Voices en Español

You’ve been studying Spanish for awhile, dutifully doing grammar exercises, watching movies and TV in Spanish, and listening to podcasts, but you have that sinking feeling that your conversational Spanish is still stuck in neutral.

Maybe it was that brief conversation you overheard (and didn’t understand) between two Spanish speakers standing in front of you in an elevator. Perhaps it was the tangled mess of words that came tumbling out when you took your Spanish for a test drive in public and tried to use it with a random stranger in a restaurant or shop.

Any of this sound familiar?

If you think you have to wait until your next vacation to Spain or Costa Rica to practice your Spanish, think again. Thanks to the Internet, you can find plenty of opportunities to do an intercambio (a language exchange).

The way that it works is simple: Two people agree to help each other with their native languages. It’s called a language exchange because the people take turns conversing solely in their respective languages. For example, Fernando from Madrid agrees to meet online via Skype with Harry from London. They spend 30 minutes speaking solely in English and then spend another 30 minutes talking only in Spanish. That’s just an example. There are plenty of ways you can arrange to do an intercambio.

In today’s podcast, I introduce you to one of these intercambio web sites. It’s called The Mixxer and it’s an easy way to meet native Spanish speakers eager to help you with your Spanish. In exchange you agree to help them with their English (or German, French, Chinese, etc., or whatever your native language may be.)

The Mixxer was created by Todd Bryant at Dickinson College. In this podcast, Todd talks about how the Mixxer came about and gives some tips on how to get the most out of the site.

And check back here tomorrow at Voices en Español for more advice on how to arrange a successful intercambio.

¡Hasta pronto!