Language exchange

• It’s a space where you can practice a foreign language, through conversation.
• A language exchange is not a language class. It is a space to chat with another person who, like you, is looking to practice a language that is not their native language. (You act as an expert speaker of your language and your partner is an expert speaker of another language.)
• You should set a regular time for your conversations with your partner.
• To keep the exchange fair, you should divide your sessions so that you practice both languages for an equal amount of time. For instance, if you agree to meet for one-hour sessions, you should spend 30 minutes in each language.

• Sign up for the program with our form here. This form asks you for an email address and your language profile (the languages you speak, the languages you’d like to practice, the languages you can offer others, etc.).
• You’ll receive an email from us in which we’ll put you in touch with another person whose profile fits with yours so you can become Language Exchange partners.
• After that point, you’ll be able to get in touch with your language partner to practice the languages you’re both looking to practice. Get in touch with the contact details you’re given and set your first meeting to have your conversation sessions via videocall (Microsoft Teams, Skype, or whichever tool you prefer).
• Meet up regularly (ideally once per week) at your agreed upon time.

• Sign up for the Language Exchange at no cost, from October onward, by completing our form at: https://forms.office.com/e/eEVERDfM4P and we’ll get in touch with you to find you a partner.
• You can sign up by completing the form from October onward. You can choose to participate in the program at any time during the school year from October to late May. Naturally, it will be easier to find you an exchange partner if you sign up at the beginning of the year.

• This language exchange program is mainly geared toward practicing Spanish, English, German, and French with native speakers of those languages, thanks to the diversity of European universities participating in the program. Nonetheless, if you’d like to practice another language, please indicate it when you fill out the form. Who knows? Maybe we’ll find someone for you...

• All USJ students, lecturers, and staff interested in participating in a language exchange.
• All students, lecturers, and staff from the following universities interested in participating in a language exchange:

                            Cardiff Metropolitan University

                            University of Central Lancashire

                            University of Aberystwyth

                            Philipps-Universität Marburg

                            University of Manchester

• If your language exchange partnership ceases to function or doesn’t work out as you expected, you can get in touch with the head of USJ Language Exchange (Clara Lairla: clairla@usj.es)  or, if your university gave you another contact, you can also get in touch with them.

• In case you don’t know what to talk about the first time, you run out of ideas as the weeks go by, or you simply prefer to schedule your talks with pre-established topics, here are some links to various pages with current events and a wide variety of resources where you can find ideas for topics of conversation.
• To break the ice, make a plan before your first session. That way you’ll be ready to chat.