How I Built a Telegram Vocabulary Coach Bot to Help My Students Practice English Daily
As an English Teacher for tech professionals, I am always trying to find ways to improve the students' learning experience. One of my students had issues accessing a website that was for educational purposes, and instead of switching the material, I decided to build a bot on Telegram instead.
Over the weekend, I created a simple bot that sends a daily vocabulary word with challenges and tasks to complete. I even added a translate function to help a bit.
The best part? its always available and free which is a big plus for my students.
Next I will show you how I build the bot so you can also build one too.
Why I built the bot?
- A student couldn’t access randomwordgenerator.com
- They needed consistent daily practice
- I wanted something frictionless, mobile-first, and scalable
- Telegram bots are fast to build, free to use, and great for learners
The features I added.
| Command | What It Does |
|---|
/start | Welcomes the user and auto-subscribes them |
/daily | Sends a new word and speaking/writing challenge |
/translate [lang] [word] | Translates to Spanish or Russian |
/review | Shows the last 5 learned words |
- It logs every word used
- It sends automated daily reminders at 9AM
- It runs 24/7 on PythonAnywhere (no manual work required)
The Tech Stack
- Python – handles the bot logic
- apscheduler – triggers daily auto-reminders
- deep-translator – handles the language translation
The code checks if a user has subscribed, sends them a new word every day, and gives them a structured prompt to practice speaking and writing.
What the student sees
This is bite-sized, mobile-friendly, and easy to turn into a habit.
Lessons Learned:
- Python 3.13 is still unstable.
- Don't run the bot in more then one place.
- Telegram bots are seriously powerful.
Final Thoughts
Tech isn't just for IT professionals; anyone can build something useful, especially educators.
This bot started off as a quick fix, but is slowly growing into something bigger and I am excited to see where it goes.
If I can build a quick project like this, so can you. So if you are an educator, beginner, or one of my students, don't be afraid to try coding, it can be intimidating at first, but if you do a little at a time, you will make something awesome.
Ready to Level Up Your English?
1. Use the Free VocabCoach Bot
Start learning new vocabulary every day directly in Telegram. No app installs. No stress.
👉 @daily_random_english_word_bot
2. Book a Private English Lesson with Me
If you’re serious about improving your English for tech, business, or job interviews — I’ve got you covered.
I teach:
- English for Tech Professionals (Dev, PM, Analyst, etc.)
- English for Coding & Software Engineering
- Interview prep, resume reviews, and more
Book a trial class and start speaking confidently:
👉 Book with me on italki