#language exchanges

Everyone and their dog knows that language learning is easier, faster, and more fun when you have found a great language partner.

In this show, Lindsay and I brought on language exchange expert Jonathan Huggins, who runs several community challenges and groups for language learners.

Thanks to our sponsor, Clozemaster!

To warm up, we chatted about travel love, dream trips, and appreciation of home.

How to Find The Perfect Language Exchange

The most rewarding way of practicing your language is by connecting with people on a 1-to-1 basis. It takes commitment to make any language exchange successful.

Approach Exchanges With The Right Mindset

No matter who you are speaking to in your target language, remember that a little consideration can go a long way. It is easy to add an exchange partner to your checklist right next to "app" and "coursebook", but harder to remember that they're a person with a life to live too.

Give something, and consider how you can help the other learners instead of simply seeing them as a resource. It's important to respect your partner's life so you can build up a relationship that keeps on giving.

Before you start an exchange:

It's important to feel like you're going to both give and get something out of your language exchange, but there is so much you can do

Consider whether you will benefit most from finding a native speaker, a teacher, a good explainer, or simply a buddy who can help you progress.

Look for people who you have something in common with. Find out if you'll be on your partner's wavelength by checking out their profile, hobbies, location, and more.

Send more than just a "hello", and try asking questions and connecting based on something you saw in your potential partner's profile.

Consider your expectations. Being someone's language learning partner is a commitment to be taken seriously, and it is your partner's decision whether they will be ready to join you.

Have a chat and agree on how your exchange is going to work:*

When will you practice which language?

Who's going to arrange the timeslots?

Will you send recordings, chat, focus on specific language points like grammar topics or vocab?

What will you talk about each week?

Finally, consider what level you are at in your target language and how this will impact the kinds of things that you can say and understand.

Once your exchange is underway:

A language exchange is like a plant: If you don't look after it, it's going to die. - Jonathan Huggins

Prepare something to talk about in each session and make sure you don't let each other down and spend the whole session asking superficial questions. For example, find a news item and explain what it means in your local context, or select a conversation starter question.

Don't expect a miracle. If you are shy and you don't establish what you have in common with another person, your language exchange will be just as uncomfortable as it would be in a monolingual environment.

Find consistent people to talk to so you can establish common ground and start going beyond the repetitive topics that happen at the start of creating a new relationship.

Try alternative ways of making your exchange work, for example recording yourself so you can send a "message in a bottle" and still stay in touch even when life gets busy. Just like the meaning of studying, the meaning of *language

EPISODE SPONSORS

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Visit our sponsor Clozemaster, the free addictive language app in over 50 languages

EPISODE LINKS

30-Day Speaking Challenge – Huggins International

Language Exchange — Jonathan's Facebook group for anyone who wants to practice with native speakers.

Tandem | Find Conversation Exchange Partners

HelloTalk - Language Exchange App

How to Guarantee Responses with Language Exchange - Lindsay Does Languages

Olly Richards: Was this the worst language exchange I ever did? - YouTube

Women in Language

Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom (I-TESL-J)

italki - find online language tutors and language exchanges

Find your people | Meetup

Terrace House: Boys & Girls in the City | Netflix Official Site

How Do You Find People To Talk To?

Do you reply to every message you get on language exchange apps? Do you send carefully crafted introductions or casual "hello"s?

If you're new to a language exchange, the concept won't be hard to understand: You find a speaker of your target language. That person should want to learn your native language. When you chat to each other, you spend a little time speaking each language, and voilà...it's free, mutual, friendly practice.

Finding those other language lovers used to be a massive pain. Back in the day, you might have to strike up a conversation and exchange addresses with a tourist in the nearest town. Or if you're lucky, someone might put up a notice on a pinboard in the local café.

But what if I told you that right now you're only 10 minutes away from chatting about your dreams for the future in your brand new language...on your phone? Sounds mad, but that's exactly what the language exchange app Tandem is designed for.

How to Start a Language Exchange

Of course, language exchanges are not new. Good ideas start early and stick around. The language exchange concept has been around since the 1970s, named "Tandem" after the word for a two-person bicycle.

