Language exchange is probably one of the best ways to improve language learning - all while making new friends too. It's so much more convenient than traditional snail mail pen pals, what with the internet and smart phones and all that. I first tried it out for myself via this site called Conversation Exchange, when I took a semester of French back in college. I ended up meeting a really nice French girl, in person too, eventually, when I visited Paris, but since I didn't keep up with my French studies I forgot all about it after a while.
Now I've been learning Mandarin for 4 months now, and I'm taking it much more seriously because I need to learn it for work. So I made a new account on CE and found a LOT of Chinese people looking for an English speaking partner. I found that the most convenient way to chat was through WeChat, the Chinese version of Kakao Talk/WhatsApp, because it was a lot more advanced than Kakao Talk. I mean... they've got translation functions, as well as voice-to-text which works pretty accurately (only thing is, you need to set the whole app in Chinese to use this, so I'm constantly switching back and forth languages mid-chat) - in this aspect, Kakao has a lot of catching up to do. Anyway, I'm still in touch with a handful of people I met through that site, and I'm very grateful for it.
And THEN I came across Hello Talk, which seriously is one of the best things that ever happened in the history of smart phones. I was completely mind blown the first day I downloaded it, it's just SOOOO awesome. I've been recommending it to everyone who's learning a second language, but you just need to try it yourself to know why.
1. You can talk to a bunch of real natives from anywhere in the world. This isn't specific to this app, obviously.
2. All messages can be translated AND transliterated into the language of your choice, which I especially need for Mandarin (for pinyin and tones). Translations are not perfect, obviously, but they are more than good enough.
3. This even works for voice messages! If you receive a voice message, you can transcribe it, then translate/transliterate. So basically, even if you couldn't understand something your partner said via voice message, you don't need to ask them to repeat themselves or explain; the app can do it for you.
4. You can send drawings too! This might seem useless but I actually used this to teach someone how to use their Korean keyboard. And plus, it's just fun, and awesome, and CAN be useful when the opportunity presents itself.
5. You can effectively block out any creeps. This is app is meant to be used purely for language exchange. You can't enlarge profile pics, which means you're not supposed to choose your partner based on looks, and you can choose to be exposed to only speakers of your own gender (which I've done, because I've decided most of the men I met through this app had other intentions, or were just really boring to talk to).
6. It's so easy for your partner to correct your mistakes. Plus, you can automatically keep a record of all the corrections, as well as messages you "starred" to review what you learned or want to remember.
7. If you want to say something but don't know how, you can also use the translator to send the message in both your native language (or any other language you prefer) and practicing language. This is especially useful for me because sometimes there's a word I know in Korean that I want to express in Chinese, that doesn't really have an English equivalent.
It would take too long to find screenshots for every example. But you get the point; plus it's better to experience it in person anyway. I've been practicing a LOT with this thing and I definitely feel a bit more comfortable making sentences and chatting in Chinese, even if I know I'm not always correct. You actually need to pay to have unlimited translation/transcription services, but it's less than $2 a month which is basically nothing. This has been keeping me busy all throughout my free time, which I guess is the closest thing to immersion I can get for now. Sooo happy right now!
Now I've been learning Mandarin for 4 months now, and I'm taking it much more seriously because I need to learn it for work. So I made a new account on CE and found a LOT of Chinese people looking for an English speaking partner. I found that the most convenient way to chat was through WeChat, the Chinese version of Kakao Talk/WhatsApp, because it was a lot more advanced than Kakao Talk. I mean... they've got translation functions, as well as voice-to-text which works pretty accurately (only thing is, you need to set the whole app in Chinese to use this, so I'm constantly switching back and forth languages mid-chat) - in this aspect, Kakao has a lot of catching up to do. Anyway, I'm still in touch with a handful of people I met through that site, and I'm very grateful for it.
And THEN I came across Hello Talk, which seriously is one of the best things that ever happened in the history of smart phones. I was completely mind blown the first day I downloaded it, it's just SOOOO awesome. I've been recommending it to everyone who's learning a second language, but you just need to try it yourself to know why.
1. You can talk to a bunch of real natives from anywhere in the world. This isn't specific to this app, obviously.
2. All messages can be translated AND transliterated into the language of your choice, which I especially need for Mandarin (for pinyin and tones). Translations are not perfect, obviously, but they are more than good enough.
3. This even works for voice messages! If you receive a voice message, you can transcribe it, then translate/transliterate. So basically, even if you couldn't understand something your partner said via voice message, you don't need to ask them to repeat themselves or explain; the app can do it for you.
4. You can send drawings too! This might seem useless but I actually used this to teach someone how to use their Korean keyboard. And plus, it's just fun, and awesome, and CAN be useful when the opportunity presents itself.
5. You can effectively block out any creeps. This is app is meant to be used purely for language exchange. You can't enlarge profile pics, which means you're not supposed to choose your partner based on looks, and you can choose to be exposed to only speakers of your own gender (which I've done, because I've decided most of the men I met through this app had other intentions, or were just really boring to talk to).
6. It's so easy for your partner to correct your mistakes. Plus, you can automatically keep a record of all the corrections, as well as messages you "starred" to review what you learned or want to remember.
7. If you want to say something but don't know how, you can also use the translator to send the message in both your native language (or any other language you prefer) and practicing language. This is especially useful for me because sometimes there's a word I know in Korean that I want to express in Chinese, that doesn't really have an English equivalent.
It would take too long to find screenshots for every example. But you get the point; plus it's better to experience it in person anyway. I've been practicing a LOT with this thing and I definitely feel a bit more comfortable making sentences and chatting in Chinese, even if I know I'm not always correct. You actually need to pay to have unlimited translation/transcription services, but it's less than $2 a month which is basically nothing. This has been keeping me busy all throughout my free time, which I guess is the closest thing to immersion I can get for now. Sooo happy right now!
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