Using Meetup to Learn a Language

There is a very popular free service, called Meetup, which is not necessarily designed for this purpose, but it can greatly add to your language education. You can find it at: http://www.meetup.com.

It is a collection of thousands of groups which meet in person around the world. Groups are formed by the members, the topics range from professional groups, hobbies, languages, and other interests. The size of the individual groups can be anywhere from a handful to thousands.

In most of the major cities, there are groups which are formed to practice different languages. All you have to do is set up a free account, find the group you are interested in, subscribe, and go to their meetings. The group organizers will determine how often the group meets and where. If you can't find the language group you are looking for, you can form it if you wish. Being a group owner costs a little bit of money, but it is well worth it. Also, you can subscribe for different topics which do not exist in your area, but you will receive a notification when somebody starts it.

Usually these language groups meet about once a month in a casual setting, such as a bar or coffee house, and people have a chat, or a more organized activity in the selected language. The groups are composed by people who want to learn a language, and those who are native speakers and want to help you practice.

Meetup is a great way to practice the language you are learning, while making friends with native speakers.