Date:
Jan 5, 2026
Author:
Ibrar Yunus
Part I
The Hidden Workload of a Language Teacher
Language learning is rarely just about vocabulary; it’s about connection. For the past four months, I have been immersing myself in the Thai language. It is a beautiful, tonal, and notoriously difficult language for the uninitiated, but my journey has been guided by an incredible teacher on Preply: Kotchakorn Sitthimon, known affectionately as Pop Victoria.
Working with Kru Pop has been a seamless experience. She is incredibly thorough in her explanations, ensuring no concept is left vague, and her lessons are always timely and well-structured. Despite the complexities of our schedules, booking sessions with her is effortless.
As a Data Scientist spending my days building Al architectures and Large Language Models (LLMs), I usually view the world through data points and vectors. However, sitting in my lessons with Kru Pop, I was reminded of the human element of intelligence. Her patience in correcting my tones and her ability to explain the subtle cultural nuances of a simple greeting showed me a depth of "natural intelligence" that machines still strive to emulate.
Observing Pop’s teaching process gave me a new perspective. Every student is unique. Some need to focus on business terms, others on ordering street food. For a teacher, this often means manually curating lists, thinking up new example sentences on the fly, and researching the etymology of words to make them stick.
It’s a massive creative load. A teacher might spend hours prepping a lesson on "Days of the Week," searching for the specific colour associated with Wan-Ang-Khaan (Tuesday) or the Sanskrit root of Wan-Aa-Thit (Sunday).
I realised there was a gap here. I build automation tools for enterprise efficiency—why not build one for educational creativity?
Part II
AI as the Co-Pilot, Not the Autopilot
There is a fear that AI will replace teachers. I strongly disagree. In my work with Generative AI, I see these models not as replacements for human experts, but as "bicycles for the mind."
Imagine an AI tool that acts as a Lesson Architect. It doesn't teach the class—Pop does that. But it handles the heavy lifting of resource generation.
Need 10 example sentences using "to eat" in a formal context? Done in seconds.
Need the historical origin of Thai months? Retrieved instantly.
Need a roleplay script for a taxi ride scenario? Generated on demand.
This allows the teacher to focus on what AI cannot do: listening to the student, correcting pronunciation, and building confidence.
Part III
Introducing "Kotchakorn"
Inspired by my teacher, I decided to build a prototype app named "Kotchakorn".
It’s a streamlined tool powered by Google’s Gemini model. The concept is simple: the teacher enters a topic—say, "Hospital Visits"—and the AI instantly generates a structured lesson plan.
The app provides:
Core Vocabulary: With phonetics and tonal markers.
Cultural Context: Explaining why things are said a certain way.
Roleplay Scripts: Ready-made dialogues for class practice.
Q&A: Assessment questions to check student understanding.
I built this using Python and Shiny, keeping the interface clean so it feels like a helpful assistant rather than a complex dashboard. It’s a small tribute to the effort Kru Pop puts into her classes, automating the prep work so she can focus on the teaching.
Part IV
The Future of Personalised Education
As I continue my Thai lessons (hopefully moving from "Limited Working" proficiency to something more fluent!), I am excited about this intersection of my two worlds.
In my professional life, I see AI driving innovation. In my personal life, I see AI driving connection. By empowering teachers like Pop Victoria with tools like Kotchakorn, we aren't removing the human element; we are giving the human element more room to shine.
If you are looking to learn Thai, I highly recommend finding Pop Victoria on Preply. She is professional, encouraging, and makes every lesson count. And if you are a teacher looking to leverage AI, the code for the Kotchakorn app is open-source and available on my GitHub.
Khob khun krub!
Kotchakorn AI
