German Tutor on Claude
My own AI language tutor: a structured learning system built on Claude that teaches me German the way I actually learn, daily, contextual, and relentless about my weak spots.
Role
Designer & only user
Timeline
2025 to present · daily use
The challenge
Apps teach German in fixed courses; classes teach it on someone else's schedule. Living in Germany, I needed something that adapts to my real life: the vocabulary of my actual week, correction of my actual mistakes, at whatever time the day allows.
The decision
Chose Building my own system over Another language app
Generic curricula optimise for everyone, which means no one. An AI tutor designed around one learner, me, can track my recurring errors, use my real contexts, and adjust difficulty conversation by conversation.
How I approached it
- 01Designed the tutor as a system, not a chat: structured instructions defining level, goals, correction style and progression logic.
- 02Built my real life into the curriculum: work vocabulary, Behörden German, the situations I actually face each week.
- 03Made error patterns the engine: recurring mistakes get tracked and drilled until they stop recurring.
- 04Iterated on the system like a product: what didn't stick got redesigned, not repeated.
Impact
- ✦Daily German practice that has survived where apps didn't.
- ✦A learning system that improves as its user does.
- ✦Proof of a habit: when I need something, I design an AI system for it.
Stack
- Claude
- Prompt & curriculum design
- Iterative system design