Where to find pen pals in English? In this article I will tell you about a resource specially created for this.
Greetings to all my subscribers and guests of my blog about spoken English! In this article I would like to talk about pen pals. After all, our pen pals in English make us better.
Do you have them? When learning English, it is very important to have such acquaintances! The best option is when your friend is a native speaker who is learning Russian. This way you can help each other very easily and usefully!
To be honest, I don’t have many friends who have learned Russian. It is clear that Russian is not as popular as English. So it’s much easier to find someone who, like you, learns English or someone who just likes to communicate online.
But nevertheless, in our time, finding pen pals and maintaining communication with them throughout your study is not difficult. It is not necessary to have a whole army of acquaintances :) As for me, I have 3-4 good friends with whom I always talk when I have time. Quite enough. They are all very good people and I am glad that I met them in my time. All of them are native speakers.
Where did I meet them? It is on the site that I plan to tell you about in this article.
Where to find pen pals in English?
I have already said that there are many resources on the Internet where you can speak English absolutely free. You can read about this in my article.
My favorites are SharedTalk and InterPals. I wrote a detailed article on how to use the first one. In the same article I would like to talk about InterPals.
InterPals - is an international (inter, pals - friend, comrade, friend) social network created specifically for those who study languages. The main idea is to unite people and help them “exchange languages.” For example, if you are learning English, you can easily find pen pal who speaks English and is studying Russian. By communicating with him, you help each other.
Search for pen pals on InterPals.
All you need to do is just go to InterPals.net and register by filling out a special form.
As you can see, the site is entirely in English. This can be difficult for those who have just started learning the language. But nevertheless, it is useful, you just need to get used to it.
After registration, immediately go to the “My profile” section, select an avatar and write a few words about yourself. This will help people find out more information about you after they visit your page.
After this, you can immediately go to the search form for friends (Search) or the language exchange form (Language exchange). In both cases, everything is simple and intuitive.
Well, I told you about the main features of this resource. And there was nothing special to tell, since everything there is very simple and clear. Register, put up a nice photo, write a little about yourself in the “My profile” section, and people will write messages to you! You'll see! By the way, you can add any person to your friends list and then easily contact him again!
You and I know well that progress in mastering a new language comes when there is practice: you read, speak, listen, write in it.
Here are some convenient programs on your mobile phone through which you can communicate with foreigners every day by conversation, writing and voice messages, receiving feedback!
Bookmark this article so you don't lose the list!
- Before you decide which app to use, I suggest you read the descriptions below and know their features.
- Download one service that is most suitable for you to your phone, register and understand the basic functions.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of the application, test it every day for a week.
- In principle, the applications overlap in function and are similar in many ways. But we are all different, so everyone will choose what suits them.
By the way, my blog already has several reviews of applications and websites. Watch them to quickly get comfortable with your chosen program.
1 italki
My favorite service, which I never tire of recommending, because I myself use it without interruption and quite successfully. Although the main tool through which you can communicate with native speakers is Skype, on italki you will find the right teacher and interlocutor for this. Believe me, nothing could be easier than calling for half an hour and chatting. And your speaking skills will become stronger.
- Here you can find a teacher for full lessons with homework and regular online meetings.
- There is an option for conversational classes with a native speaker and a teacher to practice speaking and listening.
- Convenient schedule and reminders about lessons by email and through an application on your phone.
- There is an option for your own diary with comments, the ability to ask questions and get corrections from native speakers of the language you are learning, as well as help other people with this.
2 HelloTalk
You can use the application even without knowledge of languages, just to communicate with different people around the world. The service offers special transliteration and translation functions for this purpose.
- You can record voice messages in Russian, and the application system will translate the phrase into the native language of the interlocutor. The same in reverse order.
- There is a text chat with the possibility of mutual correction.
- The function of checking and translating a message before sending it to the interlocutor.
- You can automatically translate all messages sent by a native speaker into Russian.
- Individual phrases from the chat can be saved and replayed.
- For additional practice, open discussion threads to chat with native speakers in the comments.
3 Tandem
Available on GooglePlay and AppStore.
