Boot Camp Week 4: Learn Something New

Use AI as a patient, always-available tutor, then learn how to correct an answer that is technically right but wrong for your real situation.

Week 4 of the AI, Eh? Summer Boot Camp is about learning something new. This week, we are using AI as a patient, always-available tutor for something a lot of people have probably wondered about: picking up a bit of French before a trip.

Quick reminder of the shape, same every week. A detailed prompt you copy and paste. An iteration showing you how to fix it. Something personal you apply it to. And a Prompt Card you save to your toolkit.

Grab your toolkit document. We are adding Card 4. Let’s go.

Six things every good prompt needs

Same checklist as every week. Watch for all six in the prompt below.

1. Give it context. Who you are and what is actually going on, including anything AI could not otherwise know.

2. Be specific about the task. Not “teach me French,” but exactly what you want it to produce.

3. Set your real constraints. Your level, your timeline, and whatever actually limits your options.

4. Tell it the format you want back. A list, a table, short sections, or a word limit. Do not let it guess.

5. Ask it to flag uncertainty. Anything it is not fully sure about, so you know what to double-check yourself.

6. Protect your privacy. Skip anything that could identify you personally, such as your full name or address.

Step 1: Run this prompt exactly as written

Open ChatGPT, Claude, or whatever AI tool you already have. Paste the whole thing below exactly as written and hit enter.

“I’m planning a trip to Quebec in the next few weeks and want to be able to get by in French, but I’m a complete beginner with almost no French. Give me practical, everyday phrases I could actually use, organized into three sections: greetings and small talk, ordering food at a restaurant or cafe, and asking for directions. For each phrase, write it out in French, then include a simple pronunciation guide underneath it since I can’t read French confidently yet. Keep the tone casual and conversational, the way people actually talk day to day, not formal textbook French. Flag anything you’re not fully certain about, and let me know if any of these phrases would sound unusual or out of place somewhere outside Quebec.”

Step 2: Fix it when it is not quite right

You will probably get back a clean, well-organized set of phrases. Look closely, though, because AI tends to default to standard France French even when you specifically say Quebec.

A classic example is the word for shopping. Standard French says faire du shopping, but in Quebec people say magasiner. Or take the word for a corner store. In Quebec, that is a dépanneur, a word nobody in France would use at all. None of it is exactly wrong. It just is not how people actually talk in Quebec, and it would make you sound like you learned French somewhere else entirely.

This is exactly the moment to speak up, in one line, in the same conversation.

“This sounds like France French. Can you redo this specifically in Québécois French, the way people actually talk day to day in Quebec, not textbook French?”

One sentence, pointed at the exact gap. This is a great reminder that AI can give you a completely correct answer that still is not the right answer for your specific situation. Being specific about context, the very first basic from Week 1, is exactly what closes that gap.

Step 3: Build your own, then save it as a Prompt Card

Now think of something real you have been meaning to learn. Walk through it in your head. What is actually going on? What is your real starting point and why now? What do you actually want back? What are your real limits, your level, your timeline, and whatever is boxing you in? How do you want it formatted? What do you want it to double-check before you trust it? Keep it anonymous: real details, but no names or addresses.

Now say all of that out loud as one real paragraph, the way you would actually explain it to a friend. That is your prompt. Paste it in and run it.

Once you have a result, ask yourself two quick things. Did anything come back not quite right? If so, what one line did you send to fix it?

Open your toolkit document, add a heading called Prompt Card 4, and write out these four things based on what you just did.

What this is for. One line, in plain language, describing your real situation.

The prompt. The real paragraph you wrote and ran.

The fix that got it there. The one line you sent to correct it, if you needed one.

When to use it again. One line reminding future you when this applies.

That is Prompt Card 4, done. Four real, working prompts in your toolkit now, each one proven on your own life.

Coming up next week

Week 5 is AI and Your Money. Same four steps, pointed at budgeting and smart questions worth asking. Bring your toolkit document. Prompt Card 5 is next.

AI assisted. Human led.

Whatever AI produces for you, always read it, verify it, and make it sound like you. AI is an incredible first-draft machine. Your judgment, your voice, and your values are always the final layer.