Hi !

I didn't know this website, I'll check it.
But I agree, speaking with native speakers is a great help !
I can read English ok but speaking is a whole different story...

Hi,

I agree.. it's so difficult for me too! Check it out, it really has helped me!!!

That sounds really interesting, I can read quite a lot of french but speaking is so difficult and I dont get the practice. Il check this site out.

I complete understand what you mean Jan, I was having the same problem as you. Understanding comes quicker than actually speaking :)

So how do you find somebody close to you? I checked out the web site and it provides a lot of hits for my language of desire, but I don't even know if they're in the same country...

Hiya,

This is a online language exchange site, so it works a little like skype. You add the people who correspond to your learning needs and then you can chat, audio and video.

I

Hi again Niklas,

I just noticed that you can now see which country the person lives in, maybe that will help you!

Thanks Sam. I thought at first this service was to find people close to you and actually meet them. Doing a language exchange over a chat, well I guess it's possible. Maybe I'm just too old fashioned...

Speaking with natives has always been the best way to learn a language. Thanks for the website, I didn't know this one.

Hey again Niklas,

You never know unless you try :) I understand, you always learn quicker when you feel comfortable!

Hey,

Your welcome, I'll see if I can find you on the site!

Hope your enjoying your vacation :)

I know, when you put so much effort into learning it, I can understand that you don't want to forget it!

See you soon!

Se vivi in Vevey dovrebbe essere facile trovare qualcuno per praticare francese...

So good luck finding French speaking people, that work nights and who are your age

Oh yeah, that might be a little difficult.

Happy Easter, Joyeuses Pâques, Buona Pasqua Everyone!

sono curiosa di provare questo sito... grazie

thanks for the information...

It's good in practice if you know some of the language and can string a few words togehter, but how about if you're a complete beginner? I'd love to learn Arabic but wouldn't know where to start!!

Chat as a language exchange is all very well but is of little real value if the partners  are not native speakers  and, moreover, do not (or, worse, are unable to) correct  mistakes.

R.

I logged on that site, but nothing interesting right now. 

Chatting over internet is less interesting that it was in the past... when I was chatting with Doctor Who fans after each new episodes....

Do you need too to have something that interest you to progress in a language ?

Wouldn’t you say that a mutual interest or experience helps to kick-start any form of communication?  If all goes well, the “conversation” will develop from there.  If it doesn’t, then maybe the other party isn’t the right partner for you at that particular time.

R.

Actually, we need to practice with different people, different methods and with a wide diversity of contexts to learn a language.

That's why I created this group, here in Glocals : http://www.glocals.com/groups/geneva-french-english-language-exchange-group.htm

And I suggest some rules (look in the group's details). I also suggest to share a language exchange with people of the same level as you (when possible), and to specifically spend some brief cessions on skills (like pronunciation) you specially need to work on.

It is good also to have some material (like books, articles, comics, whatever you like) to support your learning process and to enrich your exchange.

Most of all, it is good to be proactive, creative, empathic, fair, to really share and consider your respective difficulties with your partners, that is not being competitive i.e.:  speaking as mush as you can so that you practice more than your partner.

Learning a language is also a social practice when you also learn how to best collaborate and to move on.

Language exchange

While I agree with your suggestions for group exchange, they aren’t  quite so easy to follow in a tandem, especially if the partners have different objectives – one, say, is only interested in social chit-chat while the other is more concerned with job interviews or coping with the “régie” or the school teacher.

I also believe that a group works better under the guidance of a moderator who has a pretty fair grasp of the nuances of the two languages involved.  As very simple examples:  “of course” isn’t always the appropriate English expression for  “bien sûr” just as “d’accord” isn’t the be-and-end-all translation of “OK”.

A good moderator will also encourage the diffident participant and temper the enthusiastic know-it- all.  (There always seems to be at least one of each in any group.)

Meantime, best wishes for the success of your own activity,

R.

Finding the right language exchange partner takes time. I

f you know what you want from the language exchange, you need to take the lead in the conversation.. for example, for each language exchange meeting, have something prepared, or give each other some homework so that you can review it during the next meeting, read online articles together, talk about when you were little etc

Listen to what the other person wants and if it's a match then great, if not just be honest with the person, as more often than not, your levels do not suit!

You only learn from experience!

Happy learning everyone :)

Having used language exchange sites have really helped me, I have so much more confidence than before, it does take time but you have to keep at it! Has anyone else had the same experience?

If so, I would love to hear about it and I think it would help motivate other language learners :)

Thought this was interesting;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22607506

Hush, whisper who dares, English lingo has conquered la belle France, but France la belle, she don’t know.

Very true, but she has got to find out somehow.... :)

What about asking la très chère Académie to help?

Well it looks intersting to have such kind of leaning course.

I was told about this one too - seems too good to be true.  Has anyone any experience with it?

http://vraiment.info/parlezfrancais/index.html

Hi Sam

Many thanks for the adresse, I would like practise my English and help with French and Spanish

have a nice day

cordially

Jenny

Your very welcome, I think it's important to share this kind of information... we all know how much motivate is required to learn :)

How is everyone's language learning going?

Any more tips that can be shared?

I've come a long way, definitely getting better with my speaking and reading.. but I know I can always do more?

So there are benefits:

http://www.spring.org.uk/2013/09/10-superb-psychological-advantages-of-learning-another-language.php

Has anyone seen the changes to the ELE site?

What do you all think?

Just to let you all know there is a meet up group/conversation exchange every Tuesday and Thursday on ELE http://www.easylanguageexchange.com/

Just putting it out there for people who want to meet native speakers and practice a language!

See you soon!

Spanish for French?? Is someone interested?

Cheers!

PALOMA B, I hope you found someone!

Are you looking for face-2-face? 

And are you using any other resorces?

Hello Sam! I didn´t :(

For me is better face-2-face but I could try with skype or something else. Do u know if someone is interested?

Cheers,

Paloma

Je vous souhaite Une très bonne année 2014 

Hello my fellow language learner friends,

How are you? 

So, it's near half year through 2014, anyone got any stories to share? Experiences? Methods of learning?

I need some motivation :)

Hello,

Here is some good advice:

http://addicted2languages.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/how-to-get-a-good-language-exchange-partner/

I completely agree, I've had many experiences like this. It does take time but along the way, you learn so much about people and then eventually it becomes easiler to find someone as you know exactly what you are looking for, hence saving you lots of time and money!!!