How to Find a Language Exchange Partner - Fluent in 3 Months

A language exchange partner is someone who volunteers to chat with you in your target language. For example, if you're learning Spanish, then your language ... THISishowIlearnalanguagein3months. ClickForDetails! Home»Articles»HowtoFindaLanguageExchangePartner SHARE HowtoFindaLanguageExchangePartner writtenbyShannonKennedy Fulldisclosure:Thispostcontainsaffiliatelinks.? Whatisalanguageexchangepartner–andwhat’sthebestwaytofindone? Inthisarticle,I’llanswerboththesequestionstohelpyouunderstandwhatlanguageexchangescandoforyou,wheretofindlanguageexchangepartners,andhowtochoosethebestonesforyou. Languageexchangepartnersareafantasticresourcewhenyou’relearninganewlanguage. Andyoucanfindtheperfectlanguageexchangepartner,ifyouknowwhatyou’redoing. I’llstartbygivingabriefoverviewofhowlanguageexchangeswork.Feelfreetoskiptothenextsectionifyoualreadyknowthis! WhatisaLanguageExchangePartner? Alanguageexchangepartnerissomeonewhovolunteerstochatwithyouinyourtargetlanguage.Forexample,ifyou’relearningSpanish,thenyourlanguageexchangepartnerwilltalkwithyouinSpanish.Typically,thisexchangepartnerwouldbeanativeSpanishspeaker,thoughtheymayspeakSpanishasaforeignlanguagetoanadvancedlevel. Here’swheretheexchangepartcomesin. Inexchangeforthemchattingwithyouinyourtargetlanguage,youwillchatwiththemintheirtargetlanguage(i.e.yournativelanguage). Tocontinueourexample,ifyournativelanguageisEnglish,thenyou’dspendtimechattingwithyourSpanishexchangepartnerinEnglishaswellasSpanish.YoudothisbecausetheywanthelplearningEnglish. Typically,you’dgiveequaltimetoeachlanguage.Soifyoubookeda30-minutesessionwithyourSpanishexchangepartner,you’dspend15minuteschattinginEnglishand15minuteschattinginSpanish. HowtoFindaLanguageExchangePartner Iusethewebsiteitalkitofindlanguageexchangepartnerstovideochatwith.You’llfindexchangepartnersforallmajorlanguages,andmanylesser-spokenones,onitalki.Irecommendit! Thatsaid,findingtherightpartnerforalanguageexchangeisn’talwayseasy. Iknowthisfromexperience,becausewhenIfirststarteddoinglanguageexchanges,IhadnoideawhatIwasdoing. Ithoughtitwasassimpleasblastingoutmessagestootherusersonitalkiwhospokemytargetlanguageandwerelearningmynativelanguage,thenchattingwiththemforanhour. Butafterafewfailedexchanges,IrealisedthatIwasgoingaboutitallwrong. IneededtospendmoretimeupfrontfindingapartnerwhowasagoodmatchsothatI’dsavetimeandhavemoreeffectiveonlinelanguageexchanges. Herearemytoptips–learnedfrommyownexperience–toboosttheoddsofyoufindingyourideallanguageexchangepartner. BeUpFrontAboutWhatYouWantFromtheLanguageExchange Whenyou’relookingtoregularlyconnectwithsomeoneforatandemexchange,it’simportanttoclearlystatewhatyou’reexpectingupfront.Hereareafewthingstoconsider: