JPod101 / EngPod101 Collaboration

[prettynappy]

Not sure if this has been suggested yet, & just a thought...
Would there be any way to set up a way for JPod101 and EngPod101 users to trade conversation practice? I'm using JPod and it's working out GREAT, but I can't help but feel I would be a lot further along in my acquisition if I had someone to help with the conversation part of learning. I live in a super small town with no native speakers (hence my signing up for an online course) and though I can understand Japanese fairly well, I'm completely lost when it comes to responding.

Thanks!

T

[Javizy]

I just mentioned Japan Forum in another thread, a site where you can find a language exchange friend, which might be of interest to you.

I wonder if a forum like that you're suggesting might better attract users. There are thousands of regular users, but only a relative handful post on this site, and a total of 0 on English Pod, despite the constant encouragement from Peter and co. Something meant specifically for language exchange might be more appealing to some, since everybody needs to practice. It could be arranged by language (English/Japanese) and maybe difficulty level (newbie/Beginner/intermediate), and easily accessible from both sites.

I find the ridiculous number of categories on the English Pod forum a bit offputting, there are about 10 categories that could be represented simply by "Culture". I think you should let posts determine forums, not the other way round. If a listener's lounge forum is overrun with music topics, then create a music Forum, don't create a music forum that forces users to throw their new topic into the empty abyss of a dead forum.

[markystar]

yeah, a simple 3rd forum with culture exchange and language exchange only, might be nice to facilitate dialog between the users.

but i'm not really involved in epod101 except for helping out with little things. but i'll point this out to them.