Hot Seat - IELTS Speaking Topic Generator

A web application that generates challenging IELTS "Hot Seat" speaking topics with forbidden words, powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 model and deployed as a Google Cloud Function.

Features

• Generate IELTS speaking topics with customizable difficulty
• Specify the number of forbidden words to make topics more challenging
• Filter topics by specialization/category (technology, environment, education, etc.)
• Responsive web interface with printable topic cards
• Serverless backend using Google Cloud Functions

Technology Stack

• Backend:

  • Go 1.22
  • Google Cloud Functions
  • OpenAI GPT-4 API
  • Functions Framework for Go

• Frontend:

  • HTML5
  • CSS3
  • Vanilla JavaScript

Prerequisites

• Go 1.22 or later
• Google Cloud SDK
• OpenAI API key
• Git

Installation & Deployment

Local Development

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/t0mk/hotseat.git
   cd hotseat
   

2. Install dependencies:

   go mod download
   

3. Set up your OpenAI API key:

   export OPENAI_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
   

Deployment to Google Cloud Functions

1. Make sure you have Google Cloud SDK installed and are logged in:

   gcloud auth login
   

2. Deploy using the provided script:

   ./deploy.sh
   

   This script will deploy the function to Google Cloud Functions in the europe-west12 region.

3. After deployment, you'll receive a URL for your function that can be used in the frontend.

Setting Up the Frontend

1. Update the API_URL in index.html with your deployed function URL:

   const API_URL = 'your_function_url_here';

2. Host the index.html file on any web server or static hosting service.

Usage

1. Open the web application in your browser.
2. Customize the generation parameters:
   • Set the number of forbidden words (3-15)
   • Optionally specify a specialization area (e.g., technology, environment)
3. Click "Generate a Topic" to create a new speaking topic.
4. Use the "Print Cards" button to print the generated topic cards.

The application provides speaking topics with a list of words that must not be used while discussing the topic, creating a challenging speaking exercise.

Development

Project Structure

• hotseat.go - Main application code for the Google Cloud Function
• go.mod & go.sum - Go module dependencies
• deploy.sh - Deployment script for Google Cloud Functions
• index.html - Frontend interface
• /cmd - Code to run the function locally

Local Testing

To test the function locally, you can use the Functions Framework for Go:

go run cmd/local/main.go

API Format

Request:

{
  "count": 5,
  "specialization": "technology"
}

Response:

{
  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "Smart Home Devices",
      "forbidden_words": ["internet", "control", "assistant", "connect", "voice"]
    }
  ]
}

Environment Variables

• OPENAI_API_KEY - Required for making requests to the OpenAI API

License

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Contributing

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