My Language Exchange Reviews

Yahoo! Internet Life coverage of MyLanguageExchange.com

My Language Exchange is "doing extraordinary things online."
- Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, January 2001

"Top 101" websites
- PC World magazine, August 2003

"An e-mail or two is all it takes to find a study partner."
- The New York Times, July 28, 2010

One of "the best ways" to learn a foreign language
- The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2002

My Language Exchange in Montreal TV News

My Language Exchange is "taking off, worldwide."
- CFCF, CTV evening news, 2004
See language exchange news.

What Our Members Say...

I would like to share my sincere gratitude to this website creator. This is the only site that fulfills its main function: where people look for open-minded people and partners in order to learn languages. In just 2 weeks I found a wonderful native Spanish partner here.

Svetlana, Kazan , Russia, Febrary 27, 2024

"Our level of knowledge has increased a lot."

"I must say that it's been great! My first language is Spanish and I'm learning Greek. I've been looking around on the net for months just to find someone to practice that language, but without any success. I was also looking for someone to voice chat, so I thought that it was going to be impossible.

"You made my dream come true. Thank you so much."

When I saw that there were four Greeks registered on your site and one of them wanted to voice chat, I went crazy! I sent him a message and he answered to me a few days later. That was about three weeks ago, and ever since we've been talking and our level of knowledge has increased a lot.

I haven't used the lesson plans nor the how-to guides. I'm quite a very communicative person myself and I always have something to talk about (our conversations last two or more hours every time we meet!!).

I must congratulate you for such a great site. I'm telling all my friends about it, and some have already registered!

Thank you so much for your help. You made my dream come true. Thank you so much."

Juan José Guerrero
Seville (Spain)

Recent testimonials...

Hi Dan,

Congratulations on building a successful online language exchange. When I was younger, I always had penfriends-particularly in the then Soviet Union. I still keep in touch with some right up to now.

Thanks to your website, I have a beautiful new friend in Lusaka, Zambia. I think your website helps bring humanity and curiousity and sharing around the world.

Kind regards

A.P., Canada, August 12, 2024

Your site provides an important service. I have benefitted a lot from talks with my language partners.

Judy, USA, June 24, 2024

well I am so happy I tried your site .....despite the delay... I have found the best spanish tutor in Venezuela and she is a GEM. I have been doing this for years on several sites.....decided yours is the BEST..

Thanks Dale M. , Reno, Nevada, USA

Dale M., Reno, Nevada, USA, June 15, 2024

Thank you very much.
Language exchange help me a lot. In the past two years, I read Chinese ancient documents together with an American granny online. We all believe we made a great progress. So I decided to upgrade to a gold member to help more friends.

...This website has been very helpful to me. If there is anything that can help with the development of the website, I would be happy to see it.

Kind regards
Xiejun

Xiejun, Beijing, China, April 2, 2024

My Language Exchange is a very good website to meet people abroad, and to improve my english .

Thierry, France, Febrary 21, 2024

Your site has been very helpful to my teaching of Spanish for a long time. This week we will practice chatting with each other in preparation for chatting with people we find through mylanguageexchange.com.

October 24, 2023

Also I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for your website "my language exchange" it's been wonderful for me. I'm learning French and I've met two really nice people one of whom has become a regular Skype conversation on a weekly basis, and the other I talked to also on skype for a good few months before he became ill and we had to stop. But it was also a very good connection since we both had the same profession and were very compatible. It's such a rare thing nowadays to find a site which is organised and run on a non-profit basis and has such a wholesome goal! Something that should be celebrated and cherished in this era of evolving and increasingly complex technology.

So I thank you again it's such a great site!

Best wishes

Phoebe

Greater London in the United Kingdom, October 22, 2023

Hi Dan,

I thank you for keeping this website alive for over two decades now, that's when I first started using it. Great job!

Sami in Dubai, October 2, 2023

I like My Language Exchange for "the great focus on language learning and the coaching to make the best of an exchange."

I tried one of the other free language exchange sites out there and I didn't like it, because "It was all about dating and most serious users I spoke with were very frustrated. I blocked so many creeps and spammers in the first hour it was crazy. It also was slow to load."

LingoLady in Canada, September 10, 2023

I like about MLE is that the pen pals participating are real people, mostly. Maybe MLE is not so easy to access for scammers so they do not try to create fake accounts.

Most other language exchange sites are full of fake members so I don't recommend.

MLE seems to be a good site for reason that members are genuine and truly asking for language exchange.

1. Hel**Ta** Fake member contacts me first, and after short chat conversation, they ask me to use other SNS, such as LINE, WhatsApp, etc. I usually ignore them after this klnd of conversation, and eventually fake member account often become "DELETED" when I see their profile afterwards.

2. Int**Pa** When searching other member profile, for the suspicious profile, another member leaves comment such as "scammers". Photos they use are AI like and it is pretty easy to guess.

For site 1., they have so many members that it seems difficult to avoid all of fake members.

For site 2., maybe it seems to be started from web site, their app technology to avoid these fake members seems not enough.

Japan, July 3, 2023

I just want to say thank you for creating this MyLanguageExchange website! I just became a goldmember and I’ve already found great people as language-exchanges here. Thanks to MyLanguageExchange, some of us are now even reading books to each other face-to-face on Skype and using “shadowing” as a teaching modality for practicing our speaking, writing, and language comprehension. I couldn’t have done this without MyLanguageExchange as a phenomenal resource for meeting great people who are just as serious about learning as I am!!!

Even after just a few weeks of being a gold member, I have already organized my teaching and learning methods and I am having a great time working and learning Italian and French!

Again, I just want to give you a heart-felt “thank you” for helping me accomplishing my goal of meeting native speakers and allowing me to meet other great people from Italy and France! I’m also really enjoying building new friendships with other great citizens of the globe.

