Is it normal to want to meet foreign people when you study a language, and what if you can't?

I study a foreign language and of course i want to meet foreign people and talk to them.. but i don't meet any cause i don't know how . Moreover, i'm not a typical american( i'm shy, quiet and i don't do anything fun) so i feel that no foreigner would even want to talk to me. But the hardest thing is getting to meet them. Yeah there is college programs for conversation partners, and yeah there's alot of japanese tourists and foreign students.. but i'm not the kind that just walks up to them, in the street. I wish there was some other formal avenue to meet them.

Is it normal to want to meet foreign people when you study a language, and what if you can't?
First of all, well done for wanting to learn a foreign language and wanting to speak in that language to native speakers! You certainly are not a "typical" American.


In my view it is perfectly normal to want to meet foreign people when learning their language. Maybe a good way to start would be through chat programs on the internet. Certainly with Yahoo Chat for example you can connect a microphone, and if you go into the foreign chat rooms, you are sure to find at least one person to speak with. In my experience people are really nice to you if you make an effort to speak their language (the French in particular). To be honest, I have to say that you being American and trying to speak in a language other than English would endear you to other nationalities more than if you were a "typical" American.





Good luck
Reply:it's even indicated to meet foreign people and practice your target language.


If you are too shy consider trying to meet people on the


internet and gradually work your way up to confidence...





www.sharedtalk.com is one of my favorites
Reply:Make an exchange with someone on the Japanese yahoo!answers page (that's if your japanese is good enough to read it!) If not try websites like Friendshack where you can contact Japanese people via email. Lots of them will want to learn English so it will be a worthwhile exchange! : )





Good Luck!
Reply:I assume you are learning Japanese? Is your teacher Japanese? Would you dare to ask him or her where you can meet people to practice the language? Are you learning this foreign language at a university or at a language institute? Maybe there is a bulletin board where you can post a note looking for native speakers who would like to speak with you? Maybe there is a restaurant or club where the people from that country hang out and you could go there sometime?


I hope these ideas help! It's very exciting to learn a foreign language and to practice it!
Reply:there is a website called http://www.friendsabroad.com/ where you can email people, so you don't have to talk to them. depending on what language you speak i could probably find you someone to talk to from my school through email or something.