{"id":4388,"date":"2016-02-04T12:12:14","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T11:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/?p=4388"},"modified":"2020-10-26T14:09:44","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T13:09:44","slug":"language-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/language-exchange\/","title":{"rendered":"Practice your Spanish with a language exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">How are your Spanish skills? Even those who have studied some Spanish before arriving at Madrid\u00a0can become overwhelmed when they try to converse with the locals. I mean, they just speak <i>so<\/i> quickly! No amount of study with audiobooks and online courses can really prepare you for the whirlwind that is a conversation with a Madrid local&#8230; One of the best ways to get some speaking and listening practice is to take part in a <strong>language exchange<\/strong>. This can take place in several forms, meeting one-on-one, as part of an exchange group, or even online chat. But, the general gist is, an English speaker and a Spanish speaker meet up to teach each other their native tongues through conversation. Today <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>ShMadrid<\/strong><\/a> tells you more about language exchange.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/language-courses\/\">The Best Spanish Language Courses in Madrid<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Index<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/language-exchange\/#benefits\" title=\"Benefits\">Benefits<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/language-exchange\/#how-to-find-a-partner\" title=\"How to find a partner\">How to find a partner<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/language-exchange\/#tips\" title=\"Tips\">Tips<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"benefits\"><\/span>Benefits<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4393\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4393\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4393\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4393 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"Language_Madrid_Exchange\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange-1024x686.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange-810x543.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange-1140x764.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_Madrid_Exchange.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4393\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Luckily, in a typical conversation exchange group, English native speakers outnumber Spanish native speakers by about 10 to 1! So, you should have no problem at all finding people with whom to chat. Until recently, English was not widely taught in the Spanish <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/regulations-for-madrid-schools\/\"><strong>school<\/strong><\/a> system, so, there are a lot of locals who would love to chat with you to improve their skills. It\u2019s a perfect arrangement &#8211; everyone benefits!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">practice speaking and forming sentences<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">practice comprehension and active listening<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">pick up new vocabulary<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">it&#8217;s free!<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">make some new friends in Madrid<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">let a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/stunning-local-olive-grove-tour-in-english-proyetto-les-aires\/\"><strong>local<\/strong><\/a> suggest where to meet, and discover a new bar or part of the city<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">get to know the real Madrid from the people who live here<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">improve your confidence by teaching your own language<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">learn colloquial use of Spanish<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how-to-find-a-partner\"><\/span>How to find a partner<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are lots of online sites available to help you pair up with locals. Amongst the most popular are: <strong>Meet Up<\/strong>, <a href=\"http:\/\/Languageexchange.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>Language Exchange<\/strong><\/a>, <strong>My Language Exchange<\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.citylifemadrid.com\/language-exchange-meetings-tandem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">City Life Madrid<\/a><\/strong> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lingobongo.com\/madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Lingo Bongo<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/complutense-university-in-madrid\/\">Complutense University in Madrid<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"tips\"><\/span>Tips<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div id=\"attachment_4392\" style=\"width: 271px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_exchange_Madrid.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4392\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4392\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_exchange_Madrid-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Language_exchange_Madrid\" width=\"261\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_exchange_Madrid-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_exchange_Madrid-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_exchange_Madrid-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_exchange_Madrid-810x540.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Language_exchange_Madrid-1140x760.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 261px) 100vw, 261px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4392\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Why not try to plan your meeting into sections: 40 minutes of speaking in Spanish, followed by 40 minutes of speaking in English, so both partners have a good chance to practice<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Have a clear expectation of what you want to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/best-areas-madrid-work\/\"><strong>work<\/strong><\/a> on each session: pronunciation, or speaking in the future tense, or in the past<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you want to work on your Spanish for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/top-businesses-madrid-spain\/\"><strong>business<\/strong><\/a> reasons, try to find a partner in the same industry<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Don\u2019t be afraid to bring a pad and take notes!<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Try to pick a partner who is at a similar skill level. If their English is basically fluent, and your Spanish is still in its infancy, it can become easy to lose confidence<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you can\u2019t understand a word your partner is saying, ask them to slow down, and go easy on yourself! Languages take a lot of time to really master<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Don\u2019t know if you\u2019re using the correct grammar or vocabulary? Just try anyway! The best way to learn conversation is to just enjoy <i>communication<\/i> &#8211; your partner will help you along if you become stuck.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Don&#8217;t be afraid to sound silly. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.duolingo.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Duolingo<\/a> <\/strong>founder Louis von Ahn states that the major difference between those who learn a language easily, and those who struggle, is that those who aren&#8217;t afraid of making a fool of themselves, can become fluent up to twice as fast. So, jump in!<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Of course, as with any online activity, play it safe and meet in a public place first!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Good luck!\u00a0 \u00a1Buena suerte!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Have you tried language exchange yet to improve your language skills?<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-center kksr-disabled\"\n    data-id=\"4388\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 125px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">3<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            votes        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How are your Spanish skills? Even those who have studied some Spanish before arriving at Madrid\u00a0can become overwhelmed when they try to converse with the locals. I mean, they just speak so quickly! No amount of study with audiobooks and online courses can really prepare you for the whirlwind that is a conversation with a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":4391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1333],"tags":[1071,1072,1070],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4388"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4388"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11466,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4388\/revisions\/11466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}