Learn a language through a conversation exchange! - europa ...

A conversation exchange or tandem is quite simple: if you speak French and want to brush up your Greek, for instance, you'll need to find a ... Skiptomaincontent ©BrookeCagle-Unsplash Learnalanguagethroughaconversationexchange! LastupdatedonMonday,06/09/2021 Ifyouwanttomasteralanguage,useit!Droptheoldexcusethatyouhaveno-onetopractiseyourDutchorPortuguesewith.Joinaconversationexchangeandyoucanimproveyourskillsforfree. Aconversationexchangeortandemisquitesimple:ifyouspeakFrenchandwanttobrushupyourGreek,forinstance,you’llneedtofindaGreekpartnerwhoislearningFrench.Assumingthatyoumeetforanhour,youshouldsplityourtime50/50—halfanhourinFrenchandhalfanhourinGreek. Thisisauniqueopportunitytobroadenyourhorizons,andmaybetomakenewfriendsaswell.It’salsoworthrememberingthatagoodcommandofoneormoreforeignlanguagescanbeamajorassetinthelabourmarket. Often,theeasierwaytolookforalocaltandemmateisbyusingFacebookgroups,youcantypesomekeywords,forexample:“Tandem”or“LanguageExchange”andthenameofthecityyouarelivingin,tofindoutaboutlocalinitiativesusuallyhostedinapuborinacafe.  Lookingforanonlineplatformmaynotbeeasy,youcanfindherealistofvariousplatforms(somemayhavepremiumpaidoptions):Italki,OpenLanguageExchangeorSpeakyaregreattofindamothertonguepartnerorateacher,Coeffeealsoallowsyoutoplaylanguagegameswithotherstudents,TandemorTandemPartnersareothertandemoptions. Hereareafewtipsforasuccessfultandemexchange  Checkifyourtimetablesarecompatibleandestablishhowoftenyouwanttomeet. Rememberyourpartnerisn’tateacherandmaynotbeabletoanswertrickygrammarquestions. Takeitseriously!Writedownnewvocabularyandreviewitbeforeyournextmeeting. Don’tbescaredofmakingmistakes.Letyourconversationpartnerknowhowmuchyouwantthemtocorrectyou.Usually,it’sbesttotakethemiddleway;don’tcorrectyourpartnerdowntothelastdetail,whichisdemoralising,butdon’tignoreseriouserrorseither(onewayistorepeatwhattheyhavesaidusingthecorrectway). Befair—don’ttrytospendmorethanhalfyourtimetogetherspeakingthelanguageyou’relearning. Ifyouwanttofocusonaparticulartopic,letyourtandempartnerknow.Ifyouhavenothingincommonandtheconversationwon’tflow,it’snotabigdeal;lookforanotherpartnerinstead.   AreyouabouttojoinanEUprogramme? IfyourinterestinlearningalanguagecomesfromanupcomingexperienceabroadwithErasmus+orwiththeEuropeanSolidarityCorps,youshouldconsidersometrainingwiththeOnlineLinguisticSupport(OLS),atoolspecificallydesignedbytheEuropeanCommission.  Thegoalistomakeyoufeelmoreateasewiththelanguageinwhichyou’llwork,study,orvolunteerinordertoensureabetterlearningmobilityexperience.Youcanenrolinthematic‘MassiveOpenOnlineCourses’(MOOCs)orhavechatswithnativespeakersandotherOLSparticipants(alsooffline).Thistoolisavailableinthe24officialEUlanguages.It’sfree,however,youhavetobeenrolledinanEUyouthprojecttoaccessit. Participatinginastudyperiodabroad,ayouthexchangeoravolunteeringexperienceabroadisalsoagreatwaytodevelopyourlinguisticskills.DiscovertheopportunitiesofferedbyErasmus+andtheEuropeanSolidarityCorps! Sharethispage Wanttogiveyourfeedbackaboutthispage? Didyoufindthispageuseful? No Yes Isthereanyissuewiththispage? No Yes Whatkindofissuehaveyoufound? -Select-BrokenlinkInaccurateorconfusinginformationSomethingnotdisplayingcorrectlyPagenotloadingIncorrectormissingtranslationOther Canyoutellusalittlebitmore? Pleaseexplaininmoredetailintheboxbelow.Thefeedbackcollectionisanonymous.Pleasedonotsubmitanypersonaldata. Contentlimitedto1000characters,remaining:1000 Leavethisfieldblank ContacttheEU Callus0080067891011 Useothertelephoneoptions Writetousviaourcontactform MeetusatalocalEUoffice Socialmedia SearchforEUsocialmediachannels EUinstitutions EuropeanParliament EuropeanCouncil CounciloftheEuropeanUnion EuropeanCommission CourtofJusticeoftheEuropeanUnion(CJEU) EuropeanCentralBank(ECB) EuropeanCourtofAuditors(ECA) EuropeanExternalActionService(EEAS) EuropeanEconomicandSocialCommittee(EESC) EuropeanCommitteeoftheRegions(CoR) EuropeanInvestmentBank(EIB) EuropeanOmbudsman EuropeanDataProtectionSupervisor(EDPS) EuropeanDataProtectionBoard EuropeanPersonnelSelectionOffice PublicationsOfficeoftheEuropeanUnion Agencies Aboutthissite Languagepolicy Privacypolicy Legalnotice Cookies