What Are The Best Apps For Language Exchanges?

Language exchanges can be a lot of fun, but where exactly should you be going to find some language partners, what are the best apps?

There are loads of apps and some are certainly better than others, so I will go through the ones I like to use and why. Then you can try them out and hopefully agree with my assessments. 

(You can read more about – What Are Language Exchange Partners?)

Hellotalk Is The Best language Exchange App

For me, Hellotalk is the best language exchange app. It also seems to be the most popular, which is probably why it is the best, you have a higher chance of meeting someone decent on there.

The app its self has gone through a lot of changes in recent years. It used to be very basic and now it has all sorts of features, such as live streaming and places you can post updates and pictures.

There is also a section where you can do some lessons. It is more like a sort of mix of social media now and a learning app, all based around languages. I think most of the changes are positive, even if I don’t really use any of these new features.

The app itself also looks good and is easy to use. You can message people through text and you can send audios as well as make phone calls. There is also an option to highlight what someone has typed and correct their wording. It is free to use, but there is a paid membership that allows you access to more features, such as being able to add more than language at once and see you has viewed your profile.

To use Hellotalk you just need to make an account and then you can see who is online, then check out their profile and start talking to them.

The one downside is that there does seem to be a number of fake accounts and scammers. When I first started using the app it was just language learners and it was awesome, but things seemed to have changed recently.

However, there are still plenty of genuine learners on there so it’s not a total disaster; it is still my favourite app for language exchanges.    

You can join here –  https://www.hellotalk.com/

InterPals Is Outdated, But Can Be Good

Interpals free to use and is great… but it’s also so bad. If you are old enough to remember myspace, then Interpals will remind you of that.

The website is so outdated and dreadful and the app is pretty similar. In fact I don’t even use the app, it just kept crashing on my phone, so now I only use the web browser version.

I’m not really making this sound to great am I? The real problem is that a lot of the people on there are not great.

There just seems to be an endless supply of fake accounts from scammers and sleazy men. There are some genuine people on here, and they are great. They are usually the shy type of people who are a bit cold at first but once you get them to open up they are the most fantastic people.

If you can over look all the fake accounts and dreadful looking website this is a good site for language exchanges. Although I have actually met a lot of people on here who are not learning a language I am learning, so we just talk in English, but I’m okay with that.

While it is technically a language exchange site, it is also a sort of penpal site, so this is why you sometimes end up speaking to someone who you can’t exchange with.

There is an option on your profile to say what kind of person you are looking for, such as language partner …but one of the options is “romance” so may it is also some sort of dating site too? Maybe that explains why there are so many creeps.

I do use this site a lot, but it frustrates me a lot at the same time. Can I recommend it… yes and no. Give it a try, but I think most of you will delete your account within a few days.

You can join here – https://www.interpals.net/

Tandem Has So Much Potential 

Tandem is an app I have tried to used a lot, but not really had much success with. I like how it’s set up and how it’s designed. It’s fairly simple and clean looking and does exactly what you want from a language app.

It runs smoothly and gives you the option to send messages or call people and there are plenty of people on it. It is free to use, although there is a “pro membership” that allows you to connect to more people and see who has looked at your account and little things like that.

Honestly, I haven’t had much success with actually connecting with someone. I either get my initial message totally ignored or I get ghosted after a few conversations. It’s also probably the app where I get the least inbound messages. Maybe this is because I use the free version, but I’m not sure. My experience so far doesn’t want to make me pay.

On apps like interpals you are bombarded with people messaging you, of course they are all fake accounts, but at least you are getting messages. This makes me feel like the people on tandem are genuine; but they are also just not very trusting.

Personally I find it quite frustrating, I want to talk to people and practice …and this is what this app is for, but it feel like no one is actually talking to each other …well, they are not talking to me.

All I can say is that you should try it, maybe it’s just me and my bio and picture are putting people off and that is why no one wants to talk to me on there.

You can join here – https://app.tandem.net/en/download

Others Language Exchange Apps

There are also plenty of other language exchange apps out there, and to be honest I haven’t tried them.

I’m sure some of them are fine, but they are just not as popular and while my job here is to let you know what the best one is and try them all out …if no one is using them then it’s pointless. The whole point of them is to find someone to talk to and practice your language, so you need people on the app.

I always ask anyone I speak with “Do you use or have you used any other language exchange apps?” I do get some answers, but most often it is no.

As soon as I start to hear the same app being mentioned over and over again, then I will try it out.

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Language Exchange Partners)

Language Exchanges Are All About Popularity

There is obviously a strange psychology where people tend to stick with what is “popular”. The more people that are on an app, the better everyone thinks it is and they all just use that. 

What makes Hellotalk so good isn’t so much its function, but the amount of users. It makes sense that we think like this, as I know I can go on there and find some good people to talk to.

Interpals is a terrible platform, but there are people there and this is why it still popular, even if it is also now full of scammers trying to exploit people.

I also think this is why I have not seen success on Tandem, it seems there might be a decent amount of people using the app, but the fact I struggle to find people to talk to makes me think there may not actually be that many users.

The lack of popularity of all the other apps is what makes them not worth mentioning. They may actually be better, but if no one is using them, then they are pointless. It’s harsh, but these apps are about the people, not the functions and right now Hellotalk as the most people who are willing to talk to you.

(You can read more about – Why Are There So Many Idiots On Language Exchanges?)

Conclusion

So as you can see language apps come down to how many people are on them, which is why Hellotalk is the winner and is currently the best app for language exchanges.

I am sure some other app will come along and a lot of people will start using that and maybe it will become the best one, but for now, try Hellotalk. There are plenty of people on there you can practice with and improve your language skills. 

(You can read more about – Are There Any Language Apps That Focus On Immersion?)