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Language Partners Exchange Program

About the program

The Department of World Languages and Cultures Language Partners Exchange Program is a program organized by the Language Studies Resource Center to connect students who wish to practice and improve their world language speaking skills.

Language exchange partners can make new friends, benefit from each other’s knowledge, expand their skills, and are better able to engage the world around them. The program is free and open to all Iowa State students.

New cohorts start early in the Fall and Spring semesters, so applicants should make sure to apply quickly. If you already have a language exchange partner from a previous semester, you do not need to apply again (unless a new partner is needed).

Participants can:

  • Improve world language conversation skills 
  • Practice everyday terms and phrases in a world language 
  • Build social networks through friendly interactions 
  • Gain additional language preparation for study/internship abroad 

The quality of your experience depends on the reciprocal participation of each student. We strive to match students who are interested in practicing another language with a native speaker of that language. If this is not possible, non-native student learners are matched together. To get started, WLC students should fill out the LPEP Application Form. Once we have reviewed applications, we will send all participants information about their language exchange partners.

It is the responsibility of each language exchange partner pair to determine when to meet. We recommend meeting once a week for at least one hour. Students should have some prior training in the language they want to practice and should be able to carry a basic conversation. Do not expect to learn a language for the first time with your language exchange partner. This program is recommended for language students with at least intermediate proficiency in the language (2nd year) and is limited to students currently enrolled in at least one class at Iowa State University.

We strive to find a match for every person who requests a language exchange partner, but we cannot make any guarantees.

Please note: We recommend that all language partner exchange meetings take place in the Language Studies Resource Center, 3142 Pearson Hall. This is to ensure both safety and convenience.

Frequently asked questions

The language partner exchange program is a free program that connects students through language exchange. The success of the program depends entirely on participants and each person’s enthusiasm to learn a language. Students are matched up based on the language they want to practice and/or language that they are willing to share. Each student pair is encouraged to meet once a week for at least one hour to practice their conversation skills

Interested participants should fill out this information form. NOTE that sign-up is only processed during the first three weeks of spring and fall semesters, after which partners are assigned.

We try to advertise for interested native speakers but we cannot guarantee that your language exchange partner will be a native speaker of the language you want to practice. You may instead be paired with another language learner at the same level as your own unless you have noted on the information form that you are willing to meet with someone at a language proficiency level lower than your own.

You can participate in the Language Partner Exchange program if you speak a language that a world languages and cultures student is looking to practice. If we are able to pair you up with someone who want to practice a language you speak, we encourage you and your partner to also practice English, so that you may benefit from that. Native speakers of non-English languages may sign up using this form.

If you don’t speak a language that any student in world languages needs to practice, you can still apply, but you should know there is only a small chance for you to be paired up with anyone.

We do our best to accommodate everyone’s preferences—however, we can’t guarantee that there is someone among the interested native speakers or another WLC student in the program who is the perfect match. There is a chance in any given semester that another speaker of your target language may not be available.

We are a small team working to match several students in all of the languages we offer. We will send out information as soon as we have matched up all students for the semester. Information about pairings are typically sent out during the third week of the spring and fall semesters. Thank you for your patience!

The LSRC usually arranges an initial meeting where all partners can meet up and socialize. For that reason, we strongly encourage you to find time to attend this event. At the event, we will arrange for some activities to help you get to know each other and encourage you to agree on a weekly meeting schedule before you leave the event.

Please allow at least 48 hours for your partner to respond. Since all participants are busy Iowa State students, pairs/groups may not always be able to make their schedules work. If your partner decides to leave the program or is unresponsive for an extended period of time, please let us know and we will work to find you a different partner.

Ideally, participants should meet for a minimum of one hour per week.

If you meet with a native speaker of the language you are learning, please try to keep a balance between speaking in English and the language of your exchange partner. We want both partners to be able to gain linguistic, cultural and social skills from the meetings.

Partners are free to have an open conversation about any topic they chose. However, a list of suggested topics is available in the Language Studies Resource Center (LSRC), 3142 Pearson Hall and online on our website.