Would you like to learn a new language but people don’t speak it in your country? How to find a language partner online? I had the same question before so I am going to share my story and what I have found out.
I lived in Finland, and I wanted to learn Spanish. I knew it would have been easier to learn Spanish by moving to Spain, but it wasn’t possible at the time. Still, I thought that learning Spanish would be faster and funnier if I could practice with a native speaker instead of reading some old textbooks and trying to learn grammar.
Note: If you are living in a big city like Paris, London or New York, you will surely find language partners at local language meetings. But if you are living in a smaller place as I was, it can be challenging to find native speakers to your target language. And even though you would live in a big city, it can be fun to practice with someone who is living in an entirely different place so you can learn a new culture as well.
I Searched for a Language Exchange Partner… And Then I Found a Right Place!
Then I found a website called Italki.com. I saw that several Spanish people wanted to learn Finnish (which is my native language) and in return, they wanted to share their knowledge in Spanish. I was surprised because Finnish is relatively small languages and still there were quite a lot of people who wanted to learn mine.
I sent a message to a few persons. If I remember right, all of them replied relatively fast. The community seemed to be active, and people were friendly. Then I shared my WhatsApp number and Skype ID with a few persons. We sent then messages in WhatsApp and took video calls in Skype to practice languages. I got to know ultimately kind people through Italki.
Before, I never really thought before that one could create lasting and close friendships through the Internet.
Again I got surprised. You can find great friends and language partners from Italki.
I applied the same with French. I found French speakers who wanted to learn Finnish. Even though I didn’t always connect with native speakers, I found people who were also studying French, so we practiced together. We have made real progress with the language together.
In Italki you can find people from all nationalities!
Italki + Hellotalk – Takes 2 Minutes to Register but the Benefit can be HUGE!
The another great way to find a language partner is though Hellotalk. It is a mobile app where you can very quickly find native speakers from almost any language that you would like to learn. And they are learning your mother tongue. I haven’t used Hellotalk as much as Italki, but it also has some significant benefits.
Finding a language partner can be a bit faster with Hellotalk than with Italki. I have used Italki more because I can use it with a computer while Hellotalk is a mobile app. I recommend you to try them both and decide which one do you prefer. Here I have listed some benefits of using these service.
Why Are Italki and HelloTalk So Great?
1.Free
Probably the best thing about these apps is that you don’t have to pay even a single dollar/euro, but you can hugely benefit from their service. Italki has paid lessons if you want but they are not required at all. With this link, you can get a gift of $10 for language lessons.
2.It Is Fast to Find a Language Partner
It takes only two few minutes to make a profile. Then you can already see who are speaking the languages that you are willing to learn. I have tried many apps for meeting new people when I have been traveling, but I haven’t found them very useful because it’s not so easy to contact people (If you have recommendations, leave a comment below!). But it has been easy to reach people in Italki and Hellotalk. Almost always people respond to your messages, and they are friendly.
3.Lot of Native Speakers
I have surprised how many people are using these apps. You can find native speakers for almost any language. So don’t worry if your target language is small. Just do a search to see how many native speakers there are in Italki and Hellotalk. I guess that you will be surprised too!
4.Easy to Use
The platforms are simple to use, and I believe that even a little kid will understand how they work. So you will not have any problems to find out how to find language partners through Italki or Hellotalk
5.People Have Same Goals as You Have
Do you live in a small village? Or do you just find it hard to find people who would like to practice languages with you? Thank God for the Internet. Sometimes I had found in “real life” to find language partners because I was living in quite a small city in Finland. If you would be living in Paris or New York, the situation is, of course, different because you can always find people who share similar interests. But now you have an opportunity to connect with people, no matter where you live.
6.You Will Find Lasting Friendships
First time when I registered to Italki, I just thought that “Great I will find some people to practice languages.” Later I realized that it was even better. I developed friendships with some people, and I am still in touch with people who I got to know online.
In my opinion, language exchange is not only about learning a language but also for building wonderful friendships!
Conclusion
Finding a language partner online can be very rewarding and fun. It may take some little effort to send those first messages but as you get to know a person, it just gets more comfortable, and you will like it even more. Practicing a language constantly with someone can make miracles to your progress.
Italki also has many other features like paid language lessons or community tutors. I will write a whole review about everything that they provide, so you will get the whole picture how amazing their community is for language learning.
Do you like to practice the language with native speakers? Have you found them online or “in the real world”? 🙂
Hi Roope Kiuttu!
As a language lover, this is great news for me!!
Although there is a lot of ways how to communicate online with foreigners, a site that is specially made for language learning with foreigners will be a great thing for me!
I can just say that I’ll sign up with them, and I’ll hope it will help me increase my language knowledge!
I encourage everyone who wants to learn new languages and enjoy themselves on the way, to do the same!