Thanks again,

David in New England, March 18, 2023

Thanks Dan

Love the site. It has really opened up a lot of possibilities for me and obviously for many others

Cheers
Bill

Bill, Toronto, Canada, March 2, 2022

Hi there,

I just want to tell you how fantastic my experience has been with MyLanguageExchange. I've been corresponding now with one language exchange member for almost a year, and another for a few months. One of my biggest challenges in learning Arabic has been speaking and oral comprehension, and my weekly, hour-long practice sessions with one exchange partner have helped tremendously with this. The other partner prefers a written exchange, but we're both huge language nerds and love chatting about the ins and outs of Arabic and English grammar. So that's been a ton of fun, and I've learned a lot from him about Arabic grammar! I think both these folks will be life-long friends. The one that I've been chatting with for almost a year is someone I feel comfortable telling literally anything going on in my life, and I think she feels the same way. Who knew I'd be able to do it in Arabic!

Anyway I logged back on to find another conversation partner now that work has calmed down a bit and I have some more time. Thank you for this wonderful service. My Arabic has really improved, and I've made two wonderful friends in the process. Take care, and feel free to use this on your site if helpful.
Catherine

Catherine, Pittsburgh, United States, January 4, 2022

If my testimony can help you, know that I am in contact with an extraordinary person from Vietnam: serious, spontaneous, available, dynamic, with a very educational method to teach me her native language.

Thank you 'Mylanguageexchange'.

Respectful greetings.

Bernard Mathieu, Wanze, Belgium, May 31, 2020

Congratulations!

Hello,
This is an amazing site. So easy to use and so handy !
I discovered My Language during the lock-down. Thank you so much.

...In addition, I would like to say that the field "Description contains" is very powerful and helps a lot to find somebody sharing the same areas of interest : writer, musician, etc ...

Thanks !

Another valuable aspect of MLE is the absence of advertisements on the website. It is so relaxing for the eye and to me it also makes the site authentic. Thanks Dan and have a good day,

Regards,
Pierre

Pierre, Paris, France, May 15, 2020

Just so you know, the website has been great. I have found 4 language partners and my German has greatly improved.

Tiffany, Victoria, Canada, May 12, 2020

Really, I love your language exchange platform!
Linguistic exchanges are motivating and I see that in only 3 months, I have already made a lot of progress in several languages.

Delphine, Bordeaux, France, April 1, 2020

If your service did not exist it would have to be invented. Seems like a lot of people are looking for an opportunity to communicate with the world and improve their language skills and familiarity with the rest of humanity. You are providing a great, much needed service to the world.

Jim, Port Dover, Canada, September 3, 2019

Dear Dan,

my name is Paolo and I am an engineer who live close to Venice.
I have no word to thank you for your website. Honestly, it has improved my life. I met here incredible people. Sometimes these people have become friends. Last but not least, It helped me to improve my English. Before writing/chatting here, I was a bad at speaking/writing English. Now... It is so so better.

If you come to Venice in the future, I would like to shake hands personally and offer you a good glass of italian wine.

Thanks to all again.
Bye.

Paolo, Venice, Italy, July 22, 2017

Hello Dan!

thx a lot and congratulation for your website !

Fin 2013, j’en avais assez de prendre des cours d’Anglais ‘’classiques’’ Je trouvais que c’était ennuyeux, et que je ne progressais pas assez. J’ai donc décidé de m’inscrire gratuitement sur ce site que j’avais découvert par hasard, car correspondre avec un étranger, je trouvais le concept intéressant et fun Très vite, j’ai été contacté par Paddy qui était ‘’gold member’’. Nous avons commencé a nous échanger des emails et ensuite nous nous sommes contacter par Skype . Nous avons vite sympathisé ainsi qu’avec sa femme Julie. Très vite nous nous sommes rencontrés pour la première fois en France. Ensuite j’ai eu plusieurs fois l’occasion d’aller en Angleterre et de découvrir la famille de Paddy et Julie, ainsi que leurs amis. Depuis, j’ai fait beaucoup de progrès en Anglais. Depuis plus de trois ans maintenant, nous sommes quotidiennement en contact.

Grace a Mylanguageexchange, je n’ai pas seulement correspondu avec un étranger, j’ai aussi rencontré mon meilleur ami !

Maintenant je suis "gold member" et j'aimerai rencontré d'autres personnes dans d'autres pays!

[Translation by Google Translator... At the end of 2013, I was tired of taking classes of English "classics" I thought it was boring, and that I did not progress enough. I decided to register for free on this site that I had discovered by chance, because to correspond with a stranger, I found the concept interesting and fun Soon, I was contacted by Paddy who was a gold member. We started exchanging emails and then we got in touch with Skype. We quickly sympathized as well as with his wife Julie. Very soon we met for the first time in France. Then I had several times the opportunity to go to England and discover the family of Paddy and Julie, as well as their friends. Since then, I have made a lot of progress in English. For more than three years now, we are in daily contact.

Thanks to Mylanguageexchange, I not only corresponded with a stranger, I also met my best friend!

Now I am "gold member" and I would like to meet other people in other countries! ]

Dixie, Dieppe, France, January 11, 2017

Hey Dan,
I just purchased Gold membership and I have to say I dont regret it one bit.
Comparing the Gold features of your website to the features of other language sites it really makes me see that there is no competition. Looks like the subscription fees are indeed worth it!
Thanks for changing my mind.