Here's an amazing quote from Tandem Fundazioa, explaining the bicycle analogy:

TANDEM is a bicycle designed for two riders both involved in getting forward. We have taken this word into our method of learning by exchanging languages with our motto: "In order to understand each other better I help you to learn and you help me to learn." TANDEM is therefore the bicycle among various language learning approaches - it is cheap, individual and ecological.

Check out this article for more inspiration about how language exchanges can make us happy.

Who'd argue with that... no one. So for free language practice, could the Tandem App be your step into the world of exchanges?

How Good is Tandem Language Exchange App?

You can download Tandem in the App Store for iOS and on the Google Play store for Androis. In this review, I focused on using the iPhone app on an iPhone 7. The app is completely free, with no limitations or premium memberships.

When I opened up the Tandem app, I was immediately taken in by the design and the personalised approach that they took. You open Tandem, connect your profile, and crucially you will tell the app a few things about yourself and your preferences.

There is an approval process, so you cannot join the app randomly and it's monitored by a staff member. I found this reassuring - after all, it's important that you keep your data safe online! Community is very important to Tandem, which has 1 million members from 150 countries.

There are three big sections in the app:

The Community, where you can search for new people

The Tutors section, where you can find and book lessons

The Chats, where you can view all your conversations

Optimizing Your Language Exchange Profile

Before you can join Tandem you have to make an application and become approved by one of their staff members. Your profile will be linked to Facebook.

Once you're in, your profile won't be quite as protected as on other apps. I enjoyed the fact that I could see more photos of my new language friends and learn who they are before I chat to them. This can make it easier to find a good match, but be aware that you're also sharing more data with a big community.

Here are some tips for optimizing Tandem:

Check out the Settings area in your profile to decide who should be able to find you.

Select something fun you want to talk about in My Topics. The app offers lots of fun and inspiring prompts, or you can make your own conversation starters. These will be seen by others when they find your profile.

Go into About Me to make sure you're happy with your profile picture and information.

Finding Language Exchange Partners

The partner search is the most important part of any good exchange app.

Tandem suggests people for you based on your language, but there's also a search bar. I had lots of fun on there, as you can search for anything. I tried

Westworld

hockey (nothing)

Manchester United (SO MANY PEOPLE)

It was easy to find Welsh speakers on this app, as well as people learning each one of my interest languages. Remember not everyone needs native speakers.

The search is automatically limited to those users who are some kind of match for your languages, so you save time.

Tandem feels a little like a dating app. The personality of every profile comes out so well through that deeper connection with photos, likes and information. And to top it all off, you can leave comments on a language partner's profile to recommend them and tell others how nice they are.

All in all, I would say 5/5 - well done Tandem for your search experience.

How to Chat With People on Tandem

Chatting to someone on Tandem is straightforward. You shoot them a message through your profile. This app has the closest experience to texting that I've seen so far. You can send texts and voice messages, phone them on VOIP or go all out and make a video call.

I like how Tandem has simplified the design of its chats to remove anything you don't need.

Unlike other exchange apps, there is no in-app dictionary, but you can correct your partner's sentences easily. Chats are a friendly experience , making languages a tool for connecting with people. And the community moderation made me feel more comfortable sharing pictures and voice messages, too.

If you find someone who looks interesting and you're feeling shy, you have the opportunity to follow their updates and maybe contact them later. I am not sure how useful this feature is in practice, though.

Make Language Exchange Friends Without Losing Interest

If you go ahead and partner up with someone on Tandem, here are a few tips for making the process easier for you both:

Arrange a time to meet and video chat or send each other longer messages on a regular basis. If it's a calendar appointment, you won't ignore it as much

Allow for each person to ask a lot of questions and answer in longer sentences so you don't run out of things to say

Prepare some interesting and unusual topics to talk about, for example these ideas on the Tandem blog:

Follow Up each new exchange session by reviewing vocabulary and making sure you follow the acquire-memorize-review technique (I describe this in detail in The Vocab Cookbook)

Language exchanges do come with a small cost, as it takes your time and energy to prepare properly. In a good exchange, you both have responsibility for making this a fun conversation, so get creative and make sure you put in a little effort.

