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Mari Hirano
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Questions I’m too embarrassed to ask

For those of you who don't know me personally, I spent the majority of my childhood in Japan. I grew up in a family that speaks only Japanese and went to local schools, which makes English my second language.

I've spent about 20 years living in the US, which is more than half of my life. And yet, I still have the hardest time really “getting” certain things. Two examples are the knock-knock joke and the “roses are red, violets are blue” poem. I’m sure I’ve googled what they meant at some point and I’ve asked native speakers before, but I never really got it.

Now, with AI, I have this super knowledgeable thing that has read everything in the world that made it to the internet, but doesn't have the judgment and emotions of humans (yet).

I went ahead and asked Claude to explain the knock-knock joke and the roses and violets poem, and, to take it even further, I asked why it feels so hard for non-native English speakers to get these or put them into practice. And it gave me an answer that made a lot of sense!

Chat with Claude: Mari asks why, as a non-native English speaker, she can understand knock-knock jokes and "roses are red" poems but can't come up with them on a whim. Claude answers that these forms are constraint puzzles: they need sound-alike words and rhymes, and native speakers have thousands of words stored by sound, while words learned through reading or study have thinner sound connections.

By the end of this conversation, I was able to create a roses and violets poem myself 🌹 I even got a star ("it's a solid first try!") from teacher Claude.

Chat with Claude: Mari shares her poem: "Roses are red, violets are blue. Sorry I missed your birthday party. This poem is my gift to you." and asks if it works. Claude replies that it's a solid first try with a correct rhyme, and suggests shortening line 3 to "Sorry I missed your party" so the rhythm flows.

This is arguably one of my favorite things about AI. In a way, it helps me remember my inner child who was curious and asked everything because there was no such thing as shame or fear of judgment.