How To Find Language Partners No Matter Where You Live

Steve from Japan wrote to me with a problem that countless language learners face, how to find language partners to speak with:

“The thing I most struggle with is not having anyone to speak with. I live in a rural part of the country so there are no Japanese language courses or classes.“

Sound familiar? Whether you're learning Chinese in rural America or English in Japan, finding people to actually speak with can feel impossible.

But I'm going to show you exactly how to find language partners, no matter where you live or what language you're learning.

If you prefer watching videos to reading, hit play on the video version of this post at the top of this page. Otherwise, here's what you'll discover in this post:

Why Language Classes Don't Always Equal Speaking Practice

Let's get this straight right from the beginning. Steve mentioned he struggles to find people to speak with and then said there are no language courses available. But I'm not so sure I'd equate these two things.

Here's what often happens when you take language courses: you don't actually end up speaking much. The teacher may even speak to you in English a lot of the time.

Just because you sign up to potentially very expensive language classes doesn't mean you're actually going to get much chance to speak.

Often the kind of information you get from a class you can get yourself by sitting at home with a good textbook and a bit of motivation. Taking language classes doesn't equate to speaking practice.

The truth is this: if speaking is your aim, if you want to become conversational or even fluent in your target language, then it's extremely important to start speaking as soon as you feel comfortable.

You don't learn to speak by preparing, by learning loads of things and getting ready to speak. You learn to speak by actually getting out there and practising with people.

This doesn't have to be random strangers on the street – in fact, it's best that it's not because that can be quite stressful.

The best way is to find people either locally or online who you get to know and like, and who you can have regular conversations with in a safe, comfortable environment where you actually enjoy the interaction.

How To Find Language Partners In Your Local Area

Often looking around you is the first place to start. Here are the most effective local methods I recommend:

Your Immediate Network

• Work colleagues: Depending on where you work, look and see if there are any colleagues who speak the language you're learning.
• Friends of friends: I wouldn't actually recommend people you're already friends with because that can interfere with the friendship, but you can certainly ask your friends: “Do you know anyone who's learning my language?”
• Local hospitality industry: People who work in cafes, hotels or bars often need to speak different languages to interact with customers. They may be from different countries themselves.

Community Resources

• Libraries and local shops: These often have notice boards where people can advertise language exchanges, depending on where you live.
• Language schools: Even if you're not taking classes, local language schools often have notice boards with lots of people – either locals or foreign students – looking to find practice partners.
• Local newspapers and community forums online: These are great places to find not necessarily a teacher, but someone you can arrange to do a language exchange with.

Magazines and Publications

• Online classified ads: In Japan, for example, you've got the Metropolis magazine where people put these kinds of ads (though you do have to take care sometimes with the people who do that).
• Foreign community magazines: In London there's a great Brazilian magazine called Leos which is full of Brazilians and people interested in learning English. In Japan you've got local English language magazines – great places for foreign-minded people to hang out and find out about events.

Societies and Groups

If you live in a big city, you may have societies like a Japan Society where you can meet other people interested in Japan and probably Japanese people as well.

Being Opportunistic

This has worked extremely well for me in the past. When I've been living in London, where there are lots of people from different countries, I've literally been in a pub and heard someone working there speaking Spanish.

I just say to myself: “Obviously this person's in the UK for a reason, they probably want to learn English. Let's just see if this guy's up for doing an exchange.”

Some of my best language exchanges have come from just being opportunistic like that – keeping your eyes open for people and opportunities around you.

How To Find Language Partners Online

If your local area is limited (like Steve's rural situation), going online is really the best solution.

These days when I'm learning a new language, I actually do these things almost exclusively online just because it's much more convenient – you don't have to leave your living room.

I know often people find the idea of meeting people online for language exchanges a bit weird, and I understand that completely.

But there are lots of people just like you who are really keen to practise their language skills, and online is where people are hanging out these days.

General Platforms

Websites for local connections:

• conversationexchange.com
• https://www.meetup.com/
• craigslist.com

These are all geared towards finding people local to your area who are interested in many things, including language exchanges.

Dedicated Language Exchange Sites

My top recommendation is LanguaTalk as they only accept the best tutors so you're guaranteed to get top-quality lessons. If paying for a tutor isn't possible, then you can try Langua, their human-like AI chatbot designed specifically for language learners.

Other excellent platforms:

• verbling.com
• https://www.mylanguageexchange.com/
• https://www.language-exchanges.org/
• HelloTalk
• https://www.tandem.net/
• https://www.speaky.com/

Any one of these you can explore and very quickly be put in touch with people who are up for doing a language exchange.

Why I Often Recommend Paid Tutors

I'm mentioning language exchanges a lot here because they're free – that's the big advantage.

But I often find that actually paying someone a small amount of money to be your regular tutor is a better approach because they're slightly more committed and they're there for the sole reason of helping you learn.

How To Find Language Partners FAQ

Language Conversation Partners: Making It Work

Here's the caveat: it's not always the first person you meet, or even the first few people you try to set something up with, that will work out.

This is to be expected because the world's a big place with lots of people, and it's certainly not the case that every person I come across in my day-to-day life I end up getting on with.

You do have to go in with an open mind and be up for connecting with a few different people to find someone that works.

But it is well worth the effort because there's nothing like the feeling when you finally find a language partner who you learn well with, who you connect with, who you enjoy speaking with in your target language.

Key tips for success:

• Be patient and try multiple people
• Keep an open mind about different personality types
• Look for regular, consistent language conversation partners
• Enjoy the process of connecting with people from different cultures

It's really worth persisting and trying to find language conversation partners who can help you get started and get the practice you need to start speaking your target language confidently.

With online platforms like Langua, you can get practice every day if you want – it really is the easiest way and my recommended option by far.

Whether you're in rural Japan like Steve, learning Chinese in small-town America, or studying any language anywhere in the world, these resources will help you find the language partners you need to finally start speaking with confidence.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.