What is a Language Exchange?
A Language Exchange occurs when speakers of different languages meet or communicate to learn each other’s language. This has been going on for thousands of years, but has only started to be organised in educational institutions in the last 25 years or so. In organised exchanges, it’s usual for the communication to be divided up evenly between the two (or more) different languages. Each exchange partner is alternately learner and language expert.

Why exchange languages?
There are many advantages to language exchanging compared to other methods of language learning:

• it’s free
• no equipment or material is needed
• you are directly involved in speaking and listening to another language, whereas in a classroom, you may not be actively using the language for much of the time. (The smaller the group, the greater amount of speaking practice you get)
• you control your own learning: you not only decide when and where you learn, but also what and how you learn.
• you discuss topics that are of interest to you
• you are learning the real language, not a simplified form that you would find in course books
• you get to know your partner as an individual, a real person. You are likely to learn a lot about their culture and to develop a positive attitude towards it. This is likely to increase your motivation to learn the language.

• Meet regularly. Developing a regular schedule, and sticking to it, is very important. If you always meet at the same time and place every week, you won’t forget the appointment, and you will soon come to see it as part of your normal weekly timetable.
• Give equal time to each language (e.g. one partner always speaks in one language, the other in another; one week is devoted to one language, the next week to the other; or the first 30 minutes are spoken in one language, the next 30 in another).
• Try to choose partners who have similar interests. Like any relationship, your partnership will work well if you have interests in common.
• Be open about how you would like the meetings to be carried out (e.g. teacher-learner or conversation partners?). This will avoid misunderstandings and problems later on. If you have different aims, discuss them and try to reach a compromise.
• Keep notes on your progress, new vocabulary, successes and difficulties etc. during or after each meeting and review them before the next meeting. This will help you see what progress you are making (being aware of progress is an important motivating factor), remember new vocabulary, and see what areas you need to improve on.

Materials
If you have enough to talk about, you can have a successful exchange without bringing any materials to the meetings. However, many learners like to use materials at some stage, e.g. because they want to focus the discussion, or so they can get help from their partner with understanding newspapers/TV or particular vocabulary items etc., or because they want help with a course book they’re using, or because they’ve run out of things to talk about.

Below are some materials that you could use (the list is endless):

• Written materials: websites, children’s books, comics, dictionaries, magazines, menus, newspapers, novels, textbooks ...
• Visual materials: cartoons, maps, picture books, photos (family/travel etc.), videos ...
• Audio materials: recordings of conversations, music, news, songs, films ...

Run out of things to talk about? Here are some topics:

• cultural differences and similarities
• daily routine
• family
• interests
• leisure time
• likes + dislikes
• shopping
• the latest news
• travel/holidays
• work
• your country or home town

For more topics/activities, see the ‘Language Learning in Tandem’ site:
http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/tandem/tasks-en.html

FAQs

Do language exchanges work for beginners?
Generally, exchanges tend to work best when both partners are at an Intermediate level or above in each other’s languages. That way, they are able to understand each other and maintain a conversation without making a massive effort. To generalise (and this depends on many factors), if you have had less than, say, 100 hours of learning in a language that is not closely related to your own, then you are likely to find it hard work to maintain a conversation over a 1-hour period; and if you have had less than, say 30 hours of learning, then your partner is likely to spend most of the time being a teacher rather than a conversation partner.

Having said that, it is possible for beginners to learn successfully in Language Exchanges. However, to do so, you will need to be:

• a motivated language learner
• able to make use of other resources for developing your language skills outside of the exchange …

… and your partner will need to be:

• aware of how their language works (unless they have been trained, many people don’t know the rules of their own language very well)
• able to explain language points to you clearly

What is my role: teacher or a conversation partner?
This is something that you will need to discuss with your partner(s) early on. Make sure that you know what each of you expects from the partnership. Do your needs match? i.e. if your partner wants you to play the role of a teacher, are you prepared to do so?

How can I learn if my partner is not a teacher?
Your partner(s) may not be able to give you detailed/accurate explanations of how their language works. They may speak with an accent that you don’t regard as ‘standard’. They will also, from time to time, make mistakes when they speak (or explain language points).

All this is normal! Each one of us speaks in an individual way and yet we also provide an excellent example of how our mother tongue is spoken. Getting used to the way individuals speak (even if ‘imperfectly’) is an important aspect of developing skill in a foreign language.

Should I correct my partner’s language errors?
Many learners like to be given feedback on their grammar/vocabulary/pronunciation, while many native speakers prefer to focus on communicating with their partner and may feel reluctant to interrupt the conversation to comment on language errors. It’s a good idea to discuss this with your partner and ask if they want to be given feedback on their language, and if so – how often, and how? You will need to find the balance between communication and error feedback that works best for you.

Is it best to have a single partner or be in a larger group? What is the best group size?
Having only one partner gives you the maximum amount of speaking time. Having more than one partner who speaks your target language will provide more varied listening input. Having more than one partner who speaks the same language as you will take some of the strain off you and will enable you to support each other when explaining language points.

So, different arrangements have different advantages. Overall, we would not recommend groups of more than 6. Beyond that point, each of you will be getting fairly limited speaking practice and may not feel a great sense of commitment to the group.

How many languages should we exchange in a group?
Generally speaking, exchanging two languages works best, with each language being given equal time (50-50). However, many groups have been successful in sharing three languages (e.g. English-Cantonese-Putonghua), so you may like to try this if you cannot create a 2-language partnership.

How should we divide the time between the languages?
Dividing the time equally is fair to all participants. There are various ways of doing this, e.g.:

• each partner uses only their first language
• each language is used in alternate meetings (e.g. language 1 in week 1, language 2 in week 2, language 1 in week 3 etc …)
• the time is divided equally between the languages each meeting (e.g. in an hour’s meeting, language 1 would be used for the first 30 minutes, language 2 for the second)

Where do we meet? How often? For how long?
This is up to you. A fixed time and location help you to give priority to the meeting and keep it as part of your regular schedule. Some like to meet at lunchtimes, some in the evenings. Some meet once a week, some twice. Some for one hour, some for two or more. Again, it all depends on personal preferences. It’s YOUR exchange.

Links

http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/
The ‘Language Learning in Tandem’ site from the University of Bochum, Germany. (Tandem, meaning a bicycle for two, is the word generally used in Europe for Language Exchange.) A comprehensive and well-organised site, containing principles, tips, materials, bibliography etc., particularly on e-mail tandem learning. Click on ‘Activities’ for useful learning tasks for face-to-face tandem learning (e.g. on getting to know each other, talking about cultural similarities + differences etc.).