I give the chat experience a 3/5 - personally I'd like more language tools, but the design was lovely.

Or if an exchange sounds like it doesn't suit you right now...

You Can Find Language Tutors in The Tandem App

The inclusion of language tutors in Tandem touches on a really important point: You cannot expect your language exchange partner to be your tutor. I love that this app gives you the option of deciding how you want to be supported in your language learning journey.

Sometimes we all need extra help. Language tutors can explain more complex concepts, tricky grammar rules and fix your pronunciation.

More about this in my article on what you can expect to pay a tutor.

I tried out the tutor process and was absolutely satisfied. There is a personal vetting process, so that tutors have to apply and show how they are qualified and experienced for offering this paid service. The profiles are also reviewed by other users, so you know what you're getting.

Some tutors offer a free trial, but to be honest I found the prices so low that most people should not have to think twice before paying. The app even takes Apple Pay, a testament to its great user experience.

One thing was weird. I know that there are currently no Welsh tutors on Tandem. But even so, the app showed me tutors for everything. I'm a language nerd, so this wasn't a low point. I found it more inspiring...I could learn Korean! American Sign Language! Polish!

I'm giving the tutors in Tandem a 5/5 - this isn't a language school, and the support level seemed perfect for the app purpose.

Conclusions: Should You Try Tandem?

When it comes to recommending Tandem, I'm giving this app a big thumbs up. 👍 It's perfect for aspiring polyglots, because the community is both enormous and very varied. The user experience in the app is the nicest I have seen so far.

Within minutes, you can start swiping and reviewing dozens of cool people's profiles. Who knows what could be uncovered...a new local friend, an exciting connection around the world? No need to leave your house - you can strike up a conversation halfway around the world without ever getting off the couch.

The tutors as a support network are a really smart idea because they keep you committed.

My one bugbear would be with the general lack of integrations - I dream of a language learning app that lets me connect to my flashcards, my other apps, and more. If it works with Facebook, surely it can be done with Memrise?

I am closing my review with a solid 4.5/5 for Tandem. This app is totally free and worth checking out.

Today I have a guest post from Kirsty Major who's both a learner and teacher. If you've been rolling your eyes at ideas of all-nighters and miracle mornings for language learning, her post will give you the perfect solution to that problem. Over to you, Kirsty!

The alarm sounded 2 hours before I was due to get up. I resented its intrusion into my sleep and grumpily turned it off. No, this was not going to work. I'd heard of people having great success with early morning language learning, but on this cold, winter morning five years ago, I knew that it wasn't going to work for me. You see, I hate mornings! I can't have meaningful conversations until at least the third cup of coffee and I know from experience that this isn't the best time for my brain to absorb knowledge. I could do it at midnight, or later, but not first thing in the morning! I'm a night owl.

I'm interested in language learning because I teach English to adults online. I've been learning German since I was at school and, although it's taking a back-seat at the moment, I'm also learning Turkish.

When's The Right Time of Day to Learn a Language?

I honestly believe that there is no definite answer to this. The right time for you to learn depends on the type of person you are, whether you're an early morning lark or a night owl. The other responsibilities you have throughout your day also play a big role in taking that decision.

Some people love to be up early when nobody else is around. They can fit in their language learning when the house is quiet and nobody else is awake. If they get up early, they can learn at a time when their mind is fresh, rather than struggling to keep their eyes open after a long day at work.

Other people like to work at the other end of the day. I'm definitely one of those people!

Unlock More Time In Your Day For Productive Language Learning

There are plenty of langauge learning activities that you can do on your commute or during your lunch break. It doesn't have to take long, but it means that if you're prepared, you can put that 10 or 15 minutes of spare time to good use.

I work for myself now and have much more freedom in terms of organising my day. But back when I had a full-time job, I used to work long hours and spend a long time commuting in and out of London. Let me tell you what I did to fit language learning into my day, so that it wasn't left until last thing at night.

I've also picked up some tips from my customers who are learning English. The biggest problem that some of them have is that they're really motivated, but they have really busy schedules and need to find the time to squeeze in the language practice.

