english pen pal

[ibex]

Hello everybody,

I'm a 14-year-old-girl and I'm looking for a british penfriend (or e-mail, that's also OK).
But I don't think this online "find your e-mail friend" pages are any good, because everybody there might have twenty "e-mail friends" and they don't use it to communicate like in letters, it's more like chatting or texting on the mobile.
So I thought that I could write a british school, where the pupils can also learn German, and ask if anybody there is interested in writing with me. So that we can write in English and German, and I correct her, and she corrects my most frequent mistakes. And we can get to now the culture of each other better etc.
The only problem is: I don't know how to find a school, where they teach German. I tried several things, but nothing worked.

So: If anybody knows a school, or has tips how to find one, please tell me!

I'd really appreciate this and would be very happy!


Thank you!

[Delfino]

More state secondary schools are teaching Spanish
than German for the first time
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/201 ... nlanguages


Never give up. You can find someone who is seriously interested in learning German.

British Language Exchange - Members Search Results
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/Searc ... =female

[ibex]

Thank you for your answer!

Well, I have to admit that I was quite surprised when I learned from the article that about 55% of british schools offer German. I knew that about one third of all people living in the EU are able to speak German, but I didn't expect THAT.
Then I could just take one school and look at the home page if they offer it and then write them, couldn't I?
But which area / town shall I take Because I suppose there are more secondary schools in Britain than I can count.
I am interested in living a year abroad, later of course. Maybe I could exchange then. But how should I know which area to choose?

I will think about this language-exchange-site and I want to thank you very much for your efforts.
But I suppose I'm rather conservative and will try to write an e-mail to a school.

Well, that's it. I know I'm a bit difficult, but I really try to find a solution which fits for me.
I would love to have a penfriend. First, because of the english language, second because I like letter writing and am interested in the british culture and third because I want to travel to Britain some day and think that we could visit each other. (That of course has time until we know each other better!)

Should I just take any town? I would prefer a "little" town, not such huge ones like London or Birmingham.
Do you have any ideas?

I will think about this language-exchange-site and I want to thank you very much for your efforts.
But I suppose I'm rather conservative and will try to write an e-mail to a school.


I hope I'm not to much trouble to you.

Ibex

[Delfino]

Thank you for your answer!

Well, I have to admit that I was quite surprise when I learned from the article that about 55% of British schools offer German.
I knew that about one third of all people living in the EU are able to speak German but I didn't expect this many British.
So I could just pick one school and look at its homepage if they offer it and then write them, couldn't I?

Yes, indeed.
But why not give the young people of the webpage I mentioned above a chance first?

But which area or town shall I pick?
I suppose, there are more secondary schools in Britain than I can count.

I'd choose one in England and avoid areas with strong accent like the northern part of the UK. No offence, Keswick.
You might want to meet later on - so I'd consider only the ones with good transport connections and a link to an international airport.

I am interested in living a year abroad later on.
Maybe I could meet my penpal during the exchange.
But how should I know which area to choose?

Ok, your trust needs to be earned, but how do you want to convince them to trust you and take your identity and request as a genuine one?
And I would like to remind you bureaucratic structures are not limited to Germany.
So it might take a while till you get a positive feedback.

Well, that's it. I know, I'm a bit difficult, but I really try to find a solution which suits me best.
I would love to have a penfriend.
Firstly, because of the English language, secondly because I like letter writing and am interested in the British culture and thirdly because I want to travel to Britain some day.
I think that we could visit each other. (That of course has time until we know each other better!)

Can I just pick any town? Yes, you can.
I would prefer a "little" town, not such huge ones like London or Birmingham.
Do you have any ideas?

I'd expect people from the cities to be more interested in people from abroad but maybe that is just a stupid prejudice on my part...
but getting there would definitely be cheaper and faster later on.
Do you live in a small town yourself?
Why not broaden your horizon by exchanging thoughts with someone from a different or a similar sized city?

