Foreign Language Penpals

August 18, 2005 8:32 PM

Lingup is a penpal site for practicing foreign languages. You enter in the languages you need to practice, and it teams you up with users with opposite profiles.
Don't know any foreign languages? What are you waiting for?
posted by Edible Energy (13 comments total)

Interesting, thanks!
posted by odinsdream at 8:52 PM on August 18, 2005

Wow, this is great. I start taking Gaelic (Irish) classes next week. Once I've got some wind behind me, I'm going to give this a shot.
posted by 27 at 9:05 PM on August 18, 2005

すごい
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 9:08 PM on August 18, 2005

This is a great idea, but it seems that you can't actually contact people through there unless you buy a membership ($5/mo or $20/yr). I hope I'm mistaken, but it seems all you get for free is access to their forums. It's like a cross between a well-intentioned pen-pal matcher and a seedy singles site.
posted by pocams at 9:37 PM on August 18, 2005

Looks like it's a nice site, but it's excruciatingly slow right now.
posted by strikhedonia at 9:39 PM on August 18, 2005

On preview: yeah, pocams, looks like it's got a membership fee.
posted by strikhedonia at 9:41 PM on August 18, 2005

pocams: huh? Your link points to the sign up page, nothing there about fees.
posted by Edible Energy at 9:43 PM on August 18, 2005

on preview: You guys are talking about the "priveleged" membership, which costs money. Regular membership is free.
posted by Edible Energy at 9:49 PM on August 18, 2005

Edible: Hit the "Learn more about the Club Membership" link there - it brings you to a page explaining what you need the fancy membership for.

For those who don't want to sign up, the page I'm talking about has a series of checkmark graphics explaining that you can "Use the Notepad", "Participate in Discussions", "Search for Language Exchange Partners", or "Join and attend a Lingup Café" without paying a dime. If you want to "[Enjoy] Unlimited Use of the Voice Chat", "Send & Receive Chat Messages", "Send & Receive Private Messages", or "Contact Language Exchange Partners", you need to join the exclusive Club Lingup. I've also tried signing up and contacting people, and it keeps hassling me for the $20.

The "Search" privilege is just that - you can find and look at profiles. If you want to contact those people somehow, you need the "Contact" privilege, hence the paid membership. If there's a way to send a message to someone without paying, I'd really love to hear about it.

Also, Edible, I'm sorry if I came off as tearing down your post - maybe I let my disappointment with the site color my reply.
posted by pocams at 9:57 PM on August 18, 2005

Oh man, you're right. I signed up for an account a year ago, so I got free access through some promotional offer I guess. So I have unrestricted access without paying anything. Bah. Underhanded crap like that pisses me off.
try Shared Talk instead. It's free. And pocams sorry for being irritated, because I was logged in already I was seeing different screens than you.
posted by Edible Energy at 10:22 PM on August 18, 2005

/me flags this post and emails matt
posted by Edible Energy at 10:28 PM on August 18, 2005

I'm disappointed by the hidden fee too.

Sharedtalk is a nice rescue, though.
posted by mosch at 10:48 PM on August 18, 2005

Speaking from experience, Japanese language exchange never works.
It almost always winds up being English lessons for the Japanese person and absolutely nothing for you.
posted by nightchrome at 10:49 PM on August 18, 2005