How to find language partners?
If you want to practice a language, one of the best and most cost-effective ways is to find a language exchange partner. A language exchange partner is someone who is a native speaker of the language you’re studying and is also interested in learning your native language. For example, if you are an English native speaker and want to study Spanish, you can find a Spanish native speaker who would like to learn English. You two can exchange each other’s languages and help each other without any cost.
The advantage of having a language exchange partner is that you can actually practice the target language with a native speaker. You can also make friends with people from all over the world. By doing language exchange, you will not only improve your conversation skills, but also get exposed to the culture and current affairs of another country. Below are five great ways to find language partner.
- Language Exchange Websites
There are many websites offering language exchange function. Conversation Exchange is one of the examples. The site has existed for many years and maintains a good reputation among the language learning community. They have a really active community and people tend to be responsive to messages.
- Language Exchange Apps
Social networking apps are very popular recently and it provides a good channel for language learners to find partners online. HelloTalk is an app that allows you to find native speakers to practice directly on your smartphone or tablet. It is possible to converse over text or send small audio messages. You can do a language exchange and start conversing with the native speakers. If you want to talk longer and live, you can always share your Skype. It’s a great app as it connects you with native speakers to chat with for free.
- Facebook Groups
There are many Facebook Groups for language exchange. Just search the terms like “Language Exchange” or “English — Japanese Language Exchange” on Facebook to find a suitable group for you to join. From there, you can share your language learning journey, post learning-related content and connect with people from all over the world.
- Language Exchange Events
It’s good to go offline and meet people face-to-face. Meetup.com allows people to create events of all kinds, language learning can be one. You can join gatherings like “Spanish Speakers in Hong Kong” or “European Languages Exchange in Tokyo” From these group gatherings, you can meet native speakers of your target language and initiate a one-on-one partnership if he or she is also interested in that kind of arrangement.
- Join FluentUp Community
FluentUp is an online marketplace that allows students to find the perfect course to further their language studies. The goal of FluentUp is simple — to help people create their own story through language learning! Our online community is growing rapidly and people are actively sharing their language learning journey with us on our instagram. To meet people from all over the world and get inspirations, follow our instagram and #fluentup now!
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