An application that I discovered quite recently. I'm planning a review in the future. Using the service, you can learn a language through language exchange: you learn a foreign language, and in return you help someone who is learning your native language.
Available on GooglePlay and AppStore.
Through the application, you can communicate through text and audio chats, as well as calls.
- There are built-in translators and phrasebooks of phrases by topic, which makes communication easier.
- You can select ready-made phrases for chatting and replace individual words in them.
- There is voiceover of phrases: you can listen to them again and repeat them correctly.
- Phrase games make it easier to remember new expressions.
5 Speaky
Available on GooglePlay and AppStore.
Another opportunity to make multilingual friends around the world. The service offers more than 100(!) languages, and there is room to expand. I'm just starting to test. First impression: a simple interface and few functions (which I personally like, it’s immediately clear what and how).
- Search for ideal interlocutors and like-minded people with similar interests.
- Communication options via text chat, audio or video calls (to choose from).
- It is advisable to immediately check the settings, otherwise after registration you will instantly begin to receive an endless stream of messages from a variety of people.
6 HiNative
Available on GooglePlay and AppStore.
It is always interesting to find out how and how people of other nationalities live, what traditions they observe, how their way of life differs. Through this application you can ask almost any question you are interested in and quickly receive an answer directly from foreigners.
- The application has built-in templates for formulating questions.
- You can use the function to upload your audio recording so that native speakers can check the correctness of your pronunciation and send corrections.
- Among the questions: in what situations to use this or that word, how to put punctuation marks correctly, urgent translation of phrases.
What service do I use?
When I have questions about language learning or translation, I open the HiNative app. As for the other services... In my opinion, HelloTalk, Hello Pal and Tandem are similar in function and purpose. At the moment I don’t use them, because I don’t like activities without a goal and “extended over time.”
It is more convenient for me to assign a specific time and duration of the lesson to italki. You take a lesson on the chosen topic and get a clear result, and don’t just correspond “about nothing”. And here you can not only take regular lessons, but also simply practice conversation with a native speaker. By the way, there is an option to do this even without prior agreement.
If you have a goal for which you need to master English, but there is no system for studying and practicing it, follow my step-by-step 30-day program. Every day you will do exercises to train every aspect of the language (from speaking to reading) and learn to apply English in life.
What applications for language practice with foreigners have you already tested? What did you like and what didn’t?
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You can learn English for a very long time, but without practice with a native speaker, you will never know it at a level sufficient for communication. Physically finding the carrier is very difficult, in many cases almost impossible. It’s easy to find native speakers on the Internet if you don’t wait for them to talk to you.
Today, the high demand for learning English is determined by the economic superiority of Western countries. Everyone wants to know English in order to live better financially. A native speaker learns Russian to make life more interesting or to have a Russian wife, because he is completely financially secure, but finding a beautiful, flexible, obedient housewife and an excellent lover all rolled into one in the USA or Europe is very, very difficult. Feminism is doing its job. Women there are completely different. Most of them are ugly, unkempt, not painted - and this is truly freedom, because... A Russian woman cannot afford to go out and throw out the trash without wearing full war paint. Foreign men like it. For this reason, an imbalance arises:
“There are much fewer native speakers who want to learn Russian than there are Russians studying English.”
Therefore, do not expect that the carrier will speak to you first, unless you are an attractive girl. Ethnic Russians from Russia also have a slight advantage; they are more interesting for foreigners studying Russian. Here, like us, they want to communicate with native speakers from a country where Russian is the official language.
Be active, try to interest the native speaker with your deep knowledge of the Russian language (learn Russian, write and speak correctly!). They are very pragmatic people, if they see that you are able to teach them Russian for free or you turn out to be a very interesting conversationalist with a lot of knowledge about Russia, its history, culture, customs, politics, then they will definitely share their knowledge and communicate with you in their native language language, they will correct you, tell you where you need to improve your English skills.
Where on the Internet can you find interesting completely free sites, social groups, video, online voice chats, foreign chat roulettes, Skype, WhatsApp groups for communicating with foreign native speakers to learn English?
What are the benefits of communicating with foreigners? What are the benefits of communicating with foreigners?
