The linguistic TANDEM – Speak to me in your language and I'll teach you mine

Who can take part?

Anyone who wishes to improve his or her linguistic skills. The only criteria are:

• Fluent knowledge of the language you offer (minimum C1)
• Basic skills in the language you are learning (A1 if not A2)
• Reliability, motivation, intellectual curiosity and mutual respect

When, how often and for how long should we meet?

You should agree upon how often you meet and the length of each TANDEM. After a period of at least a semester, you should decide together if you want to continue, suspend or end TANDEM learning. Forum du bilinguisme/Forum fur
die Zweisprachigkeit advises weekly meetings of one hour or fortnightly meetings of 90 minutes.

Where should we go to meet regularly?

For face to face meetings, there are many places available: in cafés, in parks, by the lake, in the canteen of your place of work or education, at a restaurant in your lunch break, while taking a walk, or at one another’s homes. Varying the meeting place can stimulate your conversation, allowing you to share your interests and hobbies with your TANDEM partner.
With virtual meetings, there is no need to find a common location: all you need do is agree with your TANDEM partner which videoconferencing tool you want to use (Skype, Facetime, Zoom etc.).

What to do during a meeting?

Start by getting to know each other. Tell each other about your family, your hobbies, your work, your studies, etc. Then you can exchange and discuss opinions and views (articles, films, reports, etc.), have technical discussions (exchange of experiences, specific vocabulary), be creative (describe photos), learn expressions about your partner's language, role-play, ...

You can find more ideas on our website.

With the TANDEM method:

• You will be able to practice your partner’s language regularly
• You can enrich your vocabulary and develop a lexicon
• You can overcome the difficulties you face in oral expression
• You get to know another culture

TANDEM partners