I think, I will consider this language-exchange-site and I want to thank you very much for your efforts.
But I suppose I'm rather conservative and will try to write an e-mail to a school.

From the ones registered at the mentioned webpage I would choose somebody
who mentioned English as "Native Language" and only German as "Practicing Language" or even being part German.
This way their focus lies on learning German. Similar hobbies are a plus too.

I hope, I'm not to much trouble for you.

Ibex

Please try to sort your thoughts a bit more before you post here or maybe I'm just tired.
It is rather hard to correct you when you are rambling on and on.

Your posts are welcome...

[Delfino]

Sorry, I didn't realise that some of the features on the above mentioned website are only available to paying members.
Nevertheless, with a free membership you can include the following sentence in your description.

"So if you want to get in touch please send me a message as I don't have a gold membership!"

or even better include your e-mail in the description, e.g. like this: name (at) xyz . net
writing your address like this should protect it against spam robots

You can even send a "Hi!" to members whose profile you like to get in touch by using the free account only.
Create an interesting description for your profile and you might be lucky after all.

Good luck.

[Alex2010]

Hello ibex, Hello Delfino,

I suppose the website is not as good as it sounds. I registered myself, too and I was very surprised after I noticed that you must pay for establish contact to anybody in the community.
Furthermore I am not sure if the other registered members are fake or real.
I have gained bad experience with such websites.

Greetings,

Alex

[Alex2010]

Keep that in mind:

"Hard to see, the Dark Side is."

Greetings,

Alex

[Delfino]

Step1: I registered myself, too.
Step2: I was very surprised after I noticed that you must pay to be able to initiate contact via email to anybody in the community.

Why are you surprised?
The features of the free regular account and the Gold membership are compared in detail on the webpage you see right before you register.

Regular Member - Free!
- Create and maintain a member profile.
- Send Hi! to any member.
- Reply to gold members' email messages.
- Reply to gold members' text chat messages.
- Participate in group discussions in the bulletin board.
- ...

So as I always say: "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." (Mark Twain)

Furthermore, I am not sure if the other registered members are fake or real. How did you expect to know this with absolute certainty?
I have gained bad experience with such websites.

Let's avoid generalisations. But be careful and use common sense...
Don't submit your bank details to pay for something you can get elsewhere for free.

Hard to see, the Dark Side is.
We must investigate further before drawing a conclusion to the identity of your adversary.

[ibex]

Thanks for your answers, Delfino and Alex!

Thanks also for correcting my post, I like this!

Well, I have to admit that I was quite surprise

But: Shall I really write: I was quite surprise? No "d"?

Yes, indeed.
But why not give the young people of the webpage I mentioned above a chance first?

Well, you know, my parents aren't very keen on this kind of webpages, and so I'm looking for a solution that pleases me and them, for I don't want to make them angry. And my parents are certainly not this kind of worrying people who let their children go nowhere for there might be happening something bad...
You see? I really don't want to offend you and I'm most grateful that you help me.

I'd choose one in England and avoid areas with strong accent like the northern part of the UK. No offence, Keswick.
You might want to meet later on - so I'd consider only the ones with good transport connections and a link to an international airport.

Yes, that's a good idea, I suppose.

Ok, your trust needs to be earned, but how do you want to convince them to trust you and take your identity and request as a genuine one?
And I would like to remind you bureaucratic structures are not limited to Germany.
So it might take a while till you get a positive feedback.

Ahem, well, I'm sorry. I don't understand this. I mean, not because I don't think it's true, but more likable because of my English. Do you mean that they will maybe think that I'm not real? And what's about bureaucratic structures?
Anyway, do you think this problems could be solved, if I write them "through" (or whatever might be the right word for this) my school and give them the homepage? Or should my English teacher write the e-mail? She would certainly have no problem with this.

