Three things to try this week, even if you've never opened an AI tool.

Discover: NotebookLM

NotebookLM (Google, free) turns the documents you give it into an audio conversation between two voices, podcast-style. For a long time this only worked properly in English. It now produces those episodes in more than 80 languages — and since 1 July, the French, Spanish and German versions run the same length and go into the same depth as the English one.

1. Go to notebooklm.google.com

   Sign in with a Google account.

2. Create a notebook

   Drop in two or three articles from your learner's sector, as files or links.

3. Click "Audio Overview"

   Set your output language in the settings, then click in the Studio panel.

You get a file you can use as a gist-listening activity to introduce an article, or as a stand-alone listening task. Tip: give the article to Claude first to grade the language to your learner's level.

Did you know: you can show AI a photo

In Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and the rest, a plus or paperclip icon lets you attach a photo. Photograph a coursebook page, the whiteboard at the end of a session, or a learner's handwritten work, then ask in one line: "Transcribe the text in this photo." Data-protection habit: keep the learner's name and personal details out of frame.

In the classroom with Richard Osborne

What worked: a strict structure kept the content short and to the point, not the usual AI waffle. What surprised me: Claude struggled to accept what a "low level" learner means and kept slipping in complex language. What didn't work: the result was far too text-based — no images or audio — and all that reading demotivated my learner. Verdict: ask Claude to write the prompts you then paste into Google AI Studio to generate images and audio.