Meet Native Speakers in Speaky; Why I'm Fond of The App

By Alifia Afflatus

A few years back when I was in 6th grade, my mom didn’t permit me to take a German course for some reasons. The only foreign language I could do was English, but I wanted more – like German and Spanish. 

Meanwhile language course and international surrounding used to be unaccessible, I used a little bit of internet, which didn't help much because I didn't know how to utilize it for educational benefit. Later when my mom finally enrolled me to a German course, it was yet still less pleasing. The tutor had a thick Javanese accent, and she invariably taught too much grammar, deficient conversation within.

I’ve traversed through the long path – appertaining my language ability expansion with Youtube and the other internet-provided sites, increasing the language, or trying to work in AIESEC – which I wasn’t again fortunately being in the same project with the Turkish student, whom I hope could help me practice. 

My language practicing had never been this easy before I downloaded an application called Speaky. The app provides facility to search for chatting partner, and it's language learning oriented, instead of random chat or dating oriented. For I highly recommend the application, I will explain to you the reason why.

Conversation is The Easiest Step to Understand Language

Emil Krebs – a carpenter's son from Germany – amazingly mastered 68 languages. The sources vary, but they reported that Krebs literally spoke those languages, in spite of in different levels, from conversational to advanced skill. His method might sound unbelievable, but it’s in many times proven that conversation simplifies language learning – built of two noteworthy components; listening and speaking.

Put aside grammar lessons or flash cards, you may need it later when you're about to reach academic level. But the method isn't likely compatible just on the outset. 

Contrarily, you’ll have to get used to comprehend how a particular language sounds, how its structure forms, and how to sound it from your own voice. It’s not about dative, accusative or nominative – inasmuch as you still could have a conversation without a perfectly spoken grammar.

Understanding language structure and style in the first place helps you evoking the ability to learn further toward the advanced level.  

In some conversations with Indonesian learners or English beginner, I can still understand them, albeit their broken grammar and even thick traditional accents. Imagine over-noticing grammar in a conversation, holding just a very basic skill, you’ll end up unenjoying the conversation because you’re scared to say something mistaken, you'll translate your point too long and it may bore your speaking partner. So better expunge any grammar anxiety, minor mistakes are not a great deal, and even to avoid these mistakes, you'll have to familiarize the language structure itself. 

After I highly trusted the method to help me learning, I was then down for an international friend search, itinerated around sites in the globe of interweb, and apparently didn't limit myself to that; but also taking every opportunity to have a foreign language conversation. It can be approaching an Italian tourist to prove my Italian skill (to myself), or stopping for a convo while bumped into each other with a Turkish family in an elevator. And here's where the challenge grew again, so far. 

International Access Issue

Some people have no or limited budget to purchase airfare tickets to another country, joining a course, internship, or self-funded summer school. In the other sides, this type of opportunities may not eligible everytime. Sometimes they select the participants, and it’s another issue itself, also once that I faced.

While you're convinced that foreign language conversation is a good method, you’ll accordingly need that partner to conduct the convo. I used to talk to myself, and it might sound like a crazy person. But in fact, I’m standing in front of the mirror and talking to my reflection to polish my language skill. Public speaking skill is the additional bonus. 

But then it still partly felt dissatisfying. I needed an audience and partner beyond my own self. I needed to practice of responding to a perspective out of my own, for there are misunderstanding, disagreement, different opinions and point of views. And sometimes foreign people just don’t get it that you hardly understand their slangs. 

However, you’ll see the technology and internet being used to address various issues. When it comes to international connection, internet is today having no quandary providing international connection facility. 

So I made trials from app to app, seeking for language partner but some of these apps were just ineffective. First, they are not present in mobile. Second, they have fewer users which lead to fewer opportunity to get a partner. Third, apps like Students of The World, Hipenpal or Interpals do not provide advanced facillity. It feels like entering an internet program from the older times long ago.

I Met Speaky, and It’s Beyond my Expectation

My friend Görkem - whom I met in another language social app - suggested to download Speaky, so I did. And it's my job to delineate the Speaky experience worth to try. First thing, it could be downloaded in the mobile. 

When you’re opening the app, you will see a blue screen with Speaky logo before entering a page displaying users who speak the language that you selected. It provides you a facillity to seek whether the natives online or if you’re willing to learn with the non-natives as well. The filtering system is well-designed, even when you’re not paying for premium, and I have never even been purchasing premium access, it is still wide and flexible.

The things that you’re able to select while filtering partner preferrences include language, age preferrence, interests, country, nativity preferrence, and gender. There you go, the app will display partners that you can choose. 

Initially, I was indefinite that looking for new friends would be hard, moreover to meet friendly people who keeps the same vision and mission while surfing in the app, instead of – for instance – looking for another type of partner a.k.a dating partner. 

But me, like most users are just so satisfied that Speaky indeed has lots of active users that give fast responses, and lots of them has a pure intention to improve their language and make a cross-cultural relation. Like I said, Speaky is a language oriented app. You have little possibility meeting the 'dark side of virtual society' in this app. 

Therefore in pursuance of my experience there were only a few scammers approached me so far, fake accounts that you can easily ignore in the first place, by clicking the button. And when it comes into reporting fakers, Speaky does it really serious.

I felt amazing being a Speaky netizen, which still bridges me with numbers of new friends that help me elevating my language skill. It all was just started by building an engaging profile, sending a friendly and enticing message (or interestingly replying to others' messages), and there you go, make friends and practice language. It's an amazing experience talking with native speakers, sending voice messages each other for listening and speaking practice so that you can learn their native accents, and they can also fix your accents and grammar in the same time, in a likely practical and fun (and completely free) way. 

Another thing that is quite good from Speaky, is that the chatroom provides a facility to correct someone else’s language mistake or to be corrected, doing voice message, and making a call. 

The only thing that needs to be improved mostly about the need of super internet connection to complete the messaging process, while it puts messages in outbox a lot in a poor internet signal. In some phone versions, the call feature doesn't work. Hence, lots of users choose to move their friendships forward to the more social-centered platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook. It's just a minor error the app has, and Speaky still gets me fond, though. []