Is anyone using Skype for language exchanges ?

[lc10035]

Hi,

On the topic of speaking and listening, has anyone managed to organise Skype sessions (www.skype.com) as part of a language exchange program ?

I received an anominous call from someone from Shanghai not so long ago and really enjoyed the conversation with the guy, although, never heard from him again !

I think this kind of technology (free IP telephony) would be immensely applicable for students who really have problems finding practice and/or can't afford lessons, and/or want to have Private lessons.

It should not take much for an existing Mandarin language school in China to organise Skype phone-ins for language exchanges. Who knows, maybe this could be turned into a business .... or barter trade e.g. Mandarin conversations in return for English text books etc.

For those of you who are unaware, Skype allows you to make free calls from your computer to any other computer that has Skype loaded. All you need to do is to download Skype and have a mic and speakers on your computer.

Cheers.

P.S. My Skype name is LC10035

[gummylick]

I met regularly with a friend from China on Skype and have chatted with various people, but the time difference between America and China makes it *very* difficult. I got up early for awhile to meet my language exchange partner, but eventually, the free time I had for voice chatting was replacing my private studying. Therefore, I didn't get a chance to build up my vocabulary, practice hanzi, etc, so I could never "add" to our conversation. So, I've backed off Skype for now and tried to rejuvenate some pinyin chats I used to have with friends as it's a little less taxing and will help me work on new words.

[browny]

I use it all the time! the audio is so much clearer than QQ 音频! Hehe, yesterday night I rang a girl in 重庆, and I put on a really *southern* chinese accent (like i'm an old man) it was really funny~~hehe! she said 我听不懂啊 你是广东人吗？ haha

[howtofindyou]

really nice to know you guys,i am an native chinese living in foshan of guangdong province of china,i want to study english from english speaker,i do think skype is a very good tool for conversation,so anybody if you like to learn mandarin or cantonese pronunciation,or practice them,please call me in skpye,my skype name is howtofindyou.

[bwu4ever]

Hi,

I find your question very interesting. This concept of using SKYPE for language learning puposes is a great one.

I have found it being implemented (suggested) at www.languagetutors.org

It is a free site which aims to bring together people who want to teach any language and those who want to learn. They can be in the same city or thousand of miles away, using "SKYPE".

The site seem to be recently laucnhed. I have registered to learn a few languages, like Chinese.

I hope there will soon be a lot of tutors from China, registering there as well.

It can be fun.

Cheers.

.

[bryantt]

Mixxer hosted at Dickinson College lets people sign up and search for language partners. Skype is used by everyone to contact each other.

http://langtech.dickinson.edu/globalclass/login.aspx

[johnmck]

I use Skype to reach my penpal in China. I found him from teh site http://www.polyglot-learn-language.com/

[Phaco]

I have been using Skype for all the past year. That's how I got to improve my Chinese.

I got to know on Skype a Sichuan girl studying in Beijing that I finally met a few weeks ago, that was really a nice experience.

My wife who's Chinese also use Skype to practice her french with french people... Skype is a wonderful communication tool.

[SophieBeiJing]

the voice quality from Skype is really good.

I m a Chinese girl from Beijing who aim at fluent spoken English. i hope to make friends and improve English via Skype.

my id of Skype is valleyyhome

See you there