Part 2
GERMAN E-PALS > 1 | 2
Of course, in order for any of this to work, you must first find someone with whom you can exchange mail! If you have been to a German-speaking country, you may know someone you can write. But even then, not all of the people you know will have email capabilities or even want to correspond on a regular basis. And if you don't really know anyone to write, what can you do?
That's where pen-pal organizations come in. One of the oldest and best known of these has been around for many years. Since 1952 International Youth Service (IYS) in Turku, Finland has offered pen friend services for students in over 100 countries. For a modest fee (a little over one US dollar per address) IYS will send you the address of one or more pen pals in the country or countries you request. To my knowledge, IYS still only provides postal mail contacts. Their mailing address: IYS, PB 125, SF-20101, Turku, Finland.
But many other pen-pal and e-pal services are now online offering email contacts. To find an email partner, all you have to do is go to the organization's Web site and click on an address link (your browser must be configured for email). You can also save the online address as a text file or print it out for later use. The better sites also have a search feature. You can search based on criteria such as age, gender, or country.
If you want to be listed yourself, so that others can find your email address and write to you, then you can fill out an online form. In some cases there is no charge for this, while other organizations charge a fee. The matter of free versus fee is something you will have to decide for yourself. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A fee for services may mean that more of the people listed are serious about having email pen pals. On the other hand, at least one service charges a fee for taking your name OFF their list, which means you'll find a larger percentage of invalid addresses than at most other sites. However, most of the sites have that problem to some extent.
As with postal mail, once you contact an address there is no guarantee you will get a response. You can usually increase your chances of getting an answer by trying to select someone with common interests. Age and gender are also important factors. If a potential pen pal says she wants to hear from guys and you are female, that's probably not one you should pick. Searchable sites can also help make the selection process simple and quick.
For language-learning purposes, it may be wise to avoid the romance-oriented pen-pal sites. Unless you're actually looking for a mate, your interests generally will not coincide with a those of an e-pal who is primarily on the lookout for a romantic partner. Romance and romance language really aren't the same thing!
Here's our listing of Online Pen Pal Services for German - Schreibt mal wieder!
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