source: Reddit
Premade vocabulary lists – like the frequency lists you find on websites, Anki decks, and books – can be helpful when you’re starting to learn a language. But there are a few downsides to using them.
Not all words may be relevant
Frequency lists are based on how often words show up in a particular medium (like newspapers or movie subtitles), so they may include terms that aren’t essential to you while leaving out (or leaving to the very end) others that might be useful.
Memorizing random words isn’t fun
Learning words just because they’re common can get a little boring – and when you’re bored learning a language, you’re more likely to give up.
(Which is why, here at AI Language Club, we’re all about making language learning joyful. We want you to keep going!)
It’s also not effective
Memorizing words out of context won’t help you become fluent. Ideally, you should be learning words you’ll engage with further, whether through real-life interactions, work emails, books, podcasts, films, etc.
You’ll stumble upon frequent words anyway
In theory, you shouldn’t need to study frequent words – if they’re frequent, you’ll run into them without even trying!
So, what’s better than a premade word list for vocabulary building? Creating a word list “from scratch” based on your interests and your needs.
“But I don’t have time to create vocabulary lists from scratch!”
That’s okay. With free AI tools, you can create personalized vocabulary lists faster than you can find and download a premade list on the web. (Maybe a few minutes longer, but we promise you it’s worth it!)
How to create a personalized vocabulary list with AI
Here’s how to generate a word list that’s relevant, level-appropriate, and formatted to your preferences using your favorite AI tool:
Step 1: Start with a clear prompt
Decide on:
a) The topic or theme you want to explore
Do you want to focus on a broad topic, like pastry making, or on subtopics like pastry techniques or pastry tools? Keep in mind that you can create a multi-column “list” to group words into categories.
b) The difficulty level of the words
Are you looking for basic, intermediate, or advanced-level vocabulary?
c) The language(s) you want to include
Do you want the terms listed in one language or more? Which ones?
d) How big you want your list to be (aka your word count)
Think about how you’re going to use your list. If you’re aiming to learn new words every week, then 10–20 words is the perfect number – more might make you feel overwhelmed.
If you’re building a one-time “glossary” as a companion to a book you’re reading, then a longer list of 50 key terms might make more sense.
e) The additional information you want to include
Are you going for a simple vocabulary list with words in a source language and a target language (to add to a flashcard tool, for example)? Or do you want to incorporate more information, like definitions, example sentences, and pronunciation?
f) How you want the information presented
What layout do you want your list to have? Do you want it to be numbered, in bullet points, or in table form?
You’ll end up with something like this:
“Create a list of 20 simple French words related to pastry-making, along with their English translations. Include only basic words that are commonly used in pastry recipes.”
Or this:
“List 50 key words from Albert Camus’ La Peste in French along with their English translations. Group the words by context. Present them as a table.”
Vocabulary list from Camus’ La Peste generated by ChatGPT
💡 Note: If you’re not 100% sure what you need right off the bat, that’s totally fine. Just come up with a basic prompt, and, once the AI generates a list, you can iterate.
🦾 Pro tip: AI understands levels, like beginner, upper intermediate, and advanced, as well as the levels from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2).
Step 2: Iterate
Once you have the basic version of your list, you’ll want to refine it until it’s just right for you. Depending on what you get, you may either have to adjust your prompt or ask for changes.
For example:
“Add example sentences for each word.”
“Include pronunciation for the target language.”
Step 3: Move it elsewhere
When your list is ready, move it out of the AI chatbot and into a document, spreadsheet, flashcard tool, or glossary app. That way, you can save it and export it to other formats if you need to.
You may encounter formatting issues…
If your word list is in table form, make sure to transfer it to Google Sheets or Excel – not Google Docs, Word, or other word processors.
Even then, the formatting might look a little weird. Sometimes, all you have to do is adjust the width of your columns.
Other times, you’ll have to clean up the text a bit more. If your formatting looks messy, try this:
On Google Sheets:
A table copied from ChatGPT and pasted into Google Sheets
Delete any rows you don’t need
If everything is in a single column:
Select the column
Go to Data > Split text to columns
In the Separator pop-up, click to open the drop-down menu. Select the character that separates the data on the table (in the image above, it’s a vertical bar) or click Custom and type the character manually
Delete any columns you don’t need
Adjust column widths
In Excel:
A table copied from ChatGPT and pasted into Excel
Delete any rows you don’t need
If everything is in a single column:
Select all the rows in the first column
Go to Data > Text to columns
Click Delimited, then Next
Choose the character that separates the data on the table or select Other to type the character manually Select Other
Click Finish
Delete any columns you don’t need
Adjust column widths
Transform vocabulary building with AI
And that’s how you create personalized vocabulary lists with AI.
Just imagine how easy it’ll be to build your vocabulary as you explore topics that really matter to you!
And if you want even more ideas on how to use AI to learn languages while exploring your interests and having fun, we have dozens of tutorials waiting for you at the AI Language Club. Join us!