Job Discussion Forums

[Marcoregano]

Just wondering how well language exchange lessons work, and what's the best way of going about it, etc.

When I up sticks and move to Spain it would be a great help to do language exchange in the area I'm moving to - not only do I need to improve my Spanish, but it would also help me meet local/s or neighbour/s and assist in picking up the tricky local dialect.

But, how to meet the right people? And how long should lessons last - is it best to alternate ie. I teach English one day and s/he teaches me Spanish the next - or do half and half the same meeting? And what's best to use as study material?


Thanks for any helpful comments or advice...

[denise]

Unless you actually find a qualified language teacher to pair up with, I think you're more likely to end up in a fairly informal conversation exchange where you just chat half an hour in each language. You may be able to teach a proper lesson for your half, but your partner might not be able to.

I've had a few over the years, and they didn't really work because a) their English was far better than my Japanese/Czech, so 90% of the conversation was in English, and b) they weren't language teachers, so they didn't seem to understand that simply telling me entire sentences ("this is how you say 'he read a book yesterday'") out of context really wasn't very helpful.

To get past those problems, look for someone whose level of English is close to your level of Spanish and who either knows how to teach or just wants to chat.

d

[MO39]

I've never done it myself because when I was in Spain, my Spanish was already at a pretty high level, but I know that "intercambios" are very popular there. You should check out bulletin boards at universities and language schools for Spaniards interested in meeting and exchanging conversation (and possible friendship) with you.

Buena suerte!