The Complete Beginner's Course
Seven modules. 34 lessons. Same approach as the free one — short lessons, one thing at a time, no jargon — but it goes properly deep, and it stays with you.
Do the free course first — it takes half an hour and it's genuinely complete. This one assumes you've got an account and you've sent a few messages. If the free one wasn't useful to you, this one won't be either, and I'd rather you kept your money.
Who it's for
- You've done the free course, or you've been using AI a bit already, and you want to get properly good at it.
- There's a pile of letters, forms and small print you've never quite got to the bottom of.
- You write things you find difficult — complaints, awkward emails, condolences, a CV.
- You want to be sure you're doing it safely, and you'd like the honest version of the risks.
What's in it
Every lesson is short. Most take five minutes to read and five minutes to do. Each one ends with a Try this — an actual thing to go and do, because reading about this is nearly useless.
1 Getting confident 4 lessons · The habits that separate people who find this useful from people who try it twice and give up
- Say more, not less
- It's a conversation, not a slot machine
- When it gets it wrong
- Getting things explained at your level
2 Staying safe, properly 5 lessons · The honest version — what actually happens to what you type
- What happens to what you type
- The postcard rule
- Spotting a made-up answer
- It agrees with you too easily
- Scams, fakes, and what you never need to pay for
3 Writing things 6 lessons · The module people tell me changes things
- The four-part recipe
- Complaints that actually get results
- The emails you've been putting off
- Difficult personal messages
- Cards, speeches and condolences
- Making it sound like you
4 Understanding things 5 lessons · For every letter, form and document that arrives and doesn't quite make sense
- The question that decodes anything read this one free
- Letters from official places
- Contracts, insurance and small print
- Medical letters and leaflets
- Learning anything, at any level
5 Everyday life 6 lessons · The ones that turn this into a habit rather than a tool you remember occasionally
- Planning a trip
- Food and shopping
- Gifts and occasions
- Hobbies and taking something up
- Helping grandchildren
- Idle questions and settling arguments
6 Work and money 5 lessons · If you're still working, looking for work, or running something of your own
- Your CV
- Applications and covering letters
- Interviews
- Running something small
- Making something of what you know
7 Making it stick 3 lessons · What happens after the course finishes, which is where most people quietly stop
- Your first month
- When it goes wrong
- Where to go next
Plus a printable quick reference at the end — everything in the course on one page.
Read a real lesson, free
This is Lesson 4.1, exactly as it appears in the course. Nothing removed. If you like how this reads, you'll like the other 33.
The question that decodes anything
One question does most of the work:
What is this actually asking me to do, and is there a deadline?
Paste in any letter, form, contract or notice, ask that, and you'll get further in ten seconds than in ten minutes of reading it yourself.
The fuller version, worth saving:
Here's a document. Take out anything identifying — I've replaced my details with XXXX. Tell me:
1. What is this, in one sentence
2. What does it want me to do
3. Is there a deadline
4. What happens if I ignore it
5. Is there anything in here I should be concerned about
6. Anything unusual, or that I should query
[paste the document]
Point six is the valuable one. It's the question you don't know to ask.
How to get a document in there. Three ways:
- Type it out — fine for short letters
- Copy and paste — if it's already an email or a PDF you can select text in
- Photograph it — the apps take photos. Take a picture of the letter, upload it, ask your question. Works well, and it's the easiest route for most people.
Always remove the identifying details first. Account numbers, reference numbers, your address. It doesn't need them, and the postcard rule applies.
Find something in the pile that you've not properly read. Photograph it, ask the six questions.
That's one of 34. The rest is £13.99.
What you'll be able to do
- Take any letter, form or contract and know within a minute what it's actually asking of you.
- Write the complaint, the awkward email or the difficult personal message — properly, and in your own voice.
- Tell the difference between an answer that's right and an answer that only sounds right.
- Use it safely, knowing exactly what you should and shouldn't be typing in.
- Rewrite your CV so it's finally as good as your career actually was.
- Make it a habit rather than a thing you remember occasionally — that's the whole of Module 7.
Questions about this course
Do I need to do the free course first?
Strictly, no — but I'd genuinely rather you did. It takes half an hour, it's free, and this course assumes you already have an account and have sent a few messages. It also tells you whether my way of explaining things suits you, which is worth knowing before you pay for 34 more lessons of it.
What format is it in?
Written lessons you read at your own pace — no videos to sit through, no fixed schedule, no live sessions to miss. You can skim a lesson in five minutes on your phone or sit down properly with it at a laptop.
Is £13.99 a subscription?
No. One payment, once. Nothing renews, and there's nothing else to buy afterwards.
Will it go out of date?
The tools change quickly; these skills don't. Almost all of the course is about how to ask, how to check, and how to judge — which holds regardless of which app you're using. Where I do mention a specific app, I say so and explain the equivalent elsewhere.
Which app does it use — ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini?
I say ChatGPT throughout, because it's the one most people have. Every single thing in the course works exactly the same on Claude or Gemini. Nothing is wasted if you switch.
What if it's not for me?
Email me within 30 days and I'll refund you. No form to fill in and I won't ask you to justify it. It's £13.99 — neither of us should be spending an afternoon arguing about it.
Still deciding?
Do the free course. It's half an hour, it costs nothing, and it'll tell you far more than this page can about whether the full one is worth your £13.99.