A language exchange is a method of learning where two people who speak different native languages help each other improve their skills through conversation. Here are five tips on how to make a language exchange work in your favour.
You need to make sure why you want to learn the language. People who have a serious reason for learning a language are usually more dependable exchange partners. These reasons can include, for example, moving to another country or using the language for work. Less serious reasons might be wanting to meet new people or use the language for an overseas vacation. In addition, consider your preferences. Are you looking for speaking practice or do you prefer written messages? If you are seeking speaking practice, would you rather have video meetings or meet in person? Knowing your preferred method will help you choose the right website or app. Some websites, for example, list people’s cities, so you can easily make plans to meet partners in person. Others do not.
As I said earlier, many of these websites can have hundreds of members to choose from in the language you want to learn. So how can you limit your search? Bryant says, when reading profiles, look for some important signs. “People who have been on the site and have been active and have a reason to learn the language are much more likely to be good speaking buddies rather than people who have been on the site for a week and don’t really have their profile filled out and haven’t been active and are learning six languages.”
Once you do find a person who seems like a good fit, be clear about how you want this cooperation to look like. Explain to the person things such as how long you’d like meetings to be and how often you’d like to meet. And, for example, if you plan to meet in person, say if you are fine with noisy places or only quieter places. Bryant says expressing your hopes and wishes in advance will give the partnership a higher chance of going well. But, he notes, avoid being too rigid. For example, if you’re hoping for Wednesday nights every week, you’ll have better luck if you state other times that also could work for you.
Now, let’s say you have secured a partner and your first meeting is in a few days. You are ready for tip 4. Before each meeting, write some questions on a topic of your choice in advance. That will give you the chance to look up related words as well as think about your own answers. Thinking about topics ahead of time will also help you avoid having nothing to say at your meetings, notes Bryant. “Otherwise, you might find yourself 10 minutes in and you’ve already gone through the ‘What do you do for a living?’ and ‘if you like to travel’ kind of questions and you have nothing else to say.”
Now we move to the final tip. One thing to keep in mind during meetings is that the main goal is conversation practice. So it’s important to let your partner speak freely, even if they make mistakes. Bryant recommends giving only one or two corrections after each piece of dialogue. Qiu says he corrects a partner only if the person is struggling to think of a word or cannot finish a sentence.