Name withheld, Republic of Ireland, March 14, 2015

Thank you for your excellent website, which has all the features I need and is very easy to use. I am bi-lingual English-Spanish, recently began to study European Portuguese, and just went to a language school there for three months. I was very happy with my progress in reading and writing Portuguese. However, once I came back to the USA, I needed more practice speaking. As the old saying goes: "Use it or loose it". Joining your website was the "missing link" in my self-study program. I now have quite a few wonderful language exchange partners in Portugal. My new Portuguese friends are coming to visit me here and I will soon go visit them there. My spoken Portuguese has improved dramaticallly in a few short months. For me, as a retired person, your site has helped me continue to grow and remain engaged with the world around me. In addition, I have been accepted to study for a semester at a university in Portugal, started publishing short stories in Portuguese, and really feel at home in Portuguese and amoung the Portuguese. I could not be happier with MyLanguageExchange. It is a powerful tool for connecting people, improving foreign language fluency, and building an international community. With appreciation, Gerardo do Arizona

Sincerely,
Gerardo do Arizona

Gerardo, Phoenix, Arizona, United States, December 16, 2014

Just wanted to say thank you for this great website. I am learning Russian and your site has connected me with some great people. Great job.
Thanks again,
Elizabeth

...I am a great supporter of your site. Every other site I visited was geared towards dating/hooking up or flirting. Not my intention at all. Ya'll operate a useful page.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.

Elizabeth Briggs

- Elizabeth Briggs, Brooksville, United States, October 11, 2014

...I have been a Gold Member for a number of years and have thoroughly enjoyed your website. It is absolutely the best of its kind that I have found. In your site, I have met many wonderful people and have improved my Spanish and Italian as a result.

Regards
Mike Kelly

- Mike Kelly, southeast United States, February 11, 2014

This site is really really great!
I found 3 partner here, real partners i mean!!
Thank your for such a good site.
Just tanx :)

Hi dear Dan
...it's really great to be here and it would be my pleasure to help improve this site :)
Regards
Hasti

- Hasti Teimouri, January 21 and 22, 2014

My maternal tongue is Spanish and I practice English and French. I've been in MLE for 8 years and since then, I've met many friends to practice. Now both of them are my great friends and I've visited them in USA and France, and I«ve invited them to visit Mexico.

It«s been wonderful to find this partners and practice with them... personally!

(To MLE users:) I hope you will find this special partner and live the unique experience of learning your practicing language with real people!! Have fun in this project!!

Thaks a Lot Dan

- Laura, Guanajuato, Mexico, December 6, 2013

Hi Dan, I am pleased to inform you that I joined my membership as a gold member several days ago. I had several responses from my language partners. I am quite excited for the opportunity to find this site and found out it works so well for me and my partners. We are very pleased with the Internet service you provided for the members. Thank you very much.

Hi Dan, I wanted to add the following comments: In just three days I had received seven responses. These members are so interested and excited in practicing their languages and help their partners. Your language exchange program makes the language learning come alive.

I am gradually learning the site and its benefits to the members, I will grow more in Understanding how to improve more in my Japanese learning. It is the most effective tool I have tried.

Congratulations to you and your team members for developing this great website. Keeping on trucking!

- Gold member, name withheld, September 15 and 16, 2013

...I made acquaintance with Eileen through MyLanguageExchange.com. She was the partner I was looking for. We have been working together for 6 years now and I can say that they were 6 years of steady, continuous improvement in listening, understanding and speaking English. It was done from home, at hours that were convenient for me and for no cost.

The improvement came through totally free talks. Depending on the circumstances, we discussed questions of the moment, risen by the media, or other issues that one or the other of the 2 partners was interested in. Sometimes the talk was about an important event unfolding somewhere in the world, could it be in the US, France or Middle East. Other times, it was on subjects related to religion, economy, science or any other matter. Thus, I learned to better understand how Canadians think, live and do things.

Later, the relationship deepened into friendship. In 2011, my wife and I got to spend Christmas time as Eileen and Andrew’s guests in Ottawa. They served as guides to us through the celebrations and they took us to the Christmas mass at an Anglican church. They introduced us to English speaking Canadians we would otherwise never have met. I hope that, in the other hand, Eileen and Andrew enjoyed being with us in Montreal and that they learned a bit about how North Africans like us think and live.

And all that was possible thanks to MyLanguageExchange.com website and to Skype system.

- Belkacem Kesraoui, June 21, 2013

Read the full testimonial here.

This was part of a presentation to the Office of the Conmmissioner of Official Languages of Canada in Ottawa by My Language Exchange and exclusive partner Friendship Force International. For more information about the presentation by MLE and FFI to OCOL, please click here.

This site is great. Never experienced anything like before. Thanks to Helene Cormier and Dan Yuen who made this dream come true.

Biju
September 22,2012
-----
Hi Dan,

Thanks for your email. So happy to be here and please post my comments in your testimonials section in this website. You can also use my full name. This site is the best way to learn a language from anywhere in the world. You did a great job Dan, more than anything. I consider this site is one of the best for language learning. You made this world an open space to connect with different culture, language and people. Keep it going. God bless you every moment.

Thank you so much.
Biju
September 24, 2012
-----
Dear Dan,

Thank you so much for the reply. Of course you can add my complete text in the last email i have sent to you. Its a honor to contact you again. You guys rocks!!. I don't know how to explain, but its really great to be here.

Cheers!
Biju
September 25, 2012

- Biju (Phoenix Born Again), September, 2012

Mylanguageexchange.com is the best site I have ever seen for language learners, I sincerely hold the idea that it will go on.

Looking forwards to hearing from you!

- Quincy, July 4 2012

I can't express the thanks that I have for this page. It was through the hands of God that I found this page, and I thank him every chance I can.

Keep doing what you guys are doing, because not only do you change the way we learn language, but also the way we live. This is my language exchange, and it's not only given me the chance to become very fluent in Spanish, but also the chance to meet the person that I love so dearly.

God bless you all.

- Ryan Eckerson, Tennessee, United States, February 19 2012

Hi there,

I would like to take the time to thank you for all what this wonderful website did for me. I'm a german native who joined this language exchange website about 4 almost 5 yrs ago in order to improve my english. Today I am fluent in English.

Tons of thanks to you guys.

