Hello Talk

With the new year my Italian class geared back up after a hiatus.  It took some effort for me to get back into the groove since I'd abandoned my fledgling fluency to the siren call of Google Translate, but with an interesting group of fellow students I fought off the cold black arms of mid-winter blahs and hit the books.

While I initially started my revival di Italiano with DuoLingo, a new app suggested by my luscious classmate Michele -- Hello Talk -- quickly became my go-to study tool.

Here is the premise of Hello Talk. I set up a (free!) profile -- I am an American and English is my first language; I'd like to learn Italian (many languages available!). Based on this bare-minimum amount of data in your profile you are given access to a queue of people who are native Italian speakers who want to learn English. You can build out your profile with more information, age, location, skill level, a little blurb about yourself. And you can search for partners based on several selection criteria -- gender, age, who is online, who has written blurbs about themselves, location, etc.

Then basically you reach out and interact with people. You can do basic texting. You can do voice mails. You can do real time calling -- with excellent fidelity! Peeps will reach out and interact with you. Much like real life, you will determine who you want to interact with based on personality, style, etc. Some folks are more structured and serious, some are more casual. Some participants want to do everything by text, others want to do everything by speaking.

There are built-in reminders that Hello Talk is a language learning site, not a dating site... and there are ways to get rid of stalkers.

Hello Talk is another storefront in the sharing economy. I help you with your English, you help me with my Italian. Perhaps it is a little one-sided in X relationship, with me doing all the teaching... While in Y relationship I'm doing all the learning. All in all, in my interactions I think it evens out. And we each get individual native-speaking tutors.

There are more functions I won't go into, and probably many more I don't even know about... Also, you can upgrade to a paid version for more goodies.

Take it from me, this tool is worth a look-see. Available today at your local App Store. Tell 'em I sent ya!