Are you interested in language exchange?
Many Chinese people find it difficult to find partners to practise their English with. However, there are native English speakers seeking partners to practise their Mandarin with, too. So, there are good opportunities for language exchange between these two groups, without spending money on language classes.
But, how successful are attempts at language exchange? How many people have been able to form effective partnerships in teaching and learning each other's languages?
Without attempting to answer this question, let me write about some things that I think are necessary for successful partnerships:
1. Practice comes first
When seeking a partner, have no expectations other than that you are going to practise language. Then you will have no disappointments.
Avoid selfish expectations: that they must be young, rich and good looking, that their skin must reflect most of the light falling on it, that they will marry you and take you to their country, that they will find you great jobs, that they will introduce you to beautiful and interesting people, etc.
Some of these things may happen eventually (!), but they are not the main reasons why you are interacting with these people at this point.
Don't insist on photos, personal details, etc. They are irrelevant as far as language exchange is concerned. Let each person reveal personal information at his own pace. Just accept your partner as he/she appears to be online.
2. Give and Take
This is a very old expression. Note that it doesn't say "take and give". It mentions "give" first.
Don't be thinking only about your own needs. Your partner is interested in his/her own needs too, and would also expect something from you in exchange. Be prepared to give something in exchange.
So, try to understand your partner's needs first. When getting to know each other, find out about his background in your language, how much he knows, what he would like to learn, etc. Understand his level, and tailor your teaching to that level.
In most cases, the native Chinese speaker's English would be at a much higher level than the native English speaker's Mandarin. That puts the native English speaker at a disadvantage. So, go slow with him when he's practising his Chinese.
Practise being both a teacher and a learner. Think separately from each point of view.
Be aware of how much time you are taking up for your own learning. Make sure that your partner gets at least as much time for his own learning, even if he doesn't ask for it. Don't monopolise the learning. Otherwise you could lose your partner pretty quickly.
3. Language sessions
Sessions need to be limited in time, not meandering on indefinitely. Even a few minutes at a time is fine. But they must be purposeful. There is no need to keep chatting indefinitely out of a misplaced sense of politeness.
Ensure that you have some useful teaching resources at hand while you are online with your partner.
Plan each session so that both of you actually learn something. Think separately of what you are going to do as a teacher, and what you are going to do as a learner.
Make a list of questions that you would like to ask your partner. If possible, ask him to email you some of his questions in advance, so you can be prepared when you go online together. Prepare notes and keep them in front of you. If you cannot answer something, try to follow up on it during the next online meeting.
4. Topics
Plan topics for discussion in advance. Have some relevant vocabulary ready in the language you are learning, and also in the language you are teaching. Teach and learn useful words and expressions first. Then use them in complete sentences. Practise saying these sentences aloud, and get feedback from each other. Talk about how the language would change depending on the situation. For example, would you say that thing in the same way to children as well as to adults? To your boss as well as to your subordinates? And so on.
5. Repetition
So, you can understand, but you forget things soon. Why is that?
Because you haven't practised them enough. You need to repeat, in different ways, at different times, until you can start to feel it, not just hear it as strange sounds.
So, in subsequent sessions, go back to things that you have done earlier, and practise them once again. See how much you remember. Maintain a good notebook for your language exchange sessions, and keep notes of whatever you do. Write the dates so that you can search on earlier discussions easily.
6. Reinforce (strengthen)
Ask each other questions on what you have learnt. Quiz and test each other. This is a good way to reinforce your learning.
You can do this in quite a few ways:
Ask questions in your first language, and your partner answers in your first language.
Ask questions in your partner's first language, and your partner answers in his first language.
Ask questions in your first language, and your partner answers in his first language.
Ask questions in your partner's first language, and he answers in your first language.
Say something in your partner's first language, and he says the same thing in your language.
Both ask and answer in your first language first, and then in your partner's first language.
And so on.
7. Resources
Find useful resources for your partner and email them whenever you do. You could find things like comic strips, short stories, songs, poems, jokes, etc. Obviously you can find such resources in your first language more easily than your partner could.
These are just a few tips. As you can see, language exchange needs preparation, and not just as a student but also as a teacher, in order to be effective, But it can be very rewarding. You could end up mastering the language as well as gaining a good friend.