- Mandy, Germany, September 23 2011

Dear Dan,

Thanks for your email. I am so happy with the Language Exchange website. This is the best way to learn a language that I have found. I have been trying to learn Spanish for several years and talking with a language partner through your site has worked beyond everything else. Thanks for such a great website!

...Please feel free to use my comments in the Member Testimonial section.... I just read through the testimonials section for the first time. I found the comments very interesting and understand completely why your members are so enthusiastic. Congratulations on doing such a great job!

Best Regards,
Renee

- Renee, United States, August 17 2011

Hello Dan,

...I truly love your website and find myself visiting the language exchange website more than any other site on the Internet. I have made many friends who are interested in language exchanges. Because of these friendships I am learning so much about other cultures and the way of life in many other parts of the world...

A very pleased member of www.mylanguageexchange.com,
Don Hoover

- Don Hoover, United States, July 7 2011

Dear Mr. Yuen,

I just want to take a moment and let you know how much I am enjoying MLE. I have met the NICEST people through your site. I have friends who I recommend your site to because, when they find out I have pen pals in Jordan, Egypt and Cairo they are green with envy and want to meet new people too. I am planning a trip to Beijing soon, and I have no doubt I will meet plenty of folks to share cultural exchange with and learn about the city from the locals. (That's always the best way to get to know a city.) Finally, I've been sharing recipes with a pen pal in Jordan. I just filmed and posted on my facebook account the result of the latest cooking adventure. I plan to put it on youtube and will send you the link if you are interested. Now HIS family wants an American recipe and he is filming his home and city for my family to see. None of this would have happened without you. THANK YOU! I think you deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

Very Sincerely,
Stacy Hamlet, OD
Thousand Oaks, California

- Stacy, California, United States, October 13 2010

Dear Dan,

By all means, please post my comments in your testimonials section.... and please feel free to fix any of my typos! : )

In my youth I was able to work and travel all over the globe and met interesting, wonderful people. I really miss that. Now I have a practice, and a family with two small children. International travel is just not something I get to do anymore. However, with your website, I am a few clicks away from making international friends again. I really think this is a grass roots way any individual can promote peace and prosperity in our world. You have made my world better. Thank you.

- Stacy, California, United States, October 14 2010

Hi , i am now member in mylanguageexchange, and i have to tell u, that i am lucky there is such a good website.
i payd for 1 month and during only 1 day i got 3 msn-contacts.
it is so so so nice.
when this month is over, i will do the 1 year membership.....
it is so good site....thanks a lot
Stella^^

- Daao Stella, Berlin, Germany, June 15 2010

Hi Dear Dan,

I hope you are well and everything is ok there :-)

I took my speaking exam last Thursday and the main exam on Saturday. I m not sure about the writing part in the main exam but i will get the mark i need in other parts and about the speaking part i should say it is much better and easier than I thought before. I wanted to say it couldn't be like this if you wasn't. You and your site was the most important help and i m really grateful for that.

Thank you again very very much,

Warm regards,
Amirnaser

- Amirnaser Nemat, Tehran, Iran, April 13 2010

Thank you for your quick reply! I am very impressed with the amazing job you do with this website :).
Just wanted to tell you. Really, Great job!
Andrea Veliz

- Andrea, Montreal, Canada, March 31 2010

Dear Dan,
I wanted to be able to thank you so very much for your web-site. I am so happy to have found it. My interest is the Polish language and already two Polish people have contacted me.

I know that you have made many people very happy.
Congratulations!!!!
Dolores (new usuer)

Dear Dan,
You are most welcome to use my name if that would help your web site. I want you to know that I am not really computer saavy, and I don't visit a lot of web sites. Yours was so friendly and easy to use and provided a wonderful service.

Thanks for your response.
Sincerely,
Dolores

- Dolores, Yorktown Heights, United States, January 4-5 2009

I love this website.

I discovered this website via an internet spanish course with Marcus Santamaria, and I am hooked. I have 3 friends in Spain, 2 of which I speak to on a weekly basis. I have just achieved a grade A in my exams and I am very pleased. The help I have had from the friends on this website has been invaluable.
Thanks again!!!

- Deborah Rees, Cardiff, Wales, UK, August 31 2008

Dear Dan,

We want to thank you for your fantastic website. WE met here two years ago. David was looking for a way to improve his English for work. Briana was looking for a chance to meet people and improve her French. We expected to find correspondants, but what we also found is a the truly wonderful friendship.

David and his family have come to the US twice to visit Briana's family. Briana has traveled in France and will return with her entire family to stay with David's family next summer. We are both now fluent in the other's language. We share more than just language. We share culture, food, hobbies, music, and friendship. It was far more than we ever expected.

Thanks for making it possible.
Briana and David

- Briana, Chicago, United States, December 7 2007

Ciao!
I've been using your site since spring 2006, and I have made many wonderful friends through it. I live in the US and my friends live in Italy. I have met several of them on my trips to Italy.

My life has completely changed because of the opportunity to become friends with these wonderful people who are dedicated to our language exchanges through email and Skype. Because of this, I have hope than I can become fluent in Italian.

Thank you so much for making this possible through the creation of this site!
grazie mille!
Marybeth Bethel

- Marybeth Bethel, near Kansas City, United States, Sept 22 2007

Dan,
Please use my recent comments to you as you like. I will soon take my third trip to Italy since I joined the Language Exchange, and I will be visiting several penpals who have become good friends. I am truly grateful for the chance to learn of another culture by making friends through this site.

grazie ancora,
Marybeth

- Marybeth Bethel, Sept 22 2007

MyLanguageExchange ROCKS.

In March I was accepted into New Bulgarian University master of science program. Living in the USA, I did not know any of the Bulgarian language. Though the program is in English, I wanted to learn enough Bulgarian to get myself around when I arrived to Sofia. I will be here for two years.

