Language Exchanges Made Easier

You can make impressive strides in your English by means of a linguistic exchange. The idea is simple. You help someone improve their Portuguese (or whatever your native language is: we have an international audience herre!), and that person does the same for your English. That way everyone comes out ahead. It's a win-win situation.  With Skype, you have access to people worldwide, and when the contact is from computer to computer, this access is totally free, one of my favorite words in any language. My experience with Skype has been very favorable. The connection drops out from time to time, but overall the audio and video are excellent. I even  teach classes on Skype and it works out very well. (a plug:  If you're interested in studying English with me via Skype, write me a comment to this post and I'll get in touch with you).

A great site to search for language practice partners is www.sharedtalk.net, which some time ago was purchased by the firm Rosetta Stone, a huge producer of learning materials for dozens of foreign languages. After you sign up for free, you can choose typed our audi chat rooms. There is an English-Portuguese channel, but you see more Brazilians than anyone else there. It is better to go to the "English" room, where  you'll find people from around the world. But for the exchange I mentioned earlier, you can search among people registered at the site and get in touch!

Dave Snopek of linguatrek.com just published a list of tips to facilitate your language exchange:
http://www.linguatrek.com/blog/2012/08/4-tips-for-effective-language-exchange. As he explains, finding the right partner is even more difficult than finding a good friend, but it's worth it. He has been there.  Originally from Wisconsin, Dave moved to Poland and now blogs and gives tips on learning languages ​​in Polish. On the site, he also offers a free book full of tips for you to take responsibility for your learning and become fluent in the foreign language of your choice. Recommended!

And if your written English is not that great and gives you a headache, why not tackle this and other texts through another of my favorite sites: www.lingro.com?