You are learning German, you already have an adequate vocabulary, you own several topics, you write correctly. How to develop further? We need conversational practice, because it will teach you to use the accumulated knowledge. How to practice German by yourself? The best way is to communicate with a native speaker or a foreigner who is fluent in German.
Modern people have a lot of opportunities. Even the term Sprachtandem is widely used – language exchange. This is a mutually beneficial communication with a foreigner, during which you will practice spoken German, and he will practice Ukrainian or Russian. If earlier for this, one had to go to special events or go abroad, now everything is available online.
In this article we describe several convenient services. With the help of them, you can independently practice German and at the same time find interlocutors by interests. Communication with the carrier is the best option: so it’s realistic to test and improve your knowledge, understand the “weak points”, and gain confidence.
Interlocutors from around the world
Scrabbin service allows you to find a partner for communication in almost any country in the world: users from all residential continents of the planet are registered on it. How to practice spoken German with this project? Just register and use the simple search form. Choose your interlocutor by the language he speaks and wants to learn, by sex, by place of residence (country or even city, which is important if necessary to master a certain dialect). Communication with interlocutors is mostly written, but it is possible to contact via Skype or even meet in person. The site has a forum where users also actively communicate for language exchange.
Tandempartners also offers a convenient way to find interlocutors in order to independently practice spoken German. To use the site must register. In the search form, you must specify your native and target languages. The system will demonstrate a lot of profiles from users who are willing to communicate in German in exchange for communication in Russian or Ukrainian. You can select any user and write to him. When communicating, it is allowed to exchange contacts for a more convenient contact: for example, a video call via Skype.
Conversation practice and training
There are services with the help of which you can independently practice German in the format of free communication with a foreigner and with a powerful theoretical background. The portal italki.com is known to be a queue as an aggregator of free teachers of foreign languages. But also there is a community for language exchange. Like in a real social network, here you can add users as friends and chat. It is also worth mentioning the “Notepad” function: all your entries in it will be visible to other users (including carriers), and they will be able to make corrections there with explanations. In the “Answers” section you can ask a question to the media, and in the “Resources” there is access to training materials.
Another interesting project is busuu.com. This system can be used as an auxiliary (it will not replace these lessons with a teacher). Attention deserves thematic training, a lot of exercise, and a mandatory part of each lesson in the form of live communication with a native speaker and essay. Upon completion, you will need to pass an online exam.
How to practice spoken German: some general tips
What to communicate with foreigners? The peculiarity of the above-mentioned services is that the interlocutors themselves choose topics for conversations. But we recommend focusing on your goals. Suppose if you are planning to travel to Germany as a tourist, communicate on similar topics and ask the media to work on the phrases that will be useful to you during the trip. More tips:
Prepare in advance for any correspondence or live conversation. Think about what you say, look at the words, prepare in advance a few phrases.
Do not forget that the interlocutor also expects good from you. Therefore, give both languages the same amount of time.
Do not go to other languages. If you are practicing with the interlocutor German and Russian, but both are fluent in English – do not be tempted. Only two languages should be present in your communication.