Craigslist "language exchange" postings

[mfan]

There are always a lot of "My Spanish for your English" (or my English for your Chinese, etc.) language postings. Supposedly they are offering to teach you their language if you teach them yours.

 

Are any of these legitimate, or are they just people looking for others to date and flirt with? Ever try one? Thanks very much.

[fLuiD]

Craigslist has gotten such a bad rep that the only thing I trust on there are some of the For Sale ads. Other than that, especially anything that involves meeting up, is best to shrug it off and ignore.

[newwave]

Craigslist has become a joke. I've answered jobs ads and found out they were scams. I posted my resume and 90% of the jobs weren't legit. I've posted an ad looking for a boyfriend and the majority of the guys were looking for sex (or were porn sites).

[pinkelephant]

My friend found her legitimate french tutor on there. She loves craiglist, but I find it sketchy. I think you have to have a really good screening system, something like "my english for your spanish" doesn't sound particularly legit.

[bluegradient]

Have you tried InterPals for language exchange? It's sort of like a Facebook for finding people in foreign countries to talk to. It has it's share of shady folks just like the rest of the internet but I was able to use it to connect with a couple Russian people when I was trying to learn Russian. Their English was much better than my Russian of course.

 

Craigslist weirds me out because no ad that I have ever responded to on there replied back to me. I would think yeah maybe some had better offers or weren't interested and didn't respond, but every single one? Seems odd to me. With no responses I can't even be sure anything I ever sent got through.

[kevinv]

Language exchanges are very popular in other parts of the world, so people come to this country and post because it's something common for them.

 

If you meet in a public place, there is nothing sketchy about it. If you are worried about them wanting a date, then choose same sex(or opposite of your orientation). It may take a few tries to get a good language exchange, but they can be very beneficial(And FREE!)

 

I recommend a new language exchange community that is becoming very popular. You can find it on FB or twitter too... It's called link removed - Create a profile and search for a partner on there if you feel safer, but always meet in a public place at first and let them know you are serious about learning.

 

Hope that helps!!