Immediately after my acceptance, I joined MyLanguageExchange and emailed about 50 English speaking Bulgarians from Sofia. Over the following months, I made a dozen or so friends from Sofia who helped me out a great deal. I also met a few Bulgarians in Cincinnati, where I was living.

During those months, through MyLanguageExchange, I found a tutor to teach me BG in cincinnati. I found a Bulgarian who had a vacant flat in Sofia where I am now living. I found an English professor at New Bulgarian University who is helping me get a job teaching English at the University. I found many Bulgarian friends in Sofia who have helped me tramendously since my arrival one week ago today.

Without MyLanguageExchange, I would have been absolutely lost here in Sofia. But now I have friends and a very effective network that all formed before my arrival.

I will continue to use MLE to meet more Bulgarians in Sofia. Thank you MLE!

- Adam Danz, formerly of Cincinnati OH, currently from Sofia, Bulgaria, June 27 2007

Dear Dan, dear "My language exchange.com",

I'm just writing to say "THANK YOU" to you, thank you a thousand times for your marvellous website. So far I have only used very little of what you offer but it has helped me so much to improve my French and to find new friends, really interesting and nice people. You warn people not to use their real address and not to meet their pen pals in person and you are right to do so. However, I did risk a bit and have met three of my pen pals in person and they are all great. Thanks to your website I met a Frenchman who is now a good friend of mine, I spent a wonderful week in France with him and his family (this was one of my dreams and it came true)and then he and his family came to Slovakia and now both our families are befriended!

Your website is trustworthy, reliable, incredibly rich and helpful. What a brilliant idea it was!

I am a language teacher and I recommend you to all of my students.

Wishing you all the best,
Lucia Bujnova

- Lucia Bujnova, near Bratislava Slovakia, March 13 2007

Hi Dan,

of course you can reproduce my comments in your Member Testimonials section! "Lucia Bujnova" is my real name and you can include all of it, what I have written is what I believe and I want to encourage other people to sign up because it is definitely worth it. Anonymous letters are less convincing, I think. If you also want to give a link to my profile, you can.

By the way, one of those three pen pals that I have already met in person comes from Canada, which is really far from Slovakia! :) I can see that you are Canadian, too.

I think that if everybody spoke a few foreign languages and got to know a few foreigners, learning about their culture, trying to understand or to a certain extent accept their way of thinking, there would be fewer international conflicts and maybe fewer wars. Your website not only helps people learn foreign languages, it also gives them an opportunity to make friends all over the world, which is very valuable. (You can reproduce that too if you like. :) )

Well, best of luck to you, Dan, and to your wonderful website!
Lucia

- Lucia Bujnova, near Bratislava Slovakia, March 14 2007

Thanks for your website. I only signed up yesterday and am already communicating with 3 people my age from France and Switzerland.
I am very sleepy from staying up late to email but I can feel my French improving already.
Your website has been so simple to use and so effective.
Merci Beaucoup! Thanks!
Caz

- Christchurch, New Zealand, January 3, 2007

Since I found your Website I'm almost everyday here and I'm glad to be a gold-member.

Claudia

Claudia Sauer - Germany, July 16, 2006

Absolutely, words cannot describe the value I have derived from this extraordinary club. Please provide me with information concerning my next membership dues. Over the period of time I have enjoyed membership, I lost track of when the next membership payment is due. Please advise concerning this. This club has been an extraordinary joy for me and I plan on maintaining membership for many years to come.

Van Welton

- Chicago, United States, June 25, 2006

Yes of course you can reproduce the comments. Within the last three days I returned from a two week trip visiting friends, from our club, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (I reside in Chicago, USA) This club is a gateway to the world, and for individuals attempting to expand their minds, this is the ideal method. Thank you for arguably the most productive language club on the entire Internet. I'll pay my dues in advance.

Van Welton

- Van Welton, Chicago, United States, June 26, 2006

I have made so many wonderful friends and contacts through the service...... It is invalueable to me. I can't say enough wonderful things about it!.... Your website has helped me in fulfilling many of my dreams....Thanks.

Risha,
U.S.A.

- March 24, 2006

Hello

I have been using your Gold service for the past several months and I just have to say that it has been fantastic. I was able to connect with an incredible language partner who has been extremely helpful in my quest to learn Swahili. Thank you so much for providing this service.

Asante Sana,
Jason Warren

- Jason Warren, Glen Rock, United States, November 14, 2005

You may use my comments in any way you wish. I am just glad I found your service and I appreciate the opportunity to spread the word about your site.

Thanks,
Jason

- November 15, 2005

Dear Dan Yuen

I just wanted to drop you a note to say Thank You for this wonderful site. I met my Japanese penpal in Japan a couple of weeks ago when my family and I traveled from the US to Japan for vacation.

We had a wonderful time together and she took us sightseeing and we were invited to dinner to meet her family. They were very kind,`generous, helpful and hospitable. They have invited us to stay with them the next time we visit Japan. We have also invited them to stay with us should they ever visit the USA.

Through your site, I have made wonderful friends in Japan.

Thank You!

- Chip Pretzman, Columbus, OH, United States, August 9, 2005

Hello,

I just wanted to tell you that I'm very impressed with your website. I do alot of traveling and have met people where I go. It has been a valuable information tool as a traveler and fun to write/chat with like minded people. All for $6 a month. I blew $8 today on subway fares alone. I'll be around.

Hasta Pronto

- Christopher, New York City, United States, August 2, 2005

I started out to learn a few words of Swahili in prep for a visit to Tanzania. Now I have friends in a town I will visit, I know more Swahili then I ever expected, understand some of the culture, swapped family photos, text chat almost every day, and more!

Thanks for helping to make that happen.

- Colin Charles, Brisbane, Australia, April 6, 2005

I joined as a gold member sometime last year. I met with a lot of people online and in person through your site. Not only did I improve in my language skills (Japanese), but I also was able to get a job and move to the country of that language (Japan). This site was a great aid for me. Thanks.