Areyouatthelevelwhereyouwantyourhalfoftheexchangetoonlybeinyourtargetlanguage?Orwillyouneedtoreverttoyournativelanguagesometimes,forexampletodiscussgrammar?Howlongdoyouwanttheexchangetobe?Howlongcanyoustayfocused?Howoftendoyouwantyourexchangepartnertocorrectyou?Andhowdoyouwanttoreceivethosecorrections?Doyouwantthemtocorrecteverymistakeorjusttheonesyoumakerepeatedly?Shouldtheycorrectyouimmediately,ortellyouallofyourmistakesattheend?Doyouhavecommoninterests?Thiscaneitherbeaproorcon.Havingcommoninterestsgivesyousomethingtotalkabout.Atthesametime,nothavingcommoninterestsgivesyoutheopportunitytointroducethethingsyouenjoytoanotherperson. Youneedtoknowwhatyouwantinordertogetit.Timespentthinkingaboutwhatyouneedfromalanguageexchangeistimewellinvested.Besuretosharewhatyouneedwithanyexchangepartneryouconsiderspeakingwith.Iftheydon’tagree,thentheyaren’ttherightpartnerforyou. Don’tClickWithYourLanguageExchangePartner?Don’tSweatIt Theremaybeavarietyofreasonsyouandyourexchangepartneraren’tagoodmatch: Theyareatamuchhigherlevelthanyouandtendtokeeptheconversationinyournativelanguage.Youhavenothingincommon.Youjustdon’tgetalongwiththem.Theyaren’tabletohelpyouthewayyouneed.Theycutyouofftocorrectyoufartoooftenevenafteryouaskedthemnotto. Tryingtoforceanexchangethatjustisn’tworkingisinnowayworthit.It’snotonlyawasteoftimeforyou,butforyourpartneraswell.Yourtimeisbetterspentfindingsomeonewhoyouclickwith. LookforExchangePartnersWhoCanKeeptheConversationRolling Doingyourpartwhenyou’renewtoalanguagecanbetough.Ifyoucommittoa30minuteexchange,that’sanentire15minutesthatyouneedtotalkinorlistentoyourtargetlanguage.Anditcanbeexhaustingorevenoverwhelming. Ifyourexchangepartnerisn’tgoodathelpingyoukeeptheconversationrollinginyourtargetlanguage,thenyouprobablydon’thaveagoodmatch.Lookforsomeonewhoasksyouquestionsorpromptsyouinsomewaytokeepgoing.Don’tsettleforsomeonewholetstheconversationfallflatwhenyourunoutthingstosay. AvoidLanguagePartnersWhoHogtheLimelight Thereareexchangepartnersthattendtotakeovertheexchangeandcompletelyforgetthatthey’resupposedtohelpyou,too.Andifyoufindthatyouenjoythecompanyofthatperson,itcanbedifficulttokeepthingsontrackandpushthemtogiveyouyourequaltimebecauseyoudon’twanttoputthatstrainontherelationship. Nomatterhowwellyoumaygetalongwithsomeone,rememberthatpartofthereasonyou’rechattingwiththemistogetlanguagepractice.Iftheyaren’tgivingyouyourfairshare,itmightbetimetofindanewpartnerandjustswitchyourstatuswiththatpersonto‘friend’ratherthan‘exchangepartner’. Languageexchangesmightnotbeamonetaryinvestment,buttheyaredefinitelyatimeinvestmentandyourtimeisvaluable.Don’twasteit.Youcanalwayschatwithyournewfriendwhenitisn’tyourstudytime. NeedaTeacher?ThenInvestinaTutorRatherthanaLanguageExchangePartner Exchangepartnersareveryrarely,ifever,abletoteachtheirnativelanguage.Lookingforalesson?Thenyou’rebetteroffinvestinginatutor.Languageexchangepartnersareforconversing.It’sunlikelythey’llbeabletoexplaingrammarpointsorrulestoyou.Alanguageteachercan. Thisiswhensavingyourtimeandinvestingmoneybecomesthebetteroption. MakeSureYourLanguageLevelsareCompatible Youwantalanguageexchangepartnerwhoselanguageleveliscompatiblewithyours.Thisdoesn’tmeanyoueachneedtobeatthesamelevelinyourtargetlanguages.Infact,ifyou’rebothcompletebeginners,youmayhavearoughtimeofit.Ontheotherhand,ifonepersonisfarmoreadvancedthantheother,youmayfindthattheexchangestaysinthelanguageofthemoreadvancedpersonandtheexchangebecomesunfair. Trytofindanexchangepartnerwhoselevelcomplimentsyourownsothatyou’remorefairlymatchedwiththem. RemembertheKeyAttributestoLookfor:Reliable,Focused,Engaging