Chanan
Hi Chanan,
I am very glad that you liked the idea of Italki. It brings language learners together from all around the world. You can practice a language with someone who is living 10,000km from your home and he/she can be learning your language. I think it’s a wonderful idea :D.
And sometimes you can meet “in real life” that you found first in Italki. I have experience of that too ?
Ok. Allow me do the talking Roope. Trust me on this. You won’t regret signing up for this program. I’ve found this site to be very helpful. I’ve signed up for a few sites on recommendations of Roope and am loving every bit of them.
I am going to have to check this out. I would love to be able to speak fluent Italian. My family history is in Italy and I never learned the language. My nana is fluent and my mother knows some but I only know the bad words thanks to holiday gatherings LOL They thought us kids wouldn’t know they were swearing if they did it in Italian. haha Thanks for the info on this place, it sounds great!
Hi Britanica,
Italian is a very beautiful language and I really encourage you to learn it if you find it useful. You can easily find a language partner in Italki. There are soooo many Italian speakers who want to practice English so you can have a language exchange with someone. He/she teaches you Italian and you teach him/her some English. It’s fun!
Very interesting idea to practise languages online! I’m Finnish, but my grandfather was German. So I have studied German in school for ~ 4 years. I have not spoken German hardly ever, but few times, outside school. I love languages and like to know new people. It is very practical way that you tell. Before your advise, I haven’t know that kind of great opportunity to learn a new language.
Thanks very much for so useful website offers! I probably visit there next year with getting better with German and English in my mind 🙂
Have a nice Christmas and active New Year 2017.
Hi Eija,
maybe you would be interested in checking my article, “Why German Is Easy for English Speakers to Learn“. There I tell 4 reasons why German is easy and share a helpful resource for learning German by Benny Lewis.
I also recommend checking Italki if you want to find a language partner online. There are a huge amount of people from all around the world who want to learn different languages. They are also willing to share their own native language. You can find great friendships and develop your language skills at the same time. The Internet makes quite many things possible :).
Thank you! I wish you a wonderful new year 2017. Let it be the best year ever! 🙂
Thanks for the other your article too, that you recommended. I will read it! And other tips are also interesting.
Same to you: Happy New Year 2017 😀
Hi Eija,
Great to hear that! Thank you very much.
-Roope
Sinun pitää Roope laittaa pieni komissio jos kielen opiskelu johtaa valtakunnan rajat ylittävään avioliittoon he he..this is so good idea..you are guite smart young man..i thing this give many people more than just easy way to learn language.T.real man from Vaala..
Hahahahhaaa. Kielen opiskelu ei tuu johtamaan valtakunnan rajat ylittävään avioliittoon. Ei siitä huolta 😉
Thank you Esa for the encouragement! You are a real man from Finland.
T.Real man from Austria
Thanks for the information. It’s the first time am hearing about italki, and many other services across your blog. You guys are very resourceful I have to say.
Italki is a brilliant idea. Like I said previously on a different post, a friend of mine mocks me every now and then since I started learning German. How do you practice? No one around you speaks German he always says. It hurts and I hate to admit it, but his right. I think I’ve finally found an answer for my friend. The answer is italki.
Yes, you have found an answer for your friend.
You can also tell him my experience. I learned in Finland in 2 months more German than I learned here in Austria during 1 year. In Finland the native language is Finnish and almost nobody speaks German. Here in Austria the native language is German so I could have people around that could practice German with me.
My experience shows that our progress doesn’t depend on the location but our attitude. I should have been more “aggressive” with learning German while being in Austria. I prioritized other things higher and I can always continue learning German in the future.
Hello! I am in dire need of learning french language. Please I need help.
Hi Richard,
have a look at this article. I give there 7 wonderful resources to learn French online (+ 1 bonus resource). I believe you’ll love them and find very helpful if you want to learn French.
@Richard..don’t look any further. If its French, German, or any relevant language you seek to learn, you’ve come to the right place.
Mr Roope has brilliant suggestions for you which a majority of us have picked up and started the process of twisting a new tongue asides our original dialect. Learning has never been this fun.
This is a sign of hope for me, I have always have wanted these kind of opportunities to start with, I have posted in some of your articles on how difficult it’s been for me to learn other languages aside from English. This should be a perfect start for me, I hope am not gonna regret it, I will sign up for these and maybe give you my feedbacks on how far I have gone.
I’m sure that language learning will be easy for you as well when you follow the instructions and resources on my website 🙂
Yes I can see that. Am definitely giving it a try. The fact that I can learn a new language and practice frequently with someone who is a native of such language is just too cool. One of the reason why people fail to quickly comprehend a new language and learn to speak fluently is because they tend to shy from speaking in front of people so not to make mistakes and be laughed.
Sounds great!