Online 'clubbing'

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I find it important to understand how difficult is to remember new words and use correct grammar in a foreign language.

I enjoy learning languages.

I wanted to try PC language programs to tell you a well-rounded opinion.

I've decided to test the much advised Duolingo. I set my language as English and the target one as German. I did a placement test because I'm not on a beginner level. First bad point: I didn't get any feedback. Still, I went on. I didn't go very far though. I gave up when the program marked my sentence "This is a kitchen." as wrong solution and informed me that the correct one was "It is a kitchen." Let me admit: this does not teach real language use at all. A doubt raised in me: what if I know a lot of things right but the program marks my solutions always in this false way? All in all it has turned out that Duolingo will not improve my language knowledge.

I went on to look for alternative options for real language practice. Quite a number of sites came to my sight. Here is a list of them:

• http://www.language-exchanges.org/
• http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/Default.asp
• http://www.lets-talk-in-english.com/
• http://www.conversationexchange.com/index.php?lg=en
• http://reallifeenglish.com/en

They offer a very interesting cultural adventure, a virtual travel round the world from your armchair, namely: language exchange. You list the language(s) you know and share what level you speak them. Then you add the language(s) you would like to learn. Fill in your profile with your name and interests (+ some pages also offer local face-to-face meetings if you are interested) and that's it! Start looking for a partner who is happy to have a conversation with you any time in any of the given languages.

It's the perfect opportunity to speak to a foreigner, even a native speaker however far you live from a real language club.

It's the absolute possibility to enjoy real live conversation in a foreign language and experience how much vocabulary you still need to learn and how much grammar accuracy you are lacking.

I tell you: go online and try yourself because this helps you set your goals for the new period of your learning!