Tandem: Language exchange

Steve B

I have made many friends on this app who are also doing language exchange. Tandem Pro has been really nice. The translator is really helpful when the conversation goes above your head. I haven't run into any spammers or catfish, either. Minor criticisms: 1) the message alerts don't always work and you might have to check back with partners manually. 2) the search algorithm is strange. It's easy to get a deluge of new messages very quickly for no reason, then none for a long time.

A Google user

This app has been very helpful with connecting me to natives so I can practice my Italian! The features are easy to understand and pick up, plus profile settings let you add very useful information to your profile for others to see. I've connected with such friendly people, and we help each other learn! There are just some nuisances here and there in the app, but these aren't hard to overlook. Just be wary: the app plays voice recordings out loud even with headphones or on silent mode!

Kelly Finan

This app is awesome. Everyone I've chatted with is friendly, respectful, and helpful. A perfect compliment to Spanish classes or to an app like Duolingo. As a native English speaker, it can be a little overwhelming because everyone wants to talk to you so I get messages constantly. It took me about a week to realize that I can switch to "offline" when I need a break.

Santiago Túmulo

Great for: -Intermediate learners -having lots of short text conversations with people all over the world -getting someone to practice with really quickly Downsides: -can be difficult to find long-term consistent people -usually not that helpful if you're too beginner in your L2 -some people try to use the app to find dates/advertise/other stuff. I haven't really run into that, but its a good thing to keep in mind, especially if you're a woman. Definitely more decent people than weirdos tho.

A Google user

I like the app, but there's a problem with audio and photo messages (or really just messages in general). When someone sends me an audio message or a photo, I get a notification but the actual message never shows up. I've tried force closing the app, refreshing, waiting, etc. It just doesn't come. Also when I try to send an audio message, I have to close the app after I've sent it and re-open it to see if my message really did send. Otherwise, I'm not able to see it in the chat. I've accidentally sent audio messages multiple times because I would think it didn't send and then record a new one. Please fix!

A Google user

For the first day, it's been swell. I recommend new users to be patient, it was a big mistake of mine to jump from one person to another thinking nobody was replying. Tandem is what you make out of it, and I think I'll be content with using its free version. I think the correction, translate, and transliterate features were all useful digital features that supersede face-to-face language exchange in some aspects.

carlos blondiswall

This is the perfect language practicing app for people who also want to make friends along the way! I really like how much you can customize your profile and preferences to include how comfortable you are with the language you are learning, and what you like to talk about. With that said the only issues I've come across come from the Video calling. It's super buggy and numerous times my camera would freeze or I would exit the app and not be able to go back to the call. Nevertheless a great App.

A Google user

The app is good for finding people who seriously want to learn a new language with a native. However, it's notification sound is too quiet, it is a little laggy and the video chat is terrible. It's annoying because after you achieve all the goals they give you.. it just says to help others do the same. Not a real incentive. If they can fix the problem with video quality, it would be any easy five stars for the serious language learner.

A Google user

So far so good! It's very helpful and diverse with many active members! My only issue with the app is the whole notifications deal. I have a Samsung note 9 I don't know if that's important to know. But the app does not notify me everytime I get a new message. It only does when I have the app open and switch to a new one for a bit, then the pop up bubble shows up one time. But I would really like a push-notification type. Something that notifies me for every new message I receive on my lockscreen

A Google user

I like it so far, but there are some definite draw backs: 1.) It's not free, and it tires to trick you into buying a subscription when you first sign up by saying that it could "take up to 7 days" to match you with potential partners (which, of course, is nonsense as the algorithm does this instantly), but you can pay to "skip the waiting line." 2.) You can only add three languages for free. 3.) In app translations are limited to 5 a day, and you have to rewrite the text yourself.