Following on from the previous post, I am finally realising how big this language exchange idea really is. If you are an English speaker wanting to learn Spanish then you can guarantee that there is someone sitting in front of their computer in Mexico who would love to teach you their language in exchange for your English. On the other hand, if you are a native speaker of Spanish who is looking to learn Russian, then again you know that someone in Russia is on the web willing to help. As long as you are willing to teach him your language of course.
This language exchange craze seems to have really taken off, and is in my opinion possibly the best application that the internet has ever realised. What better way to make use of the global reach of the world wide web than for people to share their languages and cultures with those of differing languages and cultures.
It is what the web was made for. It has restored my confidence in people’s use of cyberspace. I see too many people use the web to tell me what they had for dinner, or what their favourite chocolate bar is, and lets be honest I don’t really care. However, if people are using the web to share real information–language–then they have found a fan.
I was surprised to see how many of these language exchange sites are available. As well as the Moccha.com offered in the last post, we have Babbel, Palabea, Worldia, and Lingopass. These all offer language exchange with others within their network and are an excellent addition to any language learning course.
If you are learning a language and don’t make use of free language exchange sites, then you are mad. You are certainly missing out on a great experience.
I may well do a review of language exchange sites at a later date and post it on the main site.