1. Take Your Phone With You

Phones can be used in so many different ways to help with your language learning. The good thing about using your phone is that it's always with you and it doesn't take up room in your bag in the same way that a bulky book would.

Some of my customers have a long list of apps that they use for language learning. Some help them remember new vocabulary, others are to find language tandem partners and chat with native speakers. The point is that they're easily accessible and you can do some language practice even if you only have 10 minutes while you're waiting for the bus, or a bit of time during your lunch break.

If you have a tandem partner who's waiting for your answer, you have a higher sense of urgency or motivation than if you had a vague idea about needing to learn a few more words.

There are plenty of language app reviews online, and I'm not going to go into too much detail here (find Fluent's review section here - ed.). When it comes to my own language learning, I am more likely to use the native or standard apps to learn languages.

Here are some examples:

A Podcast app – to listen to podcasts in German and Turkish. Some of them are specifically for language learners, others are just about things that I find interesting. If you want help choosing an app and learning how to download podcasts, check out this article here on Fluent.

Facebook and Twitter – to keep up-to-date with news in my target languages and to talk to my language partners.

Skype, Viber and Facetime – for having realtime conversations with your language partners.

A radio app such as TuneIn – so that you can listen to live radio broadcasts in the language that you want to learn.

Audible – for streaming audio books.

The native news app on iPhone, the BBC news app, or another news app of your choice – more useful for people who are learning English if the app only supports English content, but you can subscribe to particular publications or add areas of interest.

The Music app – for playing my German and Turkish music. Trying to understand the lyrics is a great way to learn new words. Also, if you listen to the tracks again and again, you are more likely to remember the words.

Some of these apps are only useful if you have a good data plan or free wifi. Try checking if your provider offers free hotspots, or pop to a free wifi café. Even if you are using your normal data plan, podcasts can be downloaded at home. This means you don't have to stream them, and the Facebook and Twitter apps aren't too hungry for data.

2. Go For a Walk

It's easy to spend your lunch break stuck at your desk, particularly if you have a lot to do. Whilst you may not want to go for a walk in the rain or snow, a walk on a nice da can really help you to clear your head and come back to your desk feeling refreshed.

Some of my customers like to listen to podcasts when they're cycling or walking. I don't like to wear headphones when I'm walking because I feel it cuts me off from the rest of the world, but I often used to go to a nearby park so that I could read my German books or listen to podcasts and eat my lunch away from the distractions of the office.

3. Are There Any Language Exchange Partners Nearby?

To be honest, this was usually something that I did after work, so there was no need to rush back. However, a couple of times I found out that one of my German or Turkish friends was going to be in the area, and I would meet for lunch or a quick coffee with them in my break.

This was an enjoyable way to meet email contacts face to face and to get in some language practice. These opportunities need to be organised, so it's good to be present on forums where language learners in your area spend time. For me, as someone who does a lot of online socialising, meeting people face-to-face added great variety to my language programme.

4. Find a Good Book

It doesn't matter whether you like reading traditional paperbacks, books on your e-reader, or audiobooks. Try to have a book with you in the language that you want to learn.

One of my customers likes to read English books on the bus. She reads them on her Kindle and can quickly look up new words in the built-in dictionary.

If you don't know what to read, ask some native speakers for recommendations. Just make sure that it's the kind of book that you would be likely to read and enjoy in your own language, and make sure that the language level is right for you. If it's too hard, it'll feel like a chore and you won't want to pick the book up. If it's too easy, you might enjoy it, but you won't learn very much.

5. Build Your Vocabulary

There are so many ways in which you can do this, such as using an app to test yourself or creating your own lists of new words. One of my students carries a set of flash cards around with her because she says she spends long enough staring at her computer and her phone. I have a spreadsheet with new words, example sentences translations and a filter for whether I've learned them.

As with choosing the right time of day, I believe you have to find what works for you in terms of learning new words. Try out a few systems and decide which one works best for you. Then incorporate that into your day. For a deeper examination of the best methods for learning new vocabulary, check out Kerstin's book The Vocab Cookbook.

Planning is Key. Don't just hope that you'll find time some time in the evening. The one thing that applies to everyone is that the best way to keep words in your long-term memory is to use them, so try and create opportunities to do that as well.