- First of all, this is teaching a real, living foreign language with a native speaker of this language, the so-called language exchange, tandem. What you were taught at school about the “Communist party” can be shoved somewhere far away. That adapted Surzhik is very far from the real language spoken by foreigners. In general, I think at school they taught it this way specifically so that they wouldn’t go off to the “decaying” West in search of a better life.
- This is information about the real state of affairs in the country, and not what comes from the media, which usually provide information one-sidedly - “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” And when communicating with foreigners, you will receive information first-hand, from a living witness to the events taking place, i.e. It won’t be so easy to brainwash you and implant wild stereotypes in you now.
- You can exchange gifts: any ordinary thing for a Russian (matryoshka, Russian vodka, coins, pennants and other things characteristic of the USSR, Russia) will be of great value for a foreigner, especially since they will be presented from Russia to Russians. In return, you can get very interesting things that are not in Russia: real Levis jeans, baseball cards, coins and other things that are ordinary for a foreigner, but exclusive to Russia and the countries of the former socialist system. camps.
- You can exchange houses, apartments, hospitality (couchsurfing), of course temporarily. For these eccentric foreigners, living in a real Russian apartment is a super adventure, a challenge, and they will gladly provide their house (with a swimming pool and a golf course) for you) - the rich have their own quirks.
- If you have a problem with money, then communicating with foreigners can solve it, ranging from simply financial assistance, offering a new job to new business ideas (they are much more advanced in this, they are more enterprising, energetic, daring and are not ashamed to earn money).
- By communicating with foreigners, you can meet your future spouse, and this happens, this is life... and move to a country with much better living conditions (and we strive for them... for the better).
So, where can you find the opportunity to communicate with foreigners online for free, without having to travel or go somewhere?
There are many similar resources, so I will highlight only the most delicious ones.
Language exchange services
1. - the best international language social network for learning a foreign language with native speakers, there is a Russian version of the site. The owner of the network is Russian, so if you have any problems or misunderstandings, you can safely write to him in Russian. This network has , as well as .
2. Lingoglobe is a new, free way to learn or strengthen English language skills by communicating with native speakers through English chat, email, conversation boards (forums). The site also has video lessons where English teachers share their knowledge.
3. Coeffee - a cozy site for exchanging, learning and practicing English. There are interesting interactive team language games: two players or two teams try to describe and guess a word, i.e. some describe, others guess. There is also an interesting game for composing phrases in English.
Correspondence clubs with foreigners
1. Interpals is a foreign pen pal site where you can also find a partner for learning English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian and other foreign languages. You can communicate and forums on the following topics: books and literature, homework, hobbies, cars, crafts, history, humor, family and friends, love and relationships, music, philosophy, sports, travel, poetry. On the forum there are sections for teenagers, those over 20, those over 30, 40, there are also sections on the languages being studied, incl. There is also a thread for the Russian language with more than 20 thousand posts and 1 thousand topics, there are very cool topics from foreigners, for example: “What is the best beach city in Russia?”
2. Masterussian is also a foreign club for correspondence between foreigners and Russians. There is no Russian version, the entire site is in English.
3. Kidscom - a site for correspondence in a playful, accessible form with foreigners for children and teenagers. This is the only normal site for communication, namely, children and teenagers with representatives from other countries.
4. Studentsoftheworld - correspondence community only for schoolchildren, students and teachers. After registration, you get the opportunity to run your own blog, forum, present, talk about your country. There are chats, clubs, polls, schools, countries. You can also register to correspond by mail using regular, paper letters.
Skype
www.speaking24.com - free lessons via Skype with native English speakers, a very interesting site for communicating with foreigners via Skype.
Easy registration: indicate your nickname, age, gender, level of English proficiency, country, your Skype or MSN, ICQ, Yahoo messenger, purpose of communication: chat(simply communicating with a native English speaker to strengthen your English speaking skills), exam(preparation for the English exam together with an English speaker), friendship(make friends with those who are also learning English), the topic you want to communicate about.
After entering your data, you will immediately see potential interlocutors with whom you can immediately begin communicating on the topics specified by them.
3. Whatsapp group for practicing English (contact the administrator for the link) ONLY for Russians from Russia and native English speakers from the USA, Great Britain, and the European Union.
