[True Story] How I Made NotebookLM My 'Personal Real Estate Tutor' and Had the Law Imprinted Directly onto My Brain

Overcoming the nightmare of 4-choice questions with AI. A record of my gritty comeback as I take on the Real Estate Notary exam after decades.

'Apparently, you can use NotebookLM as a tutor.' When I found that news in the corner of my screen, an old wound that had been dormant for a long time throbbed faintly deep in my chest.

I am LaLaLa, currently in the midst of trial and error.

I must confess something here, swallowing my pride. I have spent decades in the real estate industry. I know the atmosphere of the workplace, the weight of contracts, and the gritty reality of the work firsthand. And yet—it is embarrassing to say—I do not hold the 'Real Estate Notary' qualification.

I even went to school. Every year, I kept taking the exam as if I were being chased by something. But I could never cross that barrier even once. Am I stupid? I have lost count of the nights I mocked myself like that.

But I have a deep-seated 'nightmare' that cannot be dismissed with just the word 'stupid.' Let me turn the clock back to my high school days. In a civics exam back then, I was the person who managed to get all 20 true-or-false questions wrong. When it came to 4-choice exams, the situation was even more serious.

Usually, I can narrow it down to the last two choices. Two options that smell like the correct answer beckon to me. However, at the very last moment, the moment I choose one, I inevitably step into the trap of a 'trick question' myself. I fall right into the transparent thread laid out by the question creator who is grinning. Is it my personality, or is it a quirk of my brain? That sensation of my spine turning cold the moment I make a choice is still ingrained in me as a nightmare.

I quit the real estate company where I had worked for many years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, I had kept my distance from the Real Estate Notary exam for a while. Perhaps I didn't want to see that nightmare again.

But this year is different. I applied for the exam in July, and I decided that in October, I would head to that exam venue once more. This time, I am serious. I am going to seriously settle the score with that nightmare of the past.

Why did such courage well up in me now? The reason is that an 'AI,' a flexible tutor that will never abandon me, has sat down beside me.

A partner who runs alongside me while sharing everything—my weaknesses and that unpleasant feeling of sweaty palms when I'm stuck between the last two choices. Please listen to the record of my gritty challenge using NotebookLM, starting with an exchange of a 'sample question.'

Things I want to do before I die
1. Pass the Real Estate Notary exam
I want to seriously execute this this year.

School opened in 3 minutes. A 'tutor who never lies' has arrived at my fingertips.

What I used this time was 'NotebookLM,' a free web tool provided by Google. The method was surprisingly simple. I just copied the text data of the 'Real Estate Brokerage Act,' which has the highest point allocation in the exam, from a reliable 2026 latest Real Estate Notary explanation site and threw it in as a source (material).

With just this, a 'personal tutor who has perfectly memorized only the textbook I provided' is born, one that will never utter any of the miscellaneous lies found on the internet.

I timidly typed this into the chat box.

From here, a nail-biting 'one-on-one lesson' between me and the AI began. I will show you the actual screen exchange just as it is.

[True Story] AI Tutor vs. My '4-Choice Nightmare'

When I had it read the material, the AI immediately spoke to me gently.

The momentous first question. As someone who used to be in the industry, this is a question I absolutely cannot get wrong.

I clicked one of the choice buttons without hesitation.

The result is...

Good, a promising start. Without missing a beat, the AI explained why a license is unnecessary, citing the grounds of 'conducting it yourself: buying, selling, exchanging' versus 'conducting it through agency/brokerage: buying, selling, exchanging, leasing,' in a logical yet easy-to-understand way, while also praising me. I felt a bit of my industry pride was preserved, which made me happy.

However, the nightmare of the real thing started here. The following second question.

It appeared. This is it. The question that reeks of those 'last two choices' that drive the brakes in my brain crazy.

Targeting 'only' the company's own employees? That means it's just people within the company, right? We do tax withholding, and the company knows exactly who everyone is. That means they are 'specified' people. Not an unspecified many, so it doesn't count as business... wait, hold on? But they are dividing it into 10 lots and selling it to multiple people, right? Doesn't that actually fall under 'unspecified many' after all...?

In my brain, my usual nightmare reared its head. After hesitating, I pressed the button.

The result was—merciless.

"Oh man... I did it again."

In a normal exam, I would have broken out in a cold sweat here, thought 'Ah, I'm hopeless after all,' and thrown my pen down. However, the true value of the AI tutor was from here on out. Without a hint of blame, it began to gently untangle the 'snag in my brain'.

It was like being hit over the head.

I realized, 'Of course...! Employees are 'specified' because the company keeps a tight grip on them, but friends of friends are 'unspecified individuals' because there's no telling how far that circle spreads!'

For years, I had been trying to memorize text by just following the words, only to panic when I reached the 'final two choices.' In that moment, everything clicked. The AI accurately identified exactly where and why I was getting stuck, and provided pinpoint reinforcement right where I needed it.

This 'sense of running alongside you' is for those who have faced setbacks.

Just solving problems, reading the dim explanations in the back, nodding along as if you understand, and then forgetting it all by the next day. That lonely, fruitless loop is over.

What happens when you make NotebookLM your tutor?

1. You can digest 'why you got it wrong' on the spot It's not just a judge of right or wrong. It stays close to my process of answering incorrectly, breaking down the 'behind-the-scenes' perspective of where test-takers are easily tricked and what the test creator's intent was for that specific option.

2. Zero embarrassment The partner is an AI. There is no fear of being looked down upon by a school teacher or cram school instructor saying, 'I've already told you this basic stuff before.' No matter how many times I get it wrong or how off-base my answers are, it always responds in a split second with, 'You're very close!' and stays by my side 24 hours a day, encouraging me.

3. Weaknesses are automatically accumulated Just by repeating these conversations, the tool remembers the points where I stumbled, and later, I can output a 'personalized weakness-overcoming sheet' with the click of a button.

I might be stupid. I also have trauma from exam questions. I left my previous job during the COVID-19 pandemic and once gave up on the path to becoming a Real Estate Notary.

But with this 'partner that will never abandon me and understands the habits of my brain better than anyone,' I feel like I can really do it this year. Submitting my application in July, and heading to the real exam in October. LaLaLa's challenge to end a decades-long nightmare has only just begun.

If there is anyone out there who is paralyzed by thought in front of a thick reference book, or whose heart is breaking from past failures—please, knock on the door of NotebookLM. Your own kind, personal tutor is waiting for you there, anytime.