Recently, quite often there are articles on how to practice English with a native speaker, which is not surprising, it is very difficult to learn to speak without practice. Having tried several different online dating services for the purpose of exchanging languages, I became convinced that this is not the best way to practice. First, there is a very high demand for native speakers of English. Secondly, among the speakers of English, there are quite a few who want to learn Russian. In addition, if you are a man (like me), the demand for you will be even less. In the end, I realized that this was a dead number and stopped my vain attempts, however, native speakers themselves appeared in my life, and I would like to share where it is easiest to find them in your city.


First of all, this article is addressed to residents of large cities, since foreign visitors come mainly here. But do not forget that foreigners can be not only people from rich countries who came to work in a major city, but also students from Africa, for whom English or French can be their mother tongue; or hitchhikers traveling to unpopular places.

The article will talk about the practice of the English language, because this is the language that I learn, but it can be applied to any other language, and the more popular this language is, the easier it will be to find its speakers.
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Training

First of all, I would like to mention some points that make it practically impossible to practice the language. This is a purely subjective opinion, so this chapter can be safely omitted. These points may seem obvious, but you should not forget them:

• Do not be afraid to talk with errors

All are mistaken. Adequate people will treat this with understanding: if a person speaks a language with errors, most likely, he knows at least one more language.

• Do not fool people

Some people meet foreigners for the sake of practicing language, while they are told that they are looking for love / husband / wife. Deception will be revealed sooner or later, and they will not forgive you.

• Do not look for people just for the sake of language practice.

Unfortunately, many foreign guests complain that they are used to get a visa / practice language. It is unlikely that someone will be pleased to communicate with a person who uses it only for the practice of language, except in the case when the interlocutors are interested in language exchange. It is better to find common interests and discuss them.

Option One: Couchsurfing

For those who are not yet in the know, Couchsurfing is a service for travelers, which is aimed primarily at free staying and receiving guests in their city. If your city is popular among tourists, then Couchsurfing is perfect. There are several options for using couchsurfing to practice the language:

Reception at home

The surest way. You can search for interesting people who come to your city by profiles and reviews. The main thing - do not forget about hospitality, and people themselves will be pulled. And then, who knows, maybe you will once gather in another country, and there already have friends.

Search for people who came to your city

This method is more complicated than the previous one, since in the first case one usually doesn’t even have to look for: there are more travelers than those who want to shelter them. In this case, you will have to look for yourself among those people who have publicly written that they are going to your city. Such people are displayed in the Travelers section for any city. Or in the Discussions section, if they decide to write for themselves, ask about something.

Hangouts

Such a possibility in couchsurfing has appeared recently, only for mobile applications. It is a service to search for people in the neighborhood, where it is also included. To use, you need GPS and a short status about what you want to do (all statuses start with the phrase I want to ...). This way you can find people who at the moment want to do the same thing as you.

Public events

This way, in my opinion, is the most difficult for Russia, since 80% of Russian-speaking people usually come to such meetings, they have no relation to couchsurfing and just want to practice English. But in general, you can just have a nice time, such meetings usually take place every week in a bar.

Option Two: Protestant Church

This method is not suitable for everyone. I do not consider myself a Protestant and many times asked how the parishioners treat non-Christians. No one had any problems with this, so I don’t think that anyone could be offended. The main thing is not to argue on religious topics and not to convince other people of their point of view.

I am now talking about major cities in which there are Protestant churches in English. The main thing to choose for yourself is the one that is quite common in the English-speaking world and is not too radical. The fact is that the United States is a fairly religious country, and many Americans go to church on Sundays, not excluding those who work in Russia. Nor should we forget about Africans who converted to Christianity thanks to Great Britain.

Churches can be very different. In my opinion, a good option is not too traditional. At the service they usually sing songs, discuss some chapters of the Bible, and then drink tea. It is at the last stage that everyone gets acquainted.

Total

Undoubtedly, both methods can be used both together and separately, as you wish. It is possible and easy to search for English-speaking people in bars and clubs, but, in my opinion, this is not very effective, and it’s too obvious to write about it.