Telegram
Learning Russian with Russians
Language group in Telegram for practicing English with native speakers, only for Russians from Russia and native English speakers from the USA, Great Britain, the European Union..
Groups on social networks for meeting and communicating with foreigners
Today we are increasingly seeing the influence of social networks on our lives, with the help of them they even make revolutions, create new states, and heads of state voice their decisions.
What is so attractive about social networks?
Man is a social being. Previously, he constantly lived in a close community of fellow tribesmen, members of the community. With the growth of material well-being, a person’s social circle has sharply decreased to a few family members, a few colleagues and few friends. But that ancient desire to be part of something great, to do a great thing together, not for a handful of coins, but for a great, higher goal, this call still remained inside a person.
And when there is such a hidden need, then sooner or later the answer will definitely come. And today that answer is social media. Of course, this is a surrogate for live communication, but at least something is good. In addition, often online communication goes offline, into real live, physical communication, because It is very difficult for a modern person to make new, interesting contacts between work and home.
Today's trend of meeting foreigners is smoothly moving to social networks through the formation of social groups for correspondence.
Learning with a native speaker is the most progressive, fastest, natural way of learning a foreign language, because that's how we learned our native language - we learned it with a native mother). You immediately begin to communicate with a real foreigner, and not with a teacher with distorted pronunciation (not a single super Russian teacher can compare with a native teacher). It makes sense to learn a language for money only in the initial stages, when you don’t understand what is written and can’t read. When you have already learned to read in another language, today a huge world of opportunities opens up for you for free learning with a native teacher, this includes videos, audio lessons from native teachers, for example, short, interesting lessons for everyday viewing from my favorite teacher Ronnie, rate:
I will give a small selection of social groups on Facebook, VKontakte, Google Plus, which I use myself and find them very useful for communicating with foreigners, for practicing the language with native speakers.
A group of social communities of the international language organization "Learning Russian with Russians" for learning English and other languages with native speakers of a foreign language.
This is the group for:
- Facebook, more than 30 thousand members, a lot of foreigners. French language: Apprendre le russe avec le russe. Échange linguistique russe-francais.
German language: Russian-Deutsch Sprachaustausch
Japanese language: 日本語 - ロシア語の言語交換基
There is a separate group for Ukrainians:
Busuu
Here you can attend interactive language courses, practice communicating with native speakers and take free online lessons. Each lesson is conducted on a specific topic and consists of vocabulary, written exercises, dialogues, a mandatory conversation with a native speaker and a final test.
Most of the content is free. A premium account costs about 200 rubles per month. It provides access to video lessons, language tests and the opportunity to receive a certificate after completing the course.
Chip: game form of education, Busuu language garden. If you don't study, it will wither. If you study, berries will appear.
Languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and English.
Sharedtalk
A social network that is suitable for those who already have a good understanding of the language and want to practice with a native speaker. All you have to do is register, enter your partner search parameters - your native language and the language you are learning - and a list of suitable options will appear, indicating the country, age, gender and a brief summary.
Chip: the network is based on users communicating with each other. There are no additional options.
Languages: 30 languages, including Afrikaans, Hindi, Azerbaijani, Tamil.
My Language Exchange
There are several communication options. You can make yourself a pen pal or play language games, such as guessing a famous quote. You can choose your interlocutor by country, age and gender. The site has collective dictionaries where all users enter new vocabulary. You can also create your own personal virtual notebook.
Chip: You can talk not only in text, but also in voice chat.
Languages: 115, including major European and Asian ones.
English, Baby!
The main advantage of the site is daily free lessons, each time on a new topic. You can learn the language using thematic audio materials, for example, monologues and interviews with American and British celebrities. Here you can learn grammar, chat, prepare for TOEFL and even enroll in a foreign language school. There is also a special section for English teachers, where teachers can exchange experiences.
Languages: English.
Lang8
According to the idea of the site, the user writes a post in the language he is studying, and native speakers help correct all spelling, grammatical and speech errors. You can add tags to each note to help structure your experience. The most popular posts and corrections are displayed in the top. In addition, you can make friends here.
