For example, John Milton gave Roger Williams an opportunity to practise Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French, while receiving lessons in Dutch in exchange.
[3] Language exchange first came about in the early 1800s where school aged children in England were introduced to the newly set up program.
[2] French and German youth picked up language exchange in 1968 which then spread to Turkey and Madrid.
In addition, various offline organizations exist to facilitate language exchanges, such as Tandem language learning and Unilang, as well as mobile apps like uTandem, Tandem, HelloTalk (founded by Zackery Ngai, a Chinese CEO, is headquartered in Shenzhen, China).
Some of the apps will connect you based on interests, location or just with a native speaker of the language you are searching for.
In Canada, the Katimavik programme is addressed to young volunteers aged 17 to 21; This program has cultural aims and allows them to practice the second official language in three Canadian provinces.
Language exchanges tend to benefit oral proficiency, fluency, colloquial vocabulary acquisition, and vernacular usage.
The native speakers who are helping these people may feel a new sense of motivation since they are now responsible for teaching this person.
[2][9] With the growth of the internet, language exchanges using social networks and voice-over-IP technologies have become increasingly popular.