When I started learning Python a while back, I had ChatGPT open in one tab and the docs in another. The thing is — I was using ChatGPT wrong. I'd type "explain functions" and get a wall of text I half-understood. After a year of trial and error I figured out that how you ask matters more than what you ask. Here are five prompts that turned ChatGPT from a fancy search engine into something that actually taught me Python. These work just as well in Claude or Gemini. 1. The "explain like I just wrote it" prompt Explain this Python code line by line as if you're reviewing it with a beginner. For each line, tell me: What it does Why it's needed What would happen if I removed it Code: [paste your code here] Why it works: that third question is the magic. Forcing the AI to explain what breaks if you remove a line teaches you the purpose of every piece, not just the syntax. 2. The "find my bug without giving me the answer" prompt I have a Python bug. Don't fix it for me.…