5. Learning from information
about your partner's life in his country
When communicationg with your eTandem partner,
you not only learn his language - you also learn a great deal about
his daily life, his experiences from his profession/school and free
time, his opinions and views, etc. Some of this information is only
relevant to your partner as an individual and cannot be generalized,
but it will definitely still expand your knowledge about life and
culture in his country.
On the other hand, your partner cannot replace
a dictionary. He does not know everything and can make mistakes,
just as you can.
You will be able to learn most if you take his
personal experiences and opinions into account: Questions such as
"What are the differences between the policies of the parties
X and Y?" or "What do people in your country think about
…?" (would you always know the answers to such questions?)
may put your eTandem partner under pressure. The following questions
would be more appropriate:
"What do you know about the parties X and Y?"
or
"What do you think about …?"
If the topics of discussion are, for example,
his profession, his favourite sport or music, then you can certainly
regard your eTandem partner as an expert.
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