Language/Multiple-languages/Culture/Find-the-Ideal-Penpal

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Pen Pals: Tips on Pen Pal Correspondence
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Although this article is long, I’ve tried to make it as attractive as possible to engage your attention. However, there are some highlighted lists which you can read and decide to skip the rest.

It goes without saying that the best way to learn a language is to speak it. In my opinion, the best way to learn a language is to practice it. Learning a language by oneself has a lot of hiccups. Apart from the daunting task of combing the web for ideal learning resources, battling conjugations and boycotting grammar rules (don’t worry I won’t tell on you 😊 ), you might make a startling discovery that you have no one to practice with. Yep! No one to whom you can brag about your latest exploits in your target language or your recent 5000-word-per-day memorization record. Been there, done that. That’s when serious doubts start fermenting – do you love the language enough to stick with it for better and for worse.

Well there’s good news. ♪Pen pals!♪ In the language learning community pen pals are people who are fluent in your target language and with whom you keep a correspondence with the intent of exchanging your language knowledge. Thankfully, for those who develop cold feet at the sight of pen and paper, the pen pal community has been shifted to the electronic world.

Why Pen pals: What You Can Gain from Pen Pals[edit | edit source]

Motivation[edit | edit source]

Finding a pen pal to correspond with is very essential because it gives you the opportunity to share your daily progress reports to a listening ear and keep the fire burning. Even if you insist on giving up along the line, the fact that your pen pal will still need your help to learn your language will make you continue teaching your pen pal and in the same vein learning your target language – unless you decide to be a killjoy and close out entirely.

Inside news / How it is really done[edit | edit source]

Correspondence with a pen pal will give you access to the fundamentals of your target language that can’t be found in any textbook or any other learning material. In other words, you will get live updates from “the horse’s mouth 🐎 ”. For example, some words and phrases in your target language may not have direct translations or may be simply untranslatable. In such cases, with the help of your pen pal, you will master such words and phrases and confidently use them in conversation. That way you’ll sound like a native. 😎

Pen pals make you part of the family[edit | edit source]

When the correspondence gets really friendly, your pen pal might introduce you to his / her family. From then on, you’ll get the kisses, hugs, smiley faces and other warm greetings from the family. This is very helpful to boost your commitment and motivation. It is also essential in cases where negative stereotypes exist against your people from those of your target language or vice versa.

Speeds up your language learning process[edit | edit source]

Consistent interaction with a pen pal will accelerate your language learning journey 🏃 and prepare you for greater challenges.

Long term relationships[edit | edit source]

With the right selection of pen pals, long term friendships can be established. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Your experience from helping each other in the learning process will form good bonds and long-lasting friendships because you already know that you are invaluable to one another.

Great! So how do I choose the ideal pen pals? 😮

Tips for acquiring ideal Pen pals for language learning purposes[edit | edit source]

Apart from choosing people who have a passion to learn about your language and culture, native speakers of your target language and people within a certain age range, there are other criteria to help you select ideal pen pals.

Interests

Choose people who share your interests. These interests can be your hobbies, likes, dislikes or profession. Choosing people you can identify with facilitates conversation and encourages the development of stronger bonds.

Temperament

Choose people of the same temperament as yourself. Sparing the technical jargon, if you’re an introvert, go for an introvert, if an extrovert, go for an extrovert. Its important to acquire pen pals who understand your personality and perhaps mood swings. This will prevent misunderstandings and enable you get on like a house on fire.

Here is a nice tip to find penpals here on the site:

  1. Write a small essay here: https://polyglotclub.com/language/note
  2. People will correct it and then ask them for a language exchange 😊    

Tips on How to Correspond with Your Pen Pal[edit | edit source]

Perhaps you find yourself asking your pen pal the exact same questions or saying, “What topic can we discuss today, I’m out of ideas….”. Here are some tips to ensure the flow of the correspondence.

✏ Share a story about your day or a little make up story in your own language with your pen pal and your pen pal does likewise in his / her own language (your target language). After this you and your pen pal will switch languages and correct each other.

✏ Have a messaging session in which you constrain yourself to chat in your target language (without the use of a translator), your pen pal in your language and you correct each other. Feel free to laugh at each other’s mistakes – its good for the learning process.

✏ Exchange quizzes and riddles from each other’s languages.

✏ Give each other timed challenges and projects which you deliver in each your target languages.

✏ Organise days for cultural exchange when you each prepare a short story or narrative about selected aspects of your culture to share with one another. It could be about festivals, carnivals, traditional recipes and whatnot. This should be done using both languages for each person.

✏ Recommend good movies and books for each other.

Sharing your favourites with your pen pal provides them with tried and trusted learning materials. Evidently, the best way to get started with movies and literature in a foreign language is via recommendation. Getting this recommendation from the net is one thing but getting it from a close associate brings it closer to home because, close acquaintances will understand your criteria better than strangers.

✏ Show concern

One of the best sources of motivation is encouragement. Phrases like, “you’re doing great”, “well done”, “very good” and “you’re really fast” are indispensable in the world of motivation. Don’t be too absorbed in trying to make your own progress or wait for your pen pal to jump over the moon before you give words of encouragement. Show concern, learn more about your pen pal, discover his / her likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc.

✏ Progress report sheet

Apart from sharing your language learning progress with your pen pal, it’s advisable to keep a personal progress report sheet. Create a colourful, attractive and portable report sheet where you record your language learning achievements. Be objective. Record your achievements before acquiring a pen pal under a heading such as initial achievements. Haven’t kept track of your personal progress before your pen pal? That’s okay, it’s never too late to ask yourself some simple questions. Just ascertain a rough estimate of what your personal progress was; the books you read, the topics you covered, the words you mastered and of course the time it took you to accomplish these. Then record your progress after beginning the correspondence with your pen pal in the same manner paying attention to the time taken. Rumour has it that with your report sheet, you’ll discover that you’ve made more and longer lasting progress in shorter time with the influence of your pen pal. I don’t know. What will be your story?

✏ Activity Checklist

It will be helpful to keep an activity checklist of the language exchange activities that you and your pen pal have engaged each other in so as not to end up repeating the same lines. This keeps the correspondence interesting and lively.

Progress Report Sheet[edit | edit source]

...still in progress 😊

Reading Skills Listening Skills Writing Skills Speaking Skills Lessons Cultural Awareness
Description Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension Ability to Recognise and Pronounce Words and Sentences Properly (Phonic and Phonemic Awareness) Time Taken Additional Details Description Testing Understanding Questioning Building / Filling in Feedback Summarising Time Taken Additional Details Description Central Idea (Did Your Reader Understand the Central Idea of Your Write Up?) Organisation Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Use of Figurative Language / Literary Devices Time Taken Additional Details Description Comprehension Grammar Pronunciation Fluency Vocabulary Time taken Additional Details Title Vocabulary Comprehension Feedback (Exercises) Summarising Time Taken * Optional
*Example* April 2015
  • Fortuna
  • 180 pages
First three pages in 5 hours. 😅 Learnt a lot of words.
  • Good understanding,
  • Can write summary
First page picked one word at a time. Subsequently, flowed in sentences. 7 days .... A short note to myself Somehow 😕 Even I knew it wasn't good enough None 😞 * Optional
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