I'd expect people from the cities to be more interested in people from abroad but maybe that is just a stupid prejudice on my part...
but getting there would definitely be cheaper and faster later on.
Do you live in a small town yourself?
Why not broaden your horizon by exchanging thoughts with someone from a different or a similar sized city?

Maybe they are, that's right. Yes, I live in a small village. I don't like this big cities. But maybe you are right and I should give it a try once...

Please try to sort your thoughts a bit more before you post here or maybe I'm just tired.
It is rather hard to correct you when you are rambling on and on.

Oh, I'm sorry. I always read my posts before I send them, but it's not easy for me to make them easy to read. But I will try of course. I hope this one is easier to read.

I hope you can understand this now without problems, my English isn't very good, you see. But I have time to improve, haven't I?

See you,

Ibex

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

Hi ibex,

I don't know where you live, of course, but why don't you try to contact schools in your surroundings and ask if they, by any chance, have English/British partner schools? And quite a number of German towns and parishes have British twin towns. So you could ask there for addresses of schools or youth clubs etc.

Cheers
Duckduck

[Delfino]

Well, I have to admit that I was quite surprised ...
Well, I have to admit that it was quite a surprise ...

Yes, indeed.
But why not give the young people of the webpage I mentioned above a chance first?

Well, you know, my parents aren't very keen on this kind of webpages.
So I'm looking for a solution that pleases me and them, for I don't want to make them angry.
And my parents are certainly not this kind of worrying people who let their children go nowhere for there might be happening something bad...
You see? I really don't want to offend you and I'm most grateful that you help me.

At first glance the webpage seemed to be featuring a nice search functionality and more importantly free access to many members.
So these two were the only reasons I recommended it.
I haven't tried to register myself there because I currently live in the UK and can meet people here.
Therefore I only realised the limited features for free regular accounts by reading a description with the quoted line.

Ok, your trust needs to be earned, but how do you want to convince them to trust you and take your identity and request as a genuine one?
And I would like to remind you bureaucratic structures are not limited to Germany.
So it might take a while till you get a positive feedback.

I mean, not because I don't think it's true, but more likely because of my English.
And what's about bureaucratic structures?

I meant, you will probably not be able to contact any student directly after finding the homepage of a school.
So your request for contact needs to go through the official channels where bureaucracy can come into play and delay things a bit.
Remember, your parents are not to keen on you using the internet to communicate with strangers.
And in the same way the administration of the British school could be reluctant to trust you right away.
After all, caring for the children is their responsibility.

Do you mean that they will maybe think that I'm not real?

You could be anybody from their point of view. Your identity is hard to verify from the distance.

Anyway, do you think this problems could be solved, if I write them "through" (or whatever might be the right word for this) my school and give them the homepage?
Or should my English teacher write the e-mail?
She would certainly have no problem with this.

Asking your teacher for support and advice is always a good idea.
She might got some useful thoughts on how to find a penpal, too.

I'd expect people from the cities to be more interested in people from abroad but maybe that is just a stupid prejudice on my part...
but getting there would definitely be cheaper and faster later on.
Do you live in a small town yourself?
Why not broaden your horizon by exchanging thoughts with someone from a different or a similar sized city?

Perhaps they are.
Yes, I live in a small village.
I don't like these big cities.
But maybe you are right and I should give it a try at least once...

It doesn't need to be a very big city, but one with good transport connections and a link to an international airport.

It is rather hard to correct you when you are rambling on and on.

I hope you can understand this one without problems.
My English isn't very good, you see.
But I have time to improve, haven't I?

I was referring to the repeated paragraph in your previous post and not your English skills which are not bad.
You are right, we can always try to improve our skills.

[caro64]

Hello Ibex,
well, why not go into a site like this one, but of course, where everyone wants to learn German and ask there? The people (English pupils/students) there, all seem very keen on learning and improving their German.
Caro

[ibex]

Hello all,

Thank you very much for your posts!
I will go through them now again and decide on a solution.

Thanks,
ibex