Anyone else have problems finding speakers to practice with?

Hi guys,

I recently was looking around several sites for French speakers to talk to. People always seem to recommend italki, so I gave that one a try. I sent out about 10 messages over a week ago…yet still no reply from any of them or they replied at first and then stopped. And those messages weren’t the usual annoying “hey let’s practice.” I actually introduced myself, gave them a little background on my studies, and offered to help them…I was being as genuine and honest as possible…and the messages were short…

I tried conversationexchange.com and sent out several on there too. No replies over several days (almost a week now).

But rather, I get requests from people who want to practice a language that I don’t even have in my profile…meaning they don’t even take the time to read what I write on there…

It’s getting really frustrating trying to find a language partner. I really don’t want to give up, but this is all getting extremely ridiculous. I don’t necessarily want to spend too much money if all I am doing is speaking practice, but I might have to find a cheaper community tutor on italki or something. I would rather spend that money on a new French book or something though…

Does anyone else have any good recommendations for sites where the people are actually interested in learning languages? Or any strategies or experiences that can help me find a good language partner. My city is no New York or Chicago, so everyone speaks English…so I have to resort to finding partners online…but from my experience so far, no one takes this seriously…

How does Steve and so many other people have so much luck finding people to speak to? From their videos, it seems like these people genuinely want to learn languages too…Please let me know guys! Thanks!

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Hi there I know other free website you can found native speaker all over the world but you have to be patient especialy with girls www.interpals.net most prefered exchange postal card I don’t know why than speaking on skype.

Also here all you have to do is just looking for profils with skype already add.
You add this person with a message with an explanation that it and you waiting this person accept.
Steve is famooz it’s more easier for him found people wants exchange with him than us ;).

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I would be interested to talk in Chinese to some natives and help them with their English and German, but LingQ seems to be the wrong place for that. iTalki is much too expensive, lots of so-called teachers want to make fast money there.

Hello there

I had a friends on skype he’s born in Argentina but as background from China and speak it fluent also Spanish and french but I don’t considerated him as fluent.
I will give you this skype sangre1991 tell him you are interested by chinese and you coming from me Prince.

Why don’t you do it on your own ?
Conversation is all about understanding and speaking.
For understanding you only need to listen to native things, no need to be talked to.
For speaking record yourself either reading aloud or talking about something of interest to you.

You make friends in your target language the same way you do it in your native language.

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Hi Combiendemarins

I’m not agree with you after passed months it became important talking with a native speaker for have also an idea where you are you can’t only reading and listening.

I also said : record youself talking about something you are interested in and make friends in your target language the same way you make friends in you native language.

yes i understand your problem quite well i have problems finding reliable partners maybe try gospeaky.com i never use conversation exchange have never found a partner on that site after many many tries

I’ve found a couple of reliable ones, but this is really rare. You have to be patient. People come and go and their commitment to language learning varies over time.

It helps to agree to talk at a certain time each week. I’ve found the ones that can’t commit to that, never work out. I’ve never had any luck with those who just want to write either. That always peters out after awhile.

I think all you can do is make a profile on the various sites for this and keep logging in from time to time. Talk to everyone who is willing to talk to you. Eventually, you’ll find some great people.

I forgot to mention that older people tend to be more reliable and available than younger people. So, if you see someone with grey hair on the various language sites, send them a message.

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I hear what did you said but is not logic …

I learned spoken French mainly through playing games. Living in the US, if you’re on the East Coast, your connection won’t be bad to France, and there are tons of Quebecois who also play games such as League of Legends, WoW, Garry’s Mod, Counter-Strike. But this probably appeals more to gamers and young people, but this is my main form of spoken practice in all my languages. It’s a struggle at first to even be able to talk to them and especially in a language you’re really basic in, but natives are easy to find on games. But if you’re a beginner, I would have atleast a decent base before I did this, otherwise I might use a conversation exchange site.

Good luck.

You are all looking for people to have conversations with in your target language but how is your conversation skill in your native language in the first place ? I know mine is very bad, what about yours ? Are you able to speak about yourself for 2 minutes in a raw in a skilled manner ? If so good point for you (even so it doesn’t garanty quality conversations) but sorry to tell you most people speak as badly as I do and most of them think they do well.

Now tell me how long can you sustain a conversation if you disagree with everything you hear ? even worse if you agree with everything you hear ?

Do you ever have a conversation with a learner of your native language ?

Quebec media, I’ve found, is all around the most convenient for us guys in “the south” who speak French. The radio can be easily streamed online and it matches the time of day at home, the mentality is similar to our own, and there is more to relate about. What is more, it’s not a big hike up there to go and visit your new friends (I can get a round trip flight from my non-major city’s airport for about 250 bucks). Definitely second the idea that you have to find your language partners through common interests and not just through language sites, where I feel like the only thing bringing people together is a mutual disinterest in speaking one’s own native language.Good luck getting more than a few hours out of language exchanges…

In the US. french is one of the harder languages to come by unless you live in new orleans or vermont. I live in the new york city area and every day I walk down the street I hear every language you can think of. Hindi, cantonese, spanish, russian, you name it. My neighbors to the right of my house speak portugese and my other neighbors peak spanish… but you just don’t hear french.

It is a shame you don’t live in canada, or europe and this wouldn’t be a problem.

You have to not be shy about practicing with strangers on italki and verbling. Sooo many people are looking to practice their english so you can find people willing to reciprocate if you talk to them in english.

Plenty of Africans and Haitians around, and they are much more approachable in my experience than European French speakers.

They are turning the Amtrak Vermonter line back into the Montrealer, so there will be daily service up through Vermont and to Montreal, just has to get through Congress. Otherwise there is always the Adirondack Line. IMO NYC is the best base you can have for any NA travel.

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Honestly, if I want to get better at conversation, I need to talk to people instead of reading scripts or talking to myself. In this, I don’t have the pressure of having to listen to a question and reply right away in front of a real person. And it sounds so easy when you say “make friends in your target language” because my city is pretty uni-lingual…haha…so online is still the place to go for me.

Haha very true! Younger people live really dynamic lives. I’ll try it out to see if I can find an older person to talk to! Thanks!

If you don’t practice, you won’t get better. Plain and simple. Same when you practice a sport. You suck when you start out, but the more you do it and notice where your mistakes and faults are, and if you strive to improve them each time, you will get better. My speaking isn’t bad, but it is not good either, which is why I need practice. I have had conversations in my native language with people and it was not bad at all. That’s what constitutes a conversation sometimes: sharing your opposing viewpoints on subject matter. Just because people don’t agree with what you say does not mean your conversation was not a quality one. You’re there to practice expressing yourself in another language, not to have a debate. If you really are so worried about differing viewpoints, simple, don’t talk about politics or controversy. Talk about your life, hobbies, dreams, what you made for dinner, where you want to go for vacation, your family, your boyfriend or girlfriend, work, a funny conversation you heard in public. Honestly, if you’re a good listener, it should not be difficult to have a conversation.

Yes, I am well aware… In my post, I said I have sent out dozens upon dozens of requests to people on italki who claim they want to practice English and will help in French - yet, not a single reply…or if they do reply, they stop replying after a while and do not follow through with the exchange. I am not shy at all about practicing with strangers on italki, it’s just that no one actually seems to be serious like I am about language learning…