There is a free account and a premium one. The free one allows you to learn only two languages and make 500 notes in a notebook. A premium account costs about 300 rubles per month. It allows you to upload posts and comments in PDF format, photographs, make an unlimited number of notes in a notepad and provides some other additional features.
Chip: blogosphere - the user is immersed in the whirlpool of diaries, he can make entries and comment on it himself.
Languages: language interface in 19 European and Asian languages.
Ling
In addition to virtual communication, here you can use the help of a teacher, download audio lessons, or submit written work for checking. The social network is intended for people with any level of language proficiency. The emphasis here is not on grammar, but on expanding vocabulary and free communication. All learned words can be saved in your profile, and for a paid account (it costs from 400 to 1600 rubles per month) you can export your dictionary to your computer. There is also a free option, but with limited functionality.
Chip: a rich library of texts and podcasts, the ability to link words by making cards with them. Points are used to receive help from tutors. For example, they are needed when correcting writing, speaking, and also for purchasing premium lessons. You can buy them or earn them as a tutor, as well as by inviting friends or publishing lessons in the library.
Languages: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean. The beta version includes Finnish, Norwegian, Hebrew, Turkish, Latin, Esperanto, Arabic, Czech, Polish, Dutch. New languages are added regularly.
Livemocha
An international community where learning foreign languages is based on communication with native speakers. The user performs exercises in a foreign language, and they are checked and commented by native speakers. In turn, Russian language learners will expect help from native Russian speakers. The course is divided into separate lessons that include written and oral exercises.
Chip: All tasks and content can be accessed by the user using either coins, which are earned by completing tasks or helping others, or beans, which are purchased.
Languages: 35 languages, including not only English, Italian, French, German, but also rarer ones, such as Urdu, Arabic, Indonesian.
Interpals
A completely free social network for learning languages. You can log in to the site through your Facebook profile. The user has a chat and forum at his disposal. You can select a communication partner using key parameters: language, age, gender. The Internet shows who is online and who is offline.
Chip: Networking is based on finding a partner who speaks the language of interest and sharing knowledge.
Languages: more than 100 languages, including major European and Asian ones.
Italki
Here you can practice dialogues with ordinary users, correct mistakes, ask questions to a native speaker, or create your own language learning team. You can log in to the network via Facebook or by registering via email.
Chip: There are sections for finding a language partner, and for a fee you can find a tutor.
Languages: more than 100, including the main European and Asian ones.
You may have heard about a great language exchange site called SharedTalk. Unfortunately, it closed, but its creator revived the project in the form of a new resource - Hellolingo. Here you can quickly find partners to discuss topics that interest you or provide advice on grammar and vocabulary.
2. Lang-8
This resource is great for improving your written language. The idea is this: you publish various texts in English, they are checked by native speakers and your mistakes are pointed out. In return, you help users who are learning your native language in the same way.
3. English, Baby
A social network for communicating with foreigners, plus daily lessons on everyday topics. To become a member of the community, you need to transfer $5 monthly to the project account. But there is a 7-day free pass for newbies.
4. italki
On the site you can meet both professional teachers and native speakers offering informal tutoring. Each user can be both a student and a teacher. Training is paid.
5.Interpals.net
A resource for finding friends, pen pals, and even travel companions for traveling around the world. You can select friends in specific countries, communicate on forums, chat or via private messages.
6. How do you do?
A platform for free communication with native English speakers. The latter are mainly residents of the UK and the USA. Text and video chats are available to users.
7. Conversation Exchange
On the site you can find a partner for face-to-face or remote communication through personal messages or chats.
8. Talk and Learn
In addition to social functions such as forums and video chat, this resource offers many useful materials and English lessons.
9. Easy Language Exchange
More than one hundred thousand people from 56 countries use Easy Language Exchange to find people to talk to in different languages. You can communicate with the community in a public forum or only with selected people via private messages. In addition, this resource contains many courses for self-study of the language.
All of these resources have a similar format and set of tools. You can visit and try out several of them to find the most convenient site and the most welcoming community for yourself. But the most important thing is that they allow you to find the right person, and the communication itself can be transferred to Skype, Facebook or another familiar service.