- Gino Mongelli, Japan, December 28 2004

You can quote me on this, but I think it's a truly remarkable and wonderful site that you have going. It gives people such as myself a place to go and truly learn a language; not from a CD ROM or from lessons, but from the natives that actually speak it. The many benefits I see are that I can learn from the most realistic perspective possible, and even learn things one couldn't learn anywhere else in a language, such as slang or common phrases. Keep doing what you do. The best of luck, and God bless.

- Felix Raikan, United States, October 8 2004

Dear Sir,

I have always wanted a language exchange partner. I searched the Internet for months, but in vain. I logged onto your website, and found one the next day.

Some language learners compare the Internet to a gold mine. I think MyLanguageExchange.com is a mine lamp, without which you have to dig in darkness.

Regards,
Yours faithfully,
Liu

...Feel free to include my first name and give a link to the profile. I hope more people know about your site.

- Liu, Zhengzhou, China, July 27 2004

I am really impressed by the way you make it possible for people wanting to learn/improve a language to get in touch with each other.

I now have the real-time contact I need to implement and check what I learn from texts.

Linguistically, this site helps people get past that frustrating plateau in language learning: being able to get by. With the knowledge, support and experience of your email partner, you can take the risks required to learn more complex language forms, as your partner can with your help.

Caveat: when it comes to casual conversation, you can probably learn a fair bit with a partner of average skills, but if you want to learn more, check that your language partner has the depth of knowledge you need. It is useful to shop around and compare the level of understanding people appear to have of their first language. For example, many people can converse idiomatically in English, but how many can explain why the language is structured the way it is, or why you use a certain word instead of another?

With My Language Exchange, you have the whole world in front of you, so the possibilities for partners of different levels are almost endless.

from Clytie Siddall, lecturer in languages

- Renmark, Australia, July 6 2004

Hi. Just wanted to let you know how successful your site has been for me! I met a new friend from your site. Frank from Germany. We have corresponded by email and later by MSN Messenger since last October. My wife and I invited Frank to visit our family here in Colorado. He came over for 3 weeks in June and we had a super time hosting Frank and he got along wonderfully with our entire family. We now have a good friend in Germany and we are planning a visit to Frank in October. Thanks for everything!

- Mark, Colorado, United States, July 5 2004

Thank you for your significant impact in making the world a much warmer, more open, accepting place! Jesus said we are to let the light within us shine. Boy, are you doing that and letting many, many others do the same. Thanks for realizing your dream. You are a real inspiration.

- Steven Schelling, Reading, United States, June 3 2004

You certainly may use my letter as a testimonial from a very satisfied customer.

- June 4 2004

I am so pleased with My Language Exchange.com that I can't even find the words. It has helped me immensely with my Hungarian, Turkish, Finnish and Portuguese practice. It's ideal for language learners. Not only can you really put your language study to use, but you can meet nice people and make good friends.

THANKS SO MUCH!!

- Kevin Hayden, Massachusetts, United States, December 17 2003

Dear Dan,

Absolutely, use my comments on the testimonials page and you have my permission to use my full name as well! Thanks for using them and for co-founding and creating such an awesome site. It couldn't be more user friendly or efficient. Super!

Sincerely,
Kevin

- December 19 2003

Subject: Your site has opened up a life I only dreamed about!

I have encountered many sites on the web for language exchange and penpals but none have surpassed what you have to offer. I am a Spanish Major at a university and my first language is English. I am increasing my speaking and understanding skills so rapidly that I often find myself thinking in Spanish, something that I had only dreamed about in the past. Your site has allowed me to find not only a language exchange partner but someone with which I know I will have a lifelong friendship. The individuals who come to mylanguageexchange.com are serious about helping each other to learn to communicate freely and expressively in another language and this alone, the caliber of the community here, far surpases what I have encountered thus far. Bravo for a job well done! Thank you very much for opening up so many possibilities in my life for me and my family!

- Mark Gage, United States, August 31 2003

Mr. Yuen:
I don't mind at all if you publish my name (along with my comments), I think you have a tremendous site and I would be proud to have my letters displayed there and hope that it will encourage someone new to try out a language exchange.

Have a great day!
Mark (Richard Mark Gage)

- September 6 2003

Dan:
My fluency has increased so much that it is close to that of the native speakers in the university level classes I am enrolled in at the University of Texas at Tyler. They all ask me how I have become so fluent without going outside the country and I just say, "well, in essence I do travel outside the country, almost on a daily basis"... thanks to my contacts on mylanguageexchange.com that is....

Thanks again for everything and have a great day!
Mark Gage

- March 8 2004

A few month ago when I first signed up with mylangageexchange.com, I started off with a lot of language partners with the hope to improve both my Japanese and my Putonghua. The webpages had tons of contacts as well as lots of handy tips, so you really have to just give just about everyone who matches your search criteria a try. After a month or so, I decided to settle with one Japanese lady from Kyoto and a Chinese lady here in Hong Kong.

My Japanese partner is very keen to improve on her Cantonese - a bit of surprise to me as Cantonese is a spoken language not that often spoken outside the southern part of China. We exchanged a lot of emails and I must say that we didn't really follow the instructions from the webpage. Last month, I had a chance to actually visit her in Japan. We went visiting together so many interesting places which I would not have been able to visit without a native speaker, shrine, local university etc. It was so much fun to actually meet your language partner. Those few days were probably the most intensive language lessons we both have ever had in our life!

