Crosstalk: Have you ever tried it?

[sporedandroid]

Sounds interesting. I have social anxiety, especially about speaking other languages. I had a hard time with French immersion as a kid because I was getting pushed hard to speak French before I felt competent. My anxiety about foreign languages is so bad I was even nervous to type in clozemaster answers.

[tommus]

Crosstalk sounds very interesting. I have done many language exchanges in Dutch but never using crosstalk. In fact, there was always an emphasis to "not" do what could be called crosstalk. We always stuck strictly to one language at a time.

In the linked blog description of crosstalk, all the discussion is about listening in your L2 and there is no direct reference to how well your spoken L2 develops. I suppose crosstalk is the way millions of people around the world, out of necessity, learn a second language. I wonder if, after you reach maybe B2 using crosstalk, that you could reverse the situation and each person switch to speaking only in their L2? It would be more stressful for speaking, but less stressful for listening. Maybe then, every second language exchange, you and your partner could do crosstalk and then reverse-crosstalk?

For English/Dutch language exchanges, there is always the problem of finding a native Dutch speaker who isn't already quite fluent in English so that the exchange is unbalanced. If there are any native Dutch speakers who would like to try crosstalk with someone at B2 in Dutch, let me know. Otherwise, I might be tempted to try crosstalk with my weaker languages; German and Spanish.

[Heiopei]

Really? I would like to propose the opposite: Only speak your target language. That way both partners maximise their time speaking the language they are learning.

Crosstalk like you describe it just sounds like a listening exercise with unnecessary code switching

[StringerBell]

Really? I would like to propose the opposite: Only speak your target language. That way both partners maximise their time speaking the language they are learning.

This is what I do with my Italian LEP. We initially started out doing 1/2 Italian, 1/2 English, but we both have very good listening comprehension and don't need to improve in that area - we both do need to improve in speaking. He suggested that for the entire hour, we each only speak our target language. We've been doing that for about a year and it works pretty well. I had assumed initially that I would have difficulty hearing one language and replying in another, but it actually isn't difficult at all. I think this is a good idea if both people have strong listening skills in their L2s, but if both people need to improve in this area, then I think the 1/2 and 1/2 is better (which is what I do with my other language).

I agree that I don't see the point of a language exchange where you only speak in your native language. There are plenty of other easier ways to improve listening comprehension (TV, podcasts). The part you can't do on your own is speaking, hence the whole point of exchanges (in my opinion).

[devilyoudont]

I've wound up in the reverse situation on hellotalk before (stubborn person will never use Japanese, so I stop replying in English as well and only give them Japanese), and it's been a surprisingly helpful, despite initially unwelcome, exercise.

After I finish my current project, I want to use the time I currently spend on making flashcards on doing language exchanges instead. I will certainly keep this information in mind, and possibly leave a note in my profile that I am open to doing crosstalk as well as traditional Language Exchanges. However, as others have said above, I would definitely want to do a speaking crosstalk as well as the listening crosstalk outlined by Dreaminglanguages.

[Sahmilat]

Really? I would like to propose the opposite: Only speak your target language. That way both partners maximise their time speaking the language they are learning.

Crosstalk like you describe it just sounds like a listening exercise with unnecessary code switching

The problem with this is that it doesn't give you any input. You'll get better at speaking, but you won't really "learn" anything new. Obviously this is a good exercise, but it isn't a substitute for the large amount of input needed to learn a language.

[StringerBell]

The problem with this is that it doesn't give you any input. You'll get better at speaking, but you won't really "learn" anything new. Obviously this is a good exercise, but it isn't a substitute for the large amount of input needed to learn a language.

Why would doing a language exchange mean that you can't continue to get input from other sources? In the case of my Italian LEP, we are both getting TONS of input from reading, TV shows, podcasts, etc... Getting input on your own is a really easy thing to do. So I don't see why it would be a problem, unless one were learning a language that has practically zero media and speaking with a native speaker was the only way to get any input.

[Sahmilat]

The problem with this is