I’vehadmyfairshareoflanguageexchangepartnerswhoshoweduptoourmeetingslate,unprepared,anddistracted.It’sneverfunanditmakestheexchangeadrag.Itendsupbeingapooruseofmytime. Ifyourexchangepartnerislateordistractedonce,itisn’tabigdeal.Ifthey’reunpreparedorlaterepeatedly,itbecomesabigdeal.Whenthishappens,it’stimetolookforanewexchangepartner. HowtoBEthePerfectLanguageExchangePartner It’seasytowriteoffalanguageexchange,claimingit’stheotherperson’sfaultthatitdidn’tworkout.Butthisisn’talwaysthecase.Sometimesyou’reatfaultforaless-than-perfectexchange.ThereareatonofwaysthatyoucanmessupyourexchangesonSkype,soit’simportanttodowhatyoucantoavoidmakingmistakesasanexchangepartner. Hereareafewtipsforhowyoucanbetheperfectlanguageexchangepartnersothatwhenyoufindthepersonthat’sperfectforyou,they’llalsowantcontinuechatting. PlanOutConversationTopicsinAdvance Oneofthebestwaystowasteyourlanguageexchangeisbyfailingtoplanahead.Ifyoudon’tpreparetopicsinadvance,yourisknothavinganythingtotalkaboutduringyourexchange. Planoutconversationtopicsinadvance,andchecktoseeiftheyinterestyourpartner.Also,studyandpreparephrasesorquestionsthatareappropriatetothetopicinadvance. Youcouldevenconsiderwritingascripttoreadinfulloruseasapromptifyoufeelstuckduringtheactualexchange. BeCommitted Onceyou’vefoundasolidlanguageexchangepartner,committothem. Beforelanguageexchanges,committopreparing. Whenyou’reinalanguageexchange,committostayingfocused. Bybeingcommitted,you’llfindyougetmuchmoreoutofyourlanguageexchanges–andyourexchangepartnerwilltoo. GivePeopleaSecondChance Sometimesthefirstsessionwon’tgothewayyouhoped.Rememberthatyou’regettingtoknowanewpersonandexplorehowyoubestworktogether.Itmighttaketimeforyouto“click”. Ifyoufeellikethefirstsessionhadafewhiccups,butthatyourexchangepartnerhadpotential,givethemanotherchance. TakeNotesDuringYourLanguageExchangeSessions Takenotesduringyoursessions(orimmediatelyafter).Irecommendhavingadocumentopenonyourcomputerforthis. Thatwayyoucannotedownanynewvocabularyandphrasesyoulearned.Andyoucanplanoutthingsyoucanaskyourexchangepartnerwhenyounextconverse. Didtheytellyouaboutanupcomingintervieworexam?Makeanotetoaskthem(inyourtargetlanguage)howitwent.Didtheymentiontheyhavebrothersorsisters?Thenexttimeyouchat,askhowtheirsiblingsaredoing. AskThemWhatTheyNeed Earlier,Irecommendedthatyouletyourlanguageexchangepartnerknowyourexpectationsforanyconversationsyouhave.Likewise,besuretoaskthemwhattheyexpectfromyou.Thendoyourbesttofulfilthoseexpectationseachtimeyoumeet.Andifyou’renotableto,behonestaboutthat. SendaFollow-UpNoteafterEveryConversation Adayortwoaftereachexchange,followupwithanemailtoyourpartnertothankthemfortheirtime,andaskanyquestionsyouhave.Youcanalsoofferfeedback.Andifyouwanttomeetthemagain,haveadateandtimereadytosuggest. ShannonKennedy LanguageEncourager,FluentinMonths ShannonisHeadCoachfortheFluentin3MonthsChallenge.SheiscurrentlybasedinSouthernCaliforniawheresheperformsasaprofessionalmusician.Herpassionsarecooking,reading,travelingandsharingheradventuresinlanguagelearning. Speaks:English,French,Mandarin,Russian,Croatian,Japanese ViewallpostsbyShannonKennedy Havea15-minuteconversationinyournewlanguageafter90days JOINTHECHALLENGE ◂ALLARTICLES