Looking for more ways to continue practicing your Spanish after returning from your study abroad? Check out Verbling, a new online video chat system that matches you with people to practice with! Tell Verbling what language you want to learn and what languages you already speak, and it automatically matches you up with a practice partner who is fluent in the language you want to learn and wants to learn the language you are fluent in. Every 5 minutes, you switch languages so you both get to practice. Sounds fun, right?
Here are some of the Pros and Cons of Verbling:
Pros
- It’s free.
- You can log in instantly with Facebook.
- No extra software to download–it works in your browser using Flash.
- The 5 minute timer makes sure both languages get equal practice time.
- You can find chat buddies using the “chat roulette” feature. If you like them, you can add them to your friends list and chat again later.
Cons
- There’s no definition of “fluency”–you might get a native speaker, or just someone who’s studied for years.
- You can’t choose a dialect–Spanish is Spanish, even though a person from Madrid and from Buenos Aires would speak quite differently.
- Currently only offered in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic and Hebrew.
If you’re interested in Verbling, check out this more detailed review by Benny the Irish polyglot: