How to use it, and use it well
These prompts work in any capable AI. This guide is about getting the most out of them: which model to reach for, how to set up a persistent tutor, when to start a fresh chat, and how to fix the handful of things that can go wrong.
The ModernEncyclopedia does not teach you directly. It hands you carefully built prompts — instructions you paste into an AI you already have — and lets that AI do the tutoring, pitched at your level. This page is about doing that well.
Prefer plain text? The same guide ships as README.md in the download.
The basic flow
- Pick a subject. Open any node from the Library — each is a complete little school for one subject.
- Set the dials. Choose one of the twelve prompts, your level (Beginner to Degree), an optional topic, and a couple of options.
- Generate. Press the button and the finished prompt appears.
- Copy it. One click.
- Paste it into a fresh AI chat as your first message, and send. Your AI takes on the role and begins.
That is the whole loop. Everything below is how to get more out of it.
Choosing your AI
Any capable modern assistant works — the prompts are written to be portable. In practice the three most common choices are Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini, and all three do the job well.
Two rules of thumb:
- Reach for the most capable model you have access to. If your assistant offers a slower thinking or reasoning mode, use it for tutoring — the answers are markedly better for the kind of step-by-step teaching these prompts ask for.
- Free tiers are fine to start. Paid tiers mainly buy you stronger models and higher usage limits. You do not need to pay to learn something today.
AI products change quickly. If a feature named here has moved or been renamed, check your provider's own help pages — the ideas below still apply.
The power move: make it a Project
The biggest single upgrade is to stop pasting the prompt into one-off chats and instead give it to a persistent workspace, so every conversation there is already your tutor for that subject:
- Claude — create a Project and paste the prompt into its instructions (you can add your own notes and files too).
- ChatGPT — use a Project, or build a Custom GPT with the prompt as its instructions.
- Gemini — create a Gem with the prompt as its persona.
Now you can open a new chat in that space any time and just start asking — no re-pasting. Many assistants also have a memory feature; letting it remember your level and goals makes every session sharper.
When to start a fresh chat
Long conversations are not always better. Start a new chat when:
- the subject or topic changes — give each a clean slate;
- answers start drifting, repeating themselves, or getting vaguer;
- the chat feels slow, or the assistant seems to have forgotten something you covered earlier;
- you have simply been going a long time.
Every assistant has a limited working memory (its context window). Once a chat gets very long, older detail falls out of view and quality slips. The fix is painless: ask your AI for a short handoff summary — "summarise what we have covered and where I had got to, so I can continue in a new chat" — then paste that summary after the prompt in a fresh conversation. A Project makes this smoother still, because your tutor's instructions are always there.
Getting the most from the twelve prompts
- Run them in sequence for a full course: Orientation to get your bearings, then Syllabus to plan, Canon and Glossary to build foundations, Socratic and Great Debates to go deep, Exam and Self-Test to check yourself, and Reading to go further.
- Turn on web search for the ones that need it. The Frontier prompt is built to search for the latest developments, and the Reading list benefits from checking real, current sources. Enable your assistant's browsing tool before running them.
- Use voice mode for languages. For Modern Languages, the conversation-partner approach shines in a spoken chat.
- Test yourself for real. The Exam engine and Self-Test are most useful when you actually attempt the answer before reading the feedback. Come back to the Self-Test a week later — spaced repetition is the point.
- Adjust anything mid-chat. Too hard or too easy? Just say so. Want British or US spelling, or a tighter focus? Change the dials and regenerate, or tell the AI directly.
Turn on the right features
Most assistants let you switch capabilities on per chat. The ones worth knowing for these prompts:
- Web search / browsing — for the Frontier prompt, reading lists, and anything time-sensitive.
- A thinking / reasoning mode — for richer tutoring and marking.
- Voice — for language practice, and for learning hands-free (see below).
- File upload — paste in your own essay or notes and ask the tutor to work from them.
Learn out loud: voice mode
Some prompts come alive in your assistant's voice mode — especially the short, quick-fire ones like the Socratic Tutor and Great Debates. Instead of reading and typing, you talk: a real back-and-forth with a tutor that questions you, while your hands and eyes stay free.
It's a genuinely different way to learn. Switch on voice mode (ChatGPT, Gemini and others all have one), start a Socratic or Debate prompt, and think out loud — on a walk, over chores, or on a long journey. Some of the best sessions people have with this system are exactly that: a proper intellectual sparring match, out loud, on a long drive, turning dead time into a seminar. (If you're the one driving, keep it fully hands-free and your eyes on the road — treat it like a podcast you can argue back at.)
Why the prompt only appears when you press Generate
A small thing, and deliberate: the finished prompt is assembled in your browser the moment you press Generate, rather than sitting on the page. That keeps each prompt tailored to the exact dials you chose — and it means the library is not simply copied wholesale by other tools. The prompts are free for you to use; you just collect them a click at a time.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
The AI stopped asking questions, or dropped the format.
Paste the prompt again, or say: “Please go back to the format in my first message.” Assistants sometimes drift over a long chat, and a quick reminder resets them. If it keeps happening, start a fresh chat and re-paste.
It is citing books, papers or quotes that do not seem real.
Ask it to “list only sources you are confident actually exist, and flag any you are unsure about.” Our prompts already ask for this, but no AI is immune to inventing references — always sanity-check a title before you rely on it, and prefer the Reading-list prompt, which is built to be careful here.
The answers are too basic (or too advanced).
Tell it plainly: “pitch this at beginner / A-Level / degree level,” or regenerate the prompt at a different level. You can also just say “go one level deeper” at any point.
It just gives me the answer instead of making me think.
Say: “Do not give me the answer — ask me one question at a time and let me work it out.” The Socratic Tutor prompt is designed around exactly this; reach for it when you want to be taught rather than told.
Its information seems out of date.
Ask it to search the web if your assistant supports that, or to “tell me your knowledge cut-off and flag anything that may have changed since.” For fast-moving topics, use the Frontier prompt with browsing switched on.
The chat has become slow, repetitive or forgetful.
That is the context window filling up. Ask for a short summary of where you had got to, start a new chat, and paste the summary after the prompt. Setting the subject up as a Project avoids most of this.
The exam marking does not feel like a real mark scheme.
Remind it: “mark this against the real exam-board format and be strict.” The Exam engine is honest that it is approximating a mark scheme — for stakes that matter, always check against your actual specification.
Which model should I use?
Whichever capable assistant you already have — Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini all work well. If you can choose, pick the strongest reasoning model available to you.
Do I have to pay for anything?
No. The ModernEncyclopedia is free, and the free tiers of the major assistants are enough to get going. Paid tiers give you better models and higher limits if you want them.
Can I share or reuse the prompts?
They are free and open to use for your own learning. Licensing details are being finalised; for anything beyond personal use, check back or get in touch via maxfr.co.uk.
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