6. You Could Even Have a Lesson!

The idea is not as crazy as it may sound. A number of my customers use their lunch break for an English lesson when they are working from home. Sometimes, I used to meet my Turkish teacher in a nearby café for a lesson at lunch time. We did conversation practice whilst we were eating, then ordered coffee and saved any reading or writing activities for later in the lesson. It helped me pick up Turkish quicker and more easily.

Take Action In Your Lunchbreak

These are just a few ideas about how you can improve your language skills on your way to work or during your lunch break. I'm sure you can think of more.

If you try to do them all at once, it will soon feel overwhelming and you'll probably want to give up! I don't mean that you should use every break for these activities – you no doubt have plenty of other things that you need to do.

However, why not pick out one or two of the ideas and try to fit them into your daily routine? I've found that I make more progress when I fit language learning into what I'm already doing, than if I only work on it during times that I've tried to set aside for it.

I'd love to hear how you get on! Let us know in the comments what you've tried and how well it has worked for you.

About Kirsty

Übung macht den Meister.

C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron.

Usus magister est optimus.

Man, does every language have a proverb meaning practice makes perfect?

Practice is one of the key principles of learning, and probably one of the most demanding ones.

One of the most helpful way to practice your skills in language learning is to speak the language you're studying. No matter if you've just begun or were fluent 3 weeks ago, if you don't keep using that language it's likely to get pretty rusty.

In today's blog article, I'm going to give you the full review of an app that has been designed to help you with that need for practice. It's all about language exchanges. Read on to find out if this could work for you.

How Should a Language Exchange Work?

Language exchanges work on the basis that both people in the conversation give a little bit of their skills to each other. You find a person who studies your native language and help them by correcting them and chatting to them. And then you switch the exchange and benefit from the same help in your target language. And if you chat to them online, you don't even have to leave your house/bed/swimming pool.

Of course, the real challenge is getting to the point where your conversation with the practice partner is as easy as possible. It can be really difficult to find a native speaker of the right language who also wants to spend time practicing with you. And then you have to hope they want to learn your language, too. And then you still have to get over how to translate most of what they say.

A Language Exchange App On Your Smartphone

In the past, my language exchange experiences have never really delivered.

Even though I found people online and wrote to them, I felt like my own language skills didn't improve. It was scary to hop on Skype and share my face, voice and mistakes with a stranger. When I tried email exchanges, I felt bad because I couldn't write a long stretch of text.

It seems I wasn't the only person who had this problem. When HelloTalk contacted me earlier this year with an invitation to review their app, I was ready to try again.

First Impressions

My first impression of trying HelloTalk was very positive. The app is about making language exchanges on your smartphone as good as they can be. There is no course, no website and no payment system for tutors, and I really appreciated that focus.

After downloading the app, you'll be asked to fill in a profile. HelloTalk allows learners to register one native and one target language for free (though you can unlock more with an in-app purchase). You can connect your profile to Twitter, record a spoken intro, or write an introduction for yourself. For users who want to keep their details private, the app also allows you to hide details like your age or location in the advanced privacy settings, and to set how you want to appear in the search.

Test 1: How Easy Is It To Find Language Exchange Partners?

After signing up, HelloTalk directs you to its Search function so you can start finding people whose needs match yours. It automatically suggests matches that have the right native language/target language combination for you, but you will not be restricted by this at all.

When you find someone who looks like a great match, you can send them a message or a partner request. I found that most of the promising matches were not online straight away, so sending them a request that they could accept when they come online was a convenient alternative.

It seems that people who indicate "English" as their native language receive a lot more requests (for example, Shannon from Eurolinguiste found that she couldn't keep up) than other natives. Setting the app to "native German speaker who is learning Welsh" was a pretty tough ask, so I tried some search alternatives to find native Welsh speakers. With those options, it became simple enough and I was quickly able to get talking to several people.

Once the chat got started,I was impressed with the many tiny but useful features. For example, HelloTalk shows you the time of day where your language partner lives and supports emoji. You can send photos, voice messages and doodles. All these options make it very easy to start texting other people straight away.

