Should I get an internet pen pal to learn french?
I would really like to learn French and have considered getting a french penpal (over the internet) to practice conversational skills. Do you think this is safe? How should I be contacting my penpal (messaging, skype etc)? What would you feel comfortable doing? Are there any site you would recommend for this? Are there sites where I can find only university penpals? If you have ever done anything like this, please describe your experience. Thank you!
You’re definitely on the right track. However, I would change one thing and try to get a pen pal that you write to via post. Writing on the computer for some reason doesn’t create a strong connection to the brain memory cells that you could create when you hand write a letter.
Also consider volunteering in your neighborhood at a french-speak association.
Here’s a blog post I found that better explains what you should do:
– http://learn-to-speak-french-fluently.tumblr.com/learn-to-speak-french
Try in Babelan. Go to “Global language exchange (messenger, e-mail, voice)”.
http://www.babelan.net
If you really want to learn to speak French well, you need to converse with someone live, so you have the right idea. It’s perfectly safe if you use one of the online language services that hook people up. The best one I know if is Livemocha.com. I don’t like the training they offer, but it’s great for finding conversation partners. Just go to their website, sign up for free, indicate which language you are learning and they will guide you through the rest. The way it works is that you help another person learn your native language while they help you learn theirs. You can request certain conversation partners based on their profile and you may get requests to ‘friend’ someone else. You never have to accept a person’s friend request (like Facebook).
Bonne chance!
Yes, this would be a fantistic way to learn ‘on the job’ if you like. Very pro active, I would encourage you to go down this route as it will develop your language skills, understanding of the language, speed up the process and get you a french friend!