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Too shy for Skype? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6694 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes  Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 9 of 25 21 September 2010 at 11:27am | IP Logged |
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Speaking in a telephone is like suddenly losing your eyesight. I hate that feeling, so I don't even own a mobile phone.
On the other hand: speaking through a video telephone is like getting intruders in your home - it's OK if you have invited them, but also somewhat scary. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5372 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 10 of 25 22 September 2010 at 5:09pm | IP Logged |
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Using a webcam, you will get more natural results than if you were using a phone, but you can't expect the same clarity as in real life, and glitches can further complicate matters.
Skype is probably the best alternative to meeting in person, but it remains just that, an alternative. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6529 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 11 of 25 22 September 2010 at 9:34pm | IP Logged |
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Skype doesn't have to have the video turned on. I see the video as a distraction.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5253 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 12 of 25 23 September 2010 at 3:12am | IP Logged |
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For people who do not live in metropolitan areas it is a great alternative. I only know 2 people on my island of 53,000 people who speak Portuguese and one is an Argentinian man who lived in Brazil for 10 years and was married to a Brazilian. Skype allows me to speak Portuguese with native speakers. I can do exercises on-line in Portuguese, then print them to pdf and share them with my language partner. If I get stuck on a word or phrase I can type it in to the chat feature. If I have been watching a video in Portuguese and don't understand something I can send a link to my language partner instantly. I don't use the webcam very much at all because I too, often find it distracting. Besides, it gobbles bandwidth. I love the fact that my language partners are not timid and will correct me in the midst of my conversation. I learn quite a bit from my mistakes.
I'm not only learning Portuguese but I am also learning so much about the culture of Brazil. Skype is a useful and fun way to learn languages! Edited by iguanamon on 23 September 2010 at 3:14am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Élan Senior Member United States Joined 5435 days ago 165 posts - 211 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Persian | Message 13 of 25 24 September 2010 at 6:30pm | IP Logged |
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I'm quite shy about Skype too. If I know my partner speaks English well, I will usually prepare a list of sentences I'd like to learn before I start the voice chat. Then, if I get stuck or am having trouble, I can ask my partner to teach me how to say those sentences in my target language. If nothing else, having the list calms my nerves a bit.
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| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5950 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 14 of 25 24 September 2010 at 11:45pm | IP Logged |
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You might be interested in a format that I use with a particular chat partner. I prepare by writing a very short story in the L2. During the chat, I read one line of the story. My chat partner corrects any mistakes. Then my chat partner translates my sentence into English which is her L2. I correct her mistakes. Then I go on and read the next line of the story, etc. At the end of the story, my chat partner repeats the entire story in English. If she can't remember the story, I repeat it in my L2, so she can finish telling it in English. For me, the hardest part has trying to decide what to write about.
BTW, I don't use a webcam. Sometimes I find the movement of my chat partners to be too distracting. I also am leery about splashing my face on the internet. Not everyone has the same sensibilities about personal images and their use or reuse. Good luck! Edited by Snowflake on 24 September 2010 at 11:50pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Hanekawa Diglot Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5163 days ago 30 posts - 36 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 15 of 25 27 September 2010 at 2:59am | IP Logged |
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I always feel shy over skype. =/
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kraemder Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5175 days ago 1497 posts - 1648 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 16 of 25 30 September 2010 at 10:03am | IP Logged |
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I'm terrified of using skype. I'm shy in general so I'm thinking crap what if I can't think of anything to say... also I would have to clean up my living room which is a mess.
Well I'll continue practicing and this weekend maybe I'll even take a plunge and see what happens. From past experience I share your concern about talking to someone whose English is light years beyond my Spanish. The whole point of having a conversation is to communicate and if the weak link is obviously Spanish then it takes a lot of the point out of it. I will say that some of my best experiences speaking German was when I was in Germany was when I spent time with other foreigners who couldn't speak English. We had to get by with our pitiful German and it was FUN =). I don't know if I wanna use Skype to talk to other people in bad Spanish though. I like the tips some of the other posters are giving though - I suppose it would be nice to prepare some written material ahead of time for them to correct or translate or I don't know. Good luck! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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