As for my Putonghua partner, she was just perfect. Every other day, we had a phone conversation for about an hour, alternating in English and Putonghua. Since I live in the countryside in HK, I spent quite a bit of time commuting and that turns out to be just perfect for some language practices. We talked about practically everything from Chinese culture, religion to where you can get the best dim sum in Hong Kong. I am going to invite her to my Toastmasters club where hopefully she would find more opportunities to strengthen her spoken English. For us, although we're both Chinese, it was very much a cultural lesson for both of us since we came from very different background - mainland China and Hong Kong are just like two different worlds and we are always surprised at how different people from the two places think.

Thanks to mylanguageexchange.com, language learning has never been boring.

- Bill Mak, Hong Kong, July 26, 2003

Dan, Everything's perfect. You have a wonderful service. I was looking for something like this a couple of years ago and couldn't find it. This time I just stumbled on it by accident. I lived in Milan and Buenos Aires for a while and used to meet people for exchanges by posting notices in the colleges and travel agencies. This is much easier! Thanks again.

- Mike, New York, June 9, 2003

I want to thank you and God for having this site. This will open so many doors for people to communicate, and i am sure that it has. It's great to go somewhere and be able to find ways to communicate through different languages. I just can't thank u enough. May the Lord continue to bless you all.

- Tony Spalding, Louisville, United States, May 7, 2003

Dear Dan

This has to be one of the best free online sites I have discovered. There is no doubt a great deal of effort has gone into endeavouring to create a site that incorporates good language learning principles including the intrinsically motivational aspects of interactivity.

And no stone has been left unturned in ensuring the site's users understand how to use each feature and facility in order to gain maximum benefit from their online learning experience.

What a site! You deserve wide reognition from around the globe for your efforts.

Thank you and with every good wish.

Regards
Ian Hodges
(Australian TESOL educator currently working in Brunei Darussalam.)

- April 24, 2003

I am impressed with your great idea and execution in programming such a communicative and delightful and truly useful website for all of us members. The reasonable cost allows everyone the world over to participate! What a good and noble effort, and what a worthy man you are. I am honored to be part of your website circle. Thank you again for everything.

Sincerely,
Marie

- San Diego, United States, April 20, 2003

The following unsolicited message was posted on our bulletin board on Novermber 17, 2002 by one of our members shortly after she became a gold member.

A little note to non-gold members....
Hello!

I found MLE 3 days ago, and was so excited about such a great concept. However, I was disappointed when I found out that to make penpals, you must pay a fee. But then - I saw the price. It's $12/year - that's nothing. Send a cheque or pay safely with PayPal. I immediately paid, sent some letters and I have 3 great penpals now. We e-mail each other several times a day.

I'm 17 years old, from England. I think that MLE could be the key to making me fluent. Yes, I learn in school, but writing to French natives is incredible. We even correct each other's e-mails - it's the only way to learn.

So go on, just pay the $12. You'd spend that much on a language book/tape/set, wouldn't you? Probably more! $12/year is *very* reasonable, and will probably be your best money spent.

Become a gold member and make penpals.

Love,
Samantha
--Happy MLE Gold Member ;-)

Well your system has been awesome for me, I haven't done anything but I feel like I get new friends automatically.

Now I don't have much time so I can't do anything other than email correspondance with my partners but when I get sometime I would like to participate in your other activities.

Don't work too much, yet, I expect that you guys will improve your site more and more. I think I will continue to have new friends forever, as long as I use my computer. Je vous remercie ca infiniment!!

Best regards.

- Masaki Yanagisawam, Japan, March 10, 2002

I met one person through the language exchange. I am helping her learn english and she is helping me learn french. She plans on coming to my state to work soon. Thank you for the language exchange.

- Uche, United States, March 5, 2002

My experience has been good; I have found about 5 partner for practice. We use e-mail (I haven't a lot of time to spend on my personal computer.)

Yours faithfully.
LUCA

- Perugia, Italy, March 2, 2002

Thanks for creating this website, Now I had been able to find different partners from all over the world. We exchange by emails and now know 4 persons. I try to improve my english and to know their life styles as well. Many thanks and congratulations.

Yes you can use my comments for your web site. I'm very happy to use this site. It has all qualities that I was looking for : interesting, cultural, ...

- Catherine, Plaisir, France, February 24/March 1, 2002

It is awsome keep up the good work. I have recommended you to many foreign and domestic friends.

- Javier Gonzalez, United States, February 25, 2002

Hi Dan,

Your site helped me to find a partner and practice my foreign language. Not being still a good speaker in this language, "the English", unfortunelly, I didn't know what say, now I speak better, but I always study to progress yet, and I haven't much time to exchange with much partner.

It's very interesting, to have the exchanges with partner; to know others countries, and other ways to live.

I'm glad to have your site to find partners to talk with.

- Brigitte Anjoran, France, February 24, 2002

My experince has been worth it. I have found a partner to help me learn Egyptian.

- Shoshanna, United States, February 23, 2002

Hello Mr. Yuen, How are you?

I am very pleased with your site and consider it one of the best for language learning. I have been looking mainly for Chinese in exchange for English, Spanish or German, and I have got around 4 exchanges. Wish you a big success with the page.

- Antonio, Age 36, Madrid, Spain, February 25, 2002

I took part in this site before one month. I really appreciate you. This site is very helpful. I am Japanese. And I am practicing English. I found a few pen friends in this site. They are very good people, I guess. I have a lot of chances to write English recently. I will continue to study. And to help for people who wants to learn Japanese is very good for me, too. To teach is difficult but interesting. Thank you. Bye.

- Tomoko, Onoda, Japan, February 25, 2002

Indeed, your site is an excellent way of practising foreign languages. If you ask me, yes, I found a penpal in Florida who help me to improve my English and in exchange I help her in progressing in French. Currently, our mean of communication is by e-mail. We will see later for other ways of correspondance. I read your lessons plans once : they are well done but as I use e-mail I don't need to use them for the moment. Thank you very much for your site !

- Alice, France, February 25, 2002

Since a month already i'm chatting with someone encountered via language exchange. For now i'ts only text chat.