Test 2: How Good Is HelloTalk's Interface?

HelloTalk's app has lots of buttons and settings, but none of them felt pointless.

I quickly found that the help menus and settings were simpler than they looked. HelloTalk can do lots of things, but it has pulled off a design that doesn't overwhelm users with all of them at once. Instead, the app takes advantage of how you use your phone, and the bottom menu makes it simple to keep track of conversations.

The quality of the app was fabulous as well. Even though I haven't had the chance to try the free phone calls, I was impressed overall. It was fast, didn't crash and the machine translations were pretty useable too. Overall, a big thumbs up for HelloTalk's design.

Test 3: Does HelloTalk Make It Easy To Use Your Target Language?

In previous language exchanges, I often found that it was difficult to keep up a balanced exchange between speaking my own language and my partner's language. HelloTalk has an approach to solve this problem: There is a dedicated Language Exchange Mode where you can set the computer to remind both exchange partners when it's time to switch languages. I was super excited about this feature.

The app also allows users to communicate in the way that works best for them. Free phone calls, instant messages, voice messages - no problem!

Once you've started chatting, you may find that you and your language partner need a few corrections. The app has a great long press feature for any message sent or received, allowing you to correct the partner's writing easily. For someone as enthusiastic about writing in another language as I am, the app's features make a great addition to the tips I've blogged about before.

The full long click menu offers even more features, such as:

Adding any message to your Favourites menu for review

Converting from the Latin script to other writing systems

Copying the message

Translating the message to the language that you have set as Target Language in your profile (even when I chatted to French people in German, I could still learn Welsh this way)

Get the computer to read out any message so you know what it sounds like

Test 4: Does HelloTalk Work?

If you want to keep studying based on what you're reading and writing in HelloTalk, there are a few really helpful features in the app.

The corrections feature automatically saves your received corrections to the favourites section where you can go back and review them regularly. In this area, I thought it would be cool to have a flashcards or other learning feature but on the other hand I was pretty happy to just use my notebook.

HelloTalk is not about acquiring another language by studying a linear course, but instead it brings real life practice to your phone and it does this one thing brilliantly.

The Best Tips for Using HelloTalk for Language Exchange

Even with an app as excellent as this one, it can still be daunting to start a language exchange. Based on my own experiences and tips from fellow language lovers like Olly from IWTYAL and Stephanie from To Be Fluent, here are three top tips to help you get the most out of your experience and your time spent using the app:

1) Be Clear About What You Want To Do

I found that it's easy to start chatting aimlessly, but much harder to get a true exchange going. Chatting to everyone who sends you a request or gets to know you through your profile can feel like a waste of time.

If you want to practice equal exchanges in a specific language, tell this to your partner right at the start and be a bit tough when you need to be. Working with the Language Exchange feature in HelloTalk felt great to me as it allows the app to do the policing.

2) Have Some Starter Topics Ready

Okay, so you've asked them where they're from and how old they are. What else can you chat about with your language exchange partner?

It helps to have a few topics up your sleeve that are comfortable for any user. For example, I chatted to a Chinese partner about food and got tips for new bands to check out from a Swedish music fan. Going beyond the first small talk is important for building rapport and getting the other person interested enough to keep talking to you.

3) Have A Little Patience

This final tip is based on my own experience with HelloTalk. When I started the app, I was so excited to chat to people in Welsh and French and Spanish that I could not wait to get going. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that not everyone was online and ready to go!

HelloTalk works best as an instant messaging app when you give it a little time, wait a few days for the right people to find you or allow for a bit of trial and error. After all, language practice is a regular activity.

My biggest suggestion to make this app even better would be to add some learning features. Based on the chats, the system could create flashcards or prompts asking you to repeat new expressions so you don't forget them. And an in-browser version would help me type without having to switch the mobile keyboard to another language every few minutes.

Where to Download HelloTalk

All in all my verdict of HelloTalk is very very positive. As an app, this provides the nicest language exchange environment I've seen so far.

You can find all links for HelloTalk at www.hellotalk.com.

Have you tried HelloTalk yet? What's your impression?