EF recently launched an AI conversation feature, positioning it as a breakthrough in language learning. But while EF is just beginning to explore AI for speaking practice, IMMERSE has been integrating AI conversation features into its language training ecosystem since August 2023.
We’ve had a two-year head start, and it shows.
This isn't just about who got there first. It's about how each platform uses AI, and whether it truly supports immersive, effective, pedagogically sound language development.
EF’s AI role play feature builds on the same video-call-style interface as their live classes, using static images and decontextualized scenarios to suggest relevance to the real world. But learners remain passive observers, responsible for imagining the scene and guiding their own progress. Like their other features, EF’s AI tool depends heavily on the learner's imagination to fill in the gaps.
IMMERSE doesn’t ask learners to imagine immersion. We deliver it.
From the beginning, IMMERSE was built to support real-world communication through situational, social, and spatial context. That includes live classes in 3D environments and self-paced learning supported by animated AI avatars, real-time feedback, and ongoing interaction. In IMMERSE, learners aren’t just practicing language, they’re using it.
Our AI tools aren’t just an afterthought or superficial add-on to ride the latest trend. They’re an integral part of a learning ecosystem that was designed by language education experts to develop real fluency out in the real world, where it counts.
AI Practice Doesn’t Inherently Lead to Business Fluency
EF's new AI conversation feature reflects the growing recognition that AI has a role to play in language training. But not all AI practice features are created equal.
EF's feature offers a library of role-play topics where learners speak to an AI voice while looking at a static image of a character like a hotel clerk or a coworker in a meeting. There’s no surrounding instruction, no modeled examples, no built-in preparation. The learner must simply imagine the scene and begin.
Unless they happen to be trained language teachers, learners may not know how to get the most out of the activity. Without guidance, they may lack the vocabulary, pragmatic strategies, or communicative skills needed to engage fully or benefit meaningfully from the interaction or the feedback.
IMMERSE: AI Practice with Purpose
In IMMERSE, on the other hand, AI provides more than just practice for the sake of practice. Each AI interaction tool was designed to fulfill a specific pedagogical purpose in addition to developing fluency.
Guided Conversations: Accuracy
Guided Conversations are tied to specific lessons and learning objectives and help learners master specific language structures and communication goals. They provide targeted role-play practice while steering learners to use the grammar, vocabulary, and communication strategies they’re currently learning. They also deliver real-time corrective feedback throughout the conversation without breaking immersion.
For professionals who need to master specific communication tasks like making requests, giving updates, or responding diplomatically, this structured practice builds both accuracy and confidence.
Community Avatars: Confidence
Community Avatars build fluency and confidence through spontaneous conversations in low-pressure social settings. Each avatar has a backstory and remembers what the learner has shared in previous visits, creating continuity and authentic relationship-building. They offer a quick and easy way to get talking, but with far more realism than a one-shot interaction.
This kind of unscripted social practice is especially valuable for business learners who need to navigate small talk, networking, and other types of chat that are casual but carry professional weight.
AI Tutors: New Skills
AI Tutors teach new language skills through scaffolded, fully supported role play. Learners receive targeted input, modeled examples, and can ask questions both before and after the scenario. The AI tutor engages in the role play and delivers extensive personalized feedback afterward.
This individualized training helps professionals internalize new language patterns and accurately apply them in complex, real-world interactions such as client meetings or team collaborations.
The AI Innovation Gap
Like their “immersive” Efekta Hyperclass, EF’s AI role play tool is a superficial upgrade that attempts to capitalize on a trending industry catchphrase. Providing practice for the sake of practice, it fails to deliver the type of meaningful interaction and context that builds real-world communication skills.
IMMERSE took a more serious approach. We didn’t just tack on an AI chatbot, we deliberately designed a suite of AI tools to meet real-world learning goals. Our AI features are purpose-built, pedagogically grounded, and fully integrated into an immersive learning ecosystem. Each one is designed to develop a specific skill, whether that’s language accuracy, conversational fluency, or confidence in real-world communication.
Our learners don’t just talk to AI, they engage in meaningful, supported interactions designed to build accuracy, fluency, and confidence through real-world context and feedback.
That’s the difference between using AI, and using it well.