J'aime beaucoup la formule du jeu. I have not yet explored all the potential, but surely I will.

Thanks, dont give up your hard work. Jp

- Jean, Montreal, Canada, February 23, 2002

Je trouve votre site formidable! Présentement, je correspond avec un Iranien des États-Unis. J'apprend l'anglais et lui le français. Je voulais parler à un Iranien, car j'ai connu un Iranien et j'aime ce pays, malgré les différences énormes! Je ne pensais pas que je pouvais être aussi spécifique dans mes demandes.

Mon correspondant est entré en communication avec moi sans même que j'aie à faire la recherche.

Merci beaucoup!

- France, Québec, Canada, February 25, 2002

I have been using MyLanguageExchange for several months, and I did find a partner, who helps me with my French learning by text, voice and email chats. Best regards!

- China, February 23, 2002

Bonjour,

J'ai beaucoup apprécié ce site. L'on trouve ce que l'on veut. Je trouve que les sélections pour trouver un correspondant sont variées et que grâce à cela l'on arrive à trouver beaucoup plus facilement les personnes qui nous intéressent. Cela fait environ un mois que je cherche des sites de ce genre sans en rencontrer un à mon goût. Je vous félicite vraiment et vous remercie beaucoup. Continuer votre beau travail.

- Paskoila, St-jean (québec) Canada, November 3, 2001

Hi, Danny:

Just to tell you that my language exchange is working wonderfully. I found a French woman (from Paris) who was interested in improving her English and I my French.

We communicate daily (except weekends, as her computer is at her office) and have written e-mails (only...no voice chat, no live chat). That seems to be the best for both of us.

We have been writing each other, as I said, virtually every day since the 10th of January (2001) and we really enjoy communicating with one another. I think, for awhile, she had been e-mailing with another person (woman) in California but she has let that one go. To my knowledge we only communicate with each other.

I have learned her last name and her work address and I've sent a couple of presents to her little 4-year-old son. Since this package went through customs she knows my address as well and she said she'll be sending me something when she goes on her next vacation.

I have found it very easy to keep up this kind of communications with her and she feels the same way. It is conceivable that someday when I travel to France I may even get a chance to meet her and her son...it would be nice. I am happily married and there is absolutely nothing to this e-mail relationship except totally platonic. My wife knows about it and thinks it's a good way for me to keep up my French proficiency.

One thing [my penpal] and I do is critique each other's letters...when I write in French she corrects my mistakes and when she writes in English I correct hers. We both enjoy this and seem to have learned from our mistakes (though I still make some every time...that's the nature of the beast, I'm afraid!).

We also feel very free to write in our own language to each other whenever we feel like it. For example, she just got back from a 4-day business trip to Malta and she wrote me what came out to 3 pages worth of copy (when i printed it out!)...all in French. It was great for me to read all that French and to know that I understood virtually every word (I only had to look up about 4 words).

I do the same to her frequently...if I'm too tired to write something long or complicated in French (not my native tongue!!), I write her in English and she gets the workout.

We couldn't be happier with the exchange. Thank you for setting it all up.

One more thing. Because of the frequency and intensity of our correspondence, I cannot see myself getting into another exchange now. Perhaps if [my penpal] and I stop writing one another then I will look into another pen pal.

Thank you for everything.

- John C., New York, United States, March 29, 2001

Dear Danny, It has been a great experience for me so far. I have just done e-mails, but the people I have met have been very nice. Usually we write half in my language and half their language. We correct each others' grammar too usually. They've also given me some good info on an area in France that I will visit this summer. Two of the people that I correspond with contacted me, which I thought was wonderful. I really was hesitant about putting in my age, however. I would like people to write to me no matter what my age is...
Anyway, this is my #1 favorite online site. Thanks...

- United States, March 29, 2001

Bonjour à tous, et tout d'abord merci pour le plaisir que vous nous apporté ma fille et moi avons pu profité de ces échanges. ma fille qui a 9 ans communique avec un Africain de 30 ans en français et moi avec une américaine de mon âge en anglais ; Ma fille a cherché d'autres contacts mais sans succès et il n'y a que le camerounais qui ai cherché à nous contacter... merci pour tout

- Muriel, Bordeaux, France, 8 avril 2001

Hi, I got your e-mail asking for input and thought I'd let you know how pleased I was to use your service. I haven't used any of the voice services, but I connected with an e-mail "pen-pal" and we have continued to send mail back and forth to each other. I am a student majoring in elementary education, with a Spanish concentration, so this is the next best thing to actually speaking to someone and gives me good practical experience. My schedule is too hectic at the moment to pursue any other contacts, but I hope to do so in the future. At the beginning when I had difficulty filling out the form, you responded immediately and I was able to get through with your suggestions. I recommended your site to my Spanish professors and other students. I think it's a great idea! Hopefully I will use it more in the future as a teacher. Thanks.

- United States, March 29, 2001

All in all, I like this site!! As I said before, "finally something useful on the internet." It is a good way to concentrate those people who are interested in learning a language (like me) without having to go over dozens and dozens of emails (like those dating sites) finding someone interested in language exchange.

- Niel Smith, Silicon Valley, California, U.S.A., February 9, 2001

I'm an English as a Second Language teacher in the United States, and I just wanted to let you know that you have a very nice site. It's great that there is a place that students of foreign languages can go to chat with others that are looking for the same thing. When I get my own site going (I have lots of work ahead, so it will be a while...), I'll be sure and send people to yours. Again, I really am happy to see a site that is dedicated to those serious about language learning and where PRACTICE is the concept! I've tried the chat rooms on the big search engines, but they are filled with strange people. Yours looks much more serious. I'm sure you've received lots of compliments. - Katerina Vallianatos By the way, I'll be using your site to practice my French, and I'll recommend it to everyone I know.

- Katerina Vallianatos , U.S.A., January 1, 2001