HOW TO find a language partner in Beijing
Finding language exchange partners is really important for foreigners who are interested in improving their Mandarin. There are a few websites you can use to meet conversation partners in Beijing.
- Conversation Exchange. Great site, simple layout and cool people. I’ve met a lot of language partners here who quickly became friends.
- The Beijinger. You’ll get a lot of responses by putting an ad up on The Beijinger. Just be aware that this is in the Personal Ads section, so you may get people who are looking for more than just language exchange.
- Livemocha. Livemocha is a language-learning with a social-networking aspect. It’s a great Mandarin-learning site to begin with; having the ability to message people to meet up is a big plus.
For first-time language exchangers, I would recommend that you always prepare before you meet a partner. Since these sites are mostly in English, the conversation partners you’ll make usually have good English. As such, it’s easy to get carried away with just English, and you spend your whole language date without speaking any Mandarin. Take some time before you meet to prepare a list of questions, difficult grammar points, pronunciation errors, etc.
If you’re a beginner-intermediate like me, try to find someone who has a good grasp of English. There are a lot of nuances and vocabulary that need to be explained at this level. As you move up, you can take on language partners who have poor English, forcing you to speak wholly in Mandarin.
Language partners can quickly become friends and show you parts of Beijing that would normally take you a long time to discover, which is an amazing side-benefit. If you’re serious about language, just make sure you hang on to the learning aspect — as you become friends it’s easy to lose focus and forget that you should be practicing Mandarin!
