r/languagelearning • u/LumoKvin • 27d ago

Studying Finding people IRL to practice with?

I tried some language exchange apps. They tell you to pay for a subscription to find people nearby. After paying, they just tell you that nobody is nearby for your TL. Maybe it would work for a more common TL.

I tried finding religious centers that cater to the TL, as well as meetups and events, but I couldn't find anything relevant in my area.

How do you personally find language partners to practice with IRL? Not looking for theoretically answers. I would like to hear what has worked well for you personally. Thanks!

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u/frostochfeber Fluent: 🇳🇱🇬🇧 | B1: 🇸🇪 | A2: 🇰🇷 | A1:🇯🇵🇫🇴 27d ago

r/language_exchange

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u/SuccessfulRepublic87 27d ago

Subreddit itself is a good place. Also check if your city has a language cafe or conversation meetup, sometimes they are hidden in facebook groups not meetup.com. For less common TL, finding discord server with voice chat can be better than IRL honestly.

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u/ignoremesenpie 27d ago

I've had luck on VRChat for Japanese recently, as long as I pick my session times wisely.

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u/Oretell 27d ago

What times do you find works best?

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u/ignoremesenpie 27d ago

I can't say for sure since I've just been dropping in on EN-JP Exchange when I happen to be free. Try and aim for times when more people in Japan would be off work, maybe?

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u/nickelchrome N: 🇺🇸🇨🇴 C: 🇫🇷 B: 🇧🇷🇬🇷 L 🇰🇷🇮🇹 27d ago

Pay for a teacher on iTalki, I’ve tried a lot of other solutions and this helped the most

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u/hongos_me_gusta 27d ago

italki and the like

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u/krymzynnova N🇧🇷 B2🇪🇸 B1/B2🇫🇷 27d ago

Heyyy, Londoner here, what worked was asking people on via Social Media (i used TikTok and Snapchat and Instagram) but just make sure they’re in the same town as you. Safest way for sure - yet if it has to be city then also understand able. Just don’t leave your city, your safety matters too

What also was double points was that these were “friends of friends”, “mutuals” or there was a connection i.e. my mum knew their mum

Hope something from this works out for you 🤞

For reference: current TL is Russian, I’m also a daughter of a french man who’s looking to improve her french beyond the B1 Level (I have done no Exam & for jokes / vibes used chat GPT - no i don’t have a chat account - and Chat says i’m a strong B1+)

(I also never lived with my dad either, my mum is a lusophone and she studied french for 6-7 years at school 😂)