The Essential Guide to Skype Language Exchange

The Essential Guide to Skype Language Exchange The Top 10 Sites for Skype Language Exchange and 10 Tips for Success By the end of this post, youll  have done 3 huge things.1. Youll  have saved yourself $1,200.2. Youll  be able to meet someone wholl drastically change the trajectory of your linguistic journey.3. Youll look at Skype in a whole new way.What’s $1,200? It’s the average price of a ticket from Seattle, USA to Madrid, Spain.  Its also the price of your typical Japanese  language immersion class.Bottom line, thats the price  you pay when you want to have an immersive language  experience  and be surrounded by native speakers, regardless of the language youre learning.Not anymore.Enter language exchange websites. These are places online where people who want to learn a new language go to meet the native speakers of their target languages.The magic of language exchange happens as follows. Let’s say you, an English speaker, want to learn how to speak German. You go to a language exchange site and look for a native German speaker who wants to learn English. (Maybe he’s planning to go t o the States soon and wanted to practice English beforehand.)So, anyway, it’s a match. You want what he’s got and he wants what you got. Then you help each other out. 3 Simple Steps for Starting a Language Exchange1.  Go to a language exchange site and  answer the  two crucial questions.  These questions are, of course, “what language you do want to  learn?” and “whats your native language?”  The site will find matches for you in a matter of seconds.2.  Make the move and message a  partner-of-interest. Say, “Hello there. I’m”  3. Boot up Skype. Once youve made initial contact and have exchanged messages back and forth, export that “friendship” to Skype and engage in video chats. This takes the connection to another level and puts a face behind those Hi’s and Hello’s.For those whove been living under a rock, Skype is the coolest thing. Unlike the old rotary phone, it lets you see the person youre talking to.  This gives you access to language partners all over the worldâ€"for  free.Even Benny Lewis, the well-known  polyglot  behind the Fluent in 3 Months blog, says  that you can learn a whole new language through Skype.The question on your mind right now is probably, “where do I find these language exchange sites?” Well, you don’t need to look for them. Ive narrowed the numerous possibilities down to the 10 very best language exchange sites.The Top 10 Sites for Skype Language Exchange and 10 Tips for Success10 Places Where You Can Trade Languages1.  italki“Become Fluent in Any Language”This a popular language exchange site that’s gaining tons of new sign-ups by the hour. You have the choice  of getting lessons from (1) professional language teachers, (2) native speakers who love to tutor and (3) language exchange with another language learner. You’re looking for number 3. It’s completely free and youll gain a new friend in the process.2.  Livemocha“Real Conversations with Real People”Livemocha is a community of p eople who function as both teachers and learners. Its language exchange section allows you to incorporate all those vocabulary,  grammar language usage lessons into guided conversations. Livemocha pre-empts the “so, what do you wanna talk about?” question with its unique guided conversations feature outlining how the session will go. Thanks to this, there will be no awkward pauses. Only thoughtful ones.3.  Busuu“Which language would you like to learn?”Busuu is a language spoken in Cameroon. Busuu, the web site, is the world’s largest language learning network. It has won numerous accolades over the years including the European Language Label Award for 2009 and the Best Education Startup Award from Tech Crunch in 2011.Busuu offers free learning modules for 12 major languages. Its language exchange section houses a great number of language enthusiasts and native speakers who can give you infinite number of practice hours of your target language.4.  Lingua Swap“Love Langua ge, Live Life.”This one’s a real treat for students learning a foreign language. The site is for students to have the chance to practice the language theyre learning in school with native speakers who are their own age. So if youd prefer to interact with people your own age for language exchange, Lingua Swap connects you with fellows in the right age bracket. Winner of the European Language Label Award for 2013, the site is still in Beta.5.  Coeffee“Learn Languages as a game”As the above tagline explains, Coeffee is a game-oriented language learning resource. What’s quite unique about Coeffee’s games is that theyre played in teams. So in games like “Word Explainer” you might be playing with a learner from the Middle East against a team composed of an Australian fellow and a Chinese genius.The game spirit fosters not only friendly competition but community as well. Because of the bonds forged in the games, the next natural step is to export that bond to Skype and get the language dirt that only native speakers can give.6.  My Language Exchange“Your Language Exchange Online Community”This is a no-fuss language exchange site boasting over a million members from 133 countries studying 115 languages.If you don’t find language partners on other sites because youre trying to learn something esoteric, you might have better chances here. Dan Yuen, one of the site’s founders, says that My Language Exchange tends to attract the serious language learners, who, by extension, turn out to be great language exchange partners.7.  Conversation Exchange“Over a cup of coffee?”This is one of the earlier language exchange sites and has a very basic interface. Just by typing in the appropriate boxes, you can use it to find native speakers of your target language and engage them in 3 different ways. One, you can set up a face-to-face meeting if that route is practical. Two, practice your written and grammar chops with text-based correspondence. Finally, an d the most recommended route, go to Skype and video chat your way to second language fluency.8.  InterpalsThis one’s not just a simple language exchange site. People here expect you to be more than a language partner. They actually want to be pals. So exchanges here arent so much, how do you conjugate the Spanish verb estar?” but more like “what are your hobbies?” or “what did you have for lunch?”If your idea of language exchange is leaning a bit on the friendly or romantic side, then Interpals is a good place to look.9.  CouchSurfingSurprised? You shouldn’t be. Travel is the cousin of language learning. CouchSurfing is a hospitality-exchange concept where a host takes care of you when you visit his or her home country. And when she visits your city in turn, you return the favor and show them  a good time. Of course, returning the favor isnt an obligationâ€"its just fun!The site is full of fun and outgoing personalities who can teach you a thing or two about their nati ve languages. If people on this site are willing to open their homes to strangers through hospitality-exchange, don’t you think theyd be ecstatic to help you with languages?Sign up, get involved in the online community, chat with people and start making friends. You might end up planning an international excursion in the process!10.  FacebookThink about it. Everybodys on Facebook. And not only that, you can learn  so much about your future language partner. Not just because of her hundred pictures, she also lets you in on her likes, dislikes, hobbies, favorite movies, books and more just by friending you. Just looking at her profile, you already know so much about her.Try this: type “language exchange” into the Facebook search bar. See what it gets you.  For starters, there’s a group called Language Exchange Through Skype. Theres plenty more out there just like that, and many are specific to certain languages.Okay, now that you know where to find these people, let’s see ho w youre going to approach, interact and develop relationships with all of these wonderful fellow language learners.The 10  Commandments of Language Exchange1. Manage expectations and start off on the right foot.Tandem learning is an art and not a science.  There are no codified rules for language exchange.In short, you and your partner will make up the rules for your specific situation. So even before you relocate the exchange to Skype, make sure you’ve got the ground rules covered. In your text chats, for example, determine details like: How long will each session be? What will happen during the session? What are your expectations?Communicate them early for a smoother experience later. But this doesnt mean theyre etched in stone. When you feel, for example, that the time allotted is too long or too short, by all means change it into something more agreeable for both of you.2. Don’t be lateBe considerate. Your partner might be sipping coffee because it’s 2AM where he’s locat ed. At least have the courtesy to be on time.3. Watch your backRemember, this is a video feed. People can see the wall behind you. Please tidy up the mess in your room and bring down posters that are in poor taste. Theyll be very distracting and send the wrong message. Have you seen the interviews done via Skype on major  news channels? Ugh! Make yourself presentable on screen.You may not think it makes much of a difference, but you should also clean yourself up before you  meet your language partner. The eyes can smell. Yes, even if youre on  the other side of the world.4. Give!This is called a language exchange  for a reason. Your partner is giving you the time of day because hes expecting to learn something from you as well. Don’t be so obsessed with your target language and your personal goals that you forget your obligation to impart something of value to your partner.If all you do is take and take, your partner will feel like he’s wasting his time. Remember, this is give-a nd-take. Divide the time equally between the two of you and your respective target languages.5. Dont be a boreYour partner probably went to one of the sites above because he got comatose-bored by teachers in the classroom setting. Are you gonna serve him the same experience?The solution to many of your concerns, like “what do I say next?”, “how do I avoid the awkward pauses?” and how can I be an interesting language partner?” is preparation.Believe it or not, you have to prepare a bit for your Skype sessions. Itll make a world of difference. It’s good to at least have an idea of what the session will be about, so a slightly structured approach is advisable.Have a cheat sheet of topics youd like to discuss. Be ready when the conversation hits a brick wall and segue into other topics. Prepare especially for those times when youll be talking in your partner’s native tongue. Prepare so that you can say what it is you really want to say.6. Consider yourself free to make mis takesYoure there to learn, not to prove to your partner that you know how to speak his language. Liberate yourself from the need to be grammatically perfect. Dont  be embarrassed when you make mistakes, and dont stop when you make a booboo. Continue, get into the rhythm and then later ask your partner about the most common, repeated mistakes you made.7. Dont overwhelm your partnerThis is the other side of the coin. When it’s your partner’s turn to speak or practice, dont correct him every 3 seconds. Instead, listen patiently and take note of his most common mistakes. Let him finish. And when he’s done, give your comments in as constructive a manner as possible.When you teach him about your native tongue, dont be a showoff and overwhelm him with too much material. Trust me, he won’t get any of it. Give him tidbits of info instead. It’s not your job to upload your knowledge of a language that took you years to master.8. Let it be more than language exchangeParadoxically, suc cessful language exchanges don’t involve partners who obsess about each other’s grammar rules and vocabulary. Instead, it’s really a conversation between friends who correct each other’s usage from time to time.It’s not so much about “How do you conjugate this verb?” It’s more like “You did that on vacation? Amazing! Oh, by the way, you should conjugate “saltar” (jump) this way because it’s in the past tense. So tell me more about your vacation.”You really have to be interested in your partner as a person, not just as a language resource. Ask interesting questions. Get to know as much about him as possible. Share info about yourself also. Tell him your hobbies, your dreams and things that friends talk over a cup of coffee. Of course itll be a bit awkward and difficult at first. But as long as youre having fun, language acquisition will only be a matter of time.  9. Have a reliable internet connectionThis might seem obvious, but a bad connection is very comm on for native speakers whose countries are playing technological catch-up. If this is the case, you might have to settle for times when internet traffic is lowest, at odds time of the day.You have no idea how troublesome a lag can be. It’s irritating and disorienting for anyone Skype conversationâ€"how much more frustrating would it be to have lag when youre trying to listen to a foreign language? Make sure that when you hear that ubiquitous Skype ringing tone, you can have smooth and interruption-free conversation.10. Have more than oneYou should only have one girlfriend. Good thing to remember. But that rule doesnt necessarily apply to language partners. In fact, get as many as you can manage.This is so you can get as much practice as possible. And not only that, language exchange is an art. Some of your language partners will be better than others. Some partners will be less dedicated and not show up to Skype dates. You have to play the numbers game so you can land language par tners wholl do you loads of good.So there you go. 10 sites that lead to language partners and 10 commandments that tell you how to deal with them.Now, take deep breaths. Listen very closely.Can you hear the reverberations of the Skype ringtone?It’s your language partner calling from the other side of the world.What are you gonna do about it? And One More ThingNeed some inspiration for your language exchange? FluentU has authentic content thatll give you plenty to talk about.  FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that real people speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos, like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse ScreenFluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts .Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover over or tap on the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive TranscriptsYou can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.