13.02.2024

LANGUAGE TANDEMS

There are many platforms which offer language exchange in Berlin, but a lot of them are more interested in selling their commercial services than actually connecting people. We’d like to help you find your way through the jungle of organizations and companies – so here’s our list for anyone who’s looking for a tandem partner or for language exchange events to improve their speaking skills.
Let’s start with Facebook, where you find the biggest private market for language exchange. The social media giant provides a whole bunch of groups in which you can search for Berlin based tandem partners. All you need to do is join the group and post a request with the language you’d like to learn and the language(s) you can offer. The biggest group here is Language Tandem Berlin with over 15.000 members, followed by Tandem – Language Exchange Berlin with around 6.000 members.
The latter belongs to an organization with the same name which also offers a regular „Language Exchange Party“, where people from different parts of the worlds meet up and find language partners.
A place to meet new people live and direct is also offered by the Berlin edition of Blabla Language Exchange project. The organizers offer regular meetings in a cozy atmosphere where all attendees start talking in English, while starting to build new groups as soon as two people match language-wise. This way you can either speak in your mother tongue or sit with people who speak the language you are learning.
Another social media platform, where you can find language partners is Meetup. Here you have several groups, where people either search one-to-one partners or organize group meetings in order to learn and speak a new language.
If you are looking for a more personal approach, we’d recommend the tandem pool of the website “erstenachhilfe.de”. The layout of the platform is quite old-fashioned, but here, you can start your own profile with additional information like availabilities and hobbies. You can also scroll through the profiles of other people in your area who are looking for a tandem partner.

A more “matchmaking” kind of concept is being offered by “Orbis Humboldtianus”, an international student group that belongs to Humboldt University. To take part in their Language Exchange Market, you can fill out a registration form for language exchange. The group’s matchmaker “Sarah” then tries to find a suitable tandem partner for you on a weekly basis. The group also offers a bi-annual language evening for students.