[kelvin83]

hi, i'm a BeiJinger, now studying in Hk. wanna find a native english speaker and has interest in studying mandarin. We can practice at the weekend or other availble time.

Kelvin

[HKBanker2007]

Do these language exchange programs really work? Kelvin, do you have a framework or structure set up so that the program works or would you play it by ear?

I would be interested, but only if it would yield a similar result to taking a course, with additional flexibility.

[geo-seb]

In my opinion language exchange works well if both persons have a similar skills in the language they are learning, and especially if both got down the basics/are fluent to a certain degree.

However, the most common case in Hong Kong is a native Chinese speaker who speaks decent English (or another foreign language) and a foreigner who is a total beginner in Chinese. This usually does not work well, unless the English/foreign person uses a Chinese textbook or other materials and has a concrete plan how to learn Chinese.