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All tasks · Study and learning · 6 prompts

AI prompts for learning a new skill

Whether it is spreadsheets, cooking, a language, bookkeeping or the guitar, starting a new skill raises the same questions. What should I learn first? How do I practise? How do I know I am improving? An AI assistant can act as a planner and practice partner. It cannot watch you, so the feedback depends on what you describe or paste.

The prompts

A learning plan

I want to learn [SKILL]. Make me a learning plan.

Where I am now: [COMPLETE BEGINNER, OR WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW]
Why I want it: [YOUR GOAL, FOR EXAMPLE A JOB, A HOBBY OR HELPING IN THE FAMILY BUSINESS]
Time I have: [MINUTES A DAY] for [NUMBER] weeks

Break it into weekly stages. For each week, say what I will learn, what I will practise, and what I should be able to do by the end. Put the most useful things first. Keep it realistic for my time.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

The first lesson

Teach me the first lesson of [SKILL] as if I have never done it. Explain only what I need to begin. Use everyday words and one example. Then give me one small task I can finish in fifteen minutes, and tell me how I will know I did it correctly.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Practice tasks

Give me five practice tasks for [SKILL] at [BEGINNER / MIDDLE / ADVANCED] level, from easiest to hardest. Each should take ten to twenty minutes and need only [WHAT YOU HAVE AVAILABLE]. For each, say what skill it trains.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Feedback on my attempt

I am learning [SKILL]. Here is my attempt at this task: [THE TASK]

[PASTE OR DESCRIBE WHAT YOU DID]

Tell me two things I did well and the two most important things to fix, in order. Explain why each matters. Then suggest one exercise aimed at my weakest point.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Explain a term

In [SKILL], what does "[TERM]" mean? Explain it in two or three plain sentences with an example, then tell me when a beginner needs to care about it and when it can wait.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Weekly review

I have been learning [SKILL] for [NUMBER] weeks. This week I practised: [WHAT YOU DID]. I found these parts hard: [LIST]. I can now do: [LIST].

Based on this, tell me what to repeat, what to move on to, and one way to make next week's practice more effective. Adjust my plan if I am ahead or behind.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

How to adapt these prompts

Be honest about your time. A plan for twenty minutes a day that you follow beats a plan for two hours that you drop in a week.
State the goal. "Excel for keeping shop accounts" leads to a different plan from "Excel for a data job".
Say what you have. A phone only, an old laptop, no internet at home, a borrowed instrument. The tasks should fit.
Ask for the plan in your language if that helps you follow it.
Keep one conversation going for the whole course if your assistant allows it, so that it remembers your plan. Otherwise paste the plan at the start of each session.

What an assistant cannot do for you

It cannot see your hands on the guitar, hear your pronunciation properly in a text chat, or taste the food. For physical and practical skills, its plan and explanations help, but real feedback comes from a teacher, a more experienced friend or a recording of yourself.

Check technical facts from a proper source for the skill, such as the official documentation of a program or a recognised textbook. And for anything involving safety, such as electrical work, tools, exercise with a health condition, or chemicals, learn from a qualified person and not from a chat.

Related tasks

This is an independent site. It is not connected with any company that makes AI assistants. The prompts are plain text and can be used in any AI chat assistant. An AI assistant can give wrong or made-up answers: check anything important before you rely on it, and do not paste private details into a prompt.