Chatting in a foreign language

You can try your hand at chatting with someone in a foreign language. There are a few resources to allow you to do this which I’ll mention a little later on in this newsletter.

Chatting in the foreign language with a native speaker of that language is a good way to learn a new language. There are many chatrooms where you can connect with people who speak Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, German, Japanese, and many other languages. It’s a good way to “talk” to a native speaker without having to immediately comprehend what they’re saying or immediately respond to them.

There are, however, a few “rules” that you should follow in order to get the most out of these sessions:

Let them know you’re not a native speaker. You should have something in your profile written in the language you’re going to chat in, that lets prospective chatting partners know who you are and your level of knowledge of their language and culture. Also, let them know in your profile that you’re a novice (if that’s the case) to their language and want to chat with people in order to learn more about their culture, country, and language.
Have a translation program or web site handy. I recommend the babelfish web site at: http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr. That site has translations for many languages. You can also cut and paste the translations into your chat windows very easily.
Try to locate rooms that seem to welcome non-native speakers. I don’t mean you should go into rooms that are filled with, say, most people who speak English yet are trying to learn French. No, that way you’ll only pick up “bad” French from non-native speakers! Don’t get frustrated if babelfish isn’t able to translate everything your chatting partner types. People mis-type and use shortcuts in every language (we use “lol”, people in some Spanish-speaking countries use “jajaja”).
Once in a chat room, simply “lurk” for a bit, perhaps reading the profiles of some of the members of the room in order to see whom you may have something in common or want to chat with. You may even start by saying “hi” to everyone in the room. There will be people that respond to you. From there you can ask if they want to chat with you privately. Don’t be offended if you don’t get much of a response to your offer. Not everyone will have the patience to “teach” someone their language.

Some messaging resources I’d recommend:

- Windows instant messenger – you can chat with anyone who has a “passport” or hotmail” account. There are no “chat rooms” with this tool, you have to find people to that with first, then use this tool to chat with them.

- Yahoo! messenger – you can find this at: www.yahoo.com (search for “messenger”). You can use it either from within your browser, or download a separate application. You can find people via different chat rooms with both of these methods.

- ICQ – I haven’t used this at all in recent years but many people still do. You can find out more about ICQ at: http://www.icq.com/homepage.html

- AOL or AOL instant messenger – find out about both at: www.aol.com. Using AOL allows you to find and join chat rooms. Using the stand-alone AOL instant messenger does not allow this capability. You can, however, chat with AOL members from AOL messenger, even if you don’t have an AOL account.

Try to keep a “list” of new words you pick up. You should add these to your list of words and phrases you’re already learning. These are important words because, as you will see, they are used by native speakers, as opposed to words you see in text books.

I wish you luck with your encounters with your new friends!

Do you have any other suggestions for things that were particularly helpful to you learning another language? Just click on the “Contact Us” link below and let us know. We may do an article on the suggestions you provide! (with full credit and disclosure given of course!)

Speak Germarn