What are Language Buddies?

Go on!
Don’t be afraid!
Why don’t you say something?

If you have friends who know you’re learning English, you’ve probably heard these requests before. Don’t they know it’s not that easy? Speaking English is hard! You want to speak it correctly, but it’s complicated. You might not always find the correct word. Or maybe your mouth refuses to make the right sounds. Even if you’re a highly social person, it can be scary to speak in another language, especially in a group.

Wondering how to overcome these problems and fears?

Language Buddies is the solution!

Chatting is a fun, friendly way to learn English from native or near-native speakers. You can talk or video chat. You can learn every-day words an expressions that are not in your coursebooks! You can get cultural insights from your chat-partners. You will gain confidence and improve your pronunciation. But above all, you will have fun, lots of fun.

And it’s completely free!

For native or near-native speakers of English, English teacher students, English teachers or any equivalent profile, Language Buddies offers the opportunity to become a mentor to a student (mostly teachers in training) in a well-organized manner.

How does it work?

It’s quite simple.
On one side, there are mentors, native or near-native speakers, who commit having two hours a week of online conversation with a mentee in a developing country.

On the other side, there are mentees, students and teachers in developing countries who want to improve their language proficiency.

Mentor and mentee meet one-to-one, using a tool of their choice (Zoom, Messenger, WhatsApp, Teams or any other tool).

It is important to have a regular schedule, for example, every Monday at 17.00 and every Saturday at 11:00.

The topics of conversation are communicated a few days in advance. Mentor and mentee will receive a ‘Target language Sheet’. This ‘Target Language Sheet’ is a tool. It’s a vocabulary and idioms list that helps mentor and mentee to keep the conversation alive. It’s not a list of all words that need to be used, it’s a list of words that can be used.

Mentors also receive a ‘Helper Sheet’. This ‘Helper Sheet’ contains a series of questions that the mentor can use during the conversations. Again, it’s a tool, not a list of mandatory questions!

But you’re free to deviate as much as you want, after all, the purpose of Language Buddies is to help people practising their day-to-day English!

Who can participate?

Language Buddies targets:

  • Early career English teachers and English teachers in training in developing countries can become Language Buddy mentees.

    As the Language Buddies platform always cooperates with a local organisation, currently mentees are accepted from the following countries:
Flag of Cambodia

Cambodia (local partner: The Angkor Tree Project-Teacher Development Organisation

Peru (local partner: Oye lena

Togo (local partner: Togo Debout

  • Native or near-native speakers of English, English teacher students, English teachers or any equivalent profile (retired teachers, educators, language coaches ….) are welcome as Language Buddy mentors. Universities and Teacher Training colleges are welcome to include ‘Language Buddies’ as an extra activity for their students.

  • Organisations working with English Teachers in developing countries are invited to implement Language Buddies in their respective countries. Contact us for more information and guidance.

Join now!

A program lasts between 15 and 25 weeks. You decide for how long you can be available, 15 weeks being the minimum.

Signup form for mentees : click here

Signup form for mentors : click here

Login page for mentors : tdso.online

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