If you enjoy writing and connecting with other people, having a pen pal is a great way to support your language learning efforts. An opportunity that wouldn’t have been available without her pen pal connection! They went to school and socialised together, and Libby experienced a side of French culture she couldn’t have seen by just going on vacation. After a few months, Libby had the opportunity to go to France where she stayed with Juliette and her family. Their letters would be filled with grammatical errors, and drawings to try and make their points clearer, but neither of them cared they were learning by doing. Libby would send her letters in French and receive a response in English so that Juliette could practice her skills. As part of her school French course, she was connected with a girl called Juliette who came from a town in western France. Take The Guardian columnist Libby Page for example. Developing these friendships can also create opportunities to travel to countries and experience life there as a local. Crafting a letter to send to someone can help you learn new vocabulary, practice talking about specific themes, and improve your grammar. And the practice is still used today, despite all of the technology available to us.īeing a pen pal is a less intimidating way of connecting with someone while practicing your writing skills in your target language. Pen pals have always had their role in language learning.Īs I’ve mentioned, the desire to connect with someone on the other side of the world and practice your language skills before getting to the country predates Internet access and the invention of Skype. How Can a Pen Pal Help You Learn a Language? But the written word remains at the core of their relationship, whether that’s through an app like HelloTalk or good ol’ fashioned pen and paper. Technology has changed how pen pals find each other, with many websites offering to connect pals from all across the globe. She received a response two weeks later, and they’ve been sending bi-weekly letters to each other for the last 72 years! After seeing Alice listed as an American looking for a pen pal in a popular girl’s annual, Nona sent a letter to her from her home in England. Nona Avery and Alice Powers are a great example of this. This might sound like an odd way to start a friendship, but many pen pals go on to become best friends and forge lifelong bonds thanks to these common interests. There would be a short profile about the person who was looking for a pen pal, and you could decide to send them a letter based how well your interests matched up. Traditionally these pen pal opportunities would have been advertised in a newspaper or magazine. They want to connect with the world outside their borders, but on a more personal level. The best pen pals are usually those who have an interest in learning about different people, cultures and languages. Pen pals are long-distance friendships you maintain by writing letters to each other. Let’s look a little closer at what a pen pal is, and how being one can help you learn a language.
Thousands of people all over the world are looking to learn a language with a pen pal, and if you like writing letters (or if you think it’s something you might enjoy), it could be the language learning solution you’ve been looking for. But the desire to connect with people in different countries has been around far longer than the Internet! The postal service has been helping people learn languages and make new friends for hundreds of years.Īnd, even in this technological age, using snail mail to connect can still be incredibly effective. Of course, these days we have Skype and email, which make connecting with others around the world much easier. Have you ever thought about being a pen pal?įinding a pen pal is a great way to connect with people from other parts of the world, to learn a foreign language, and to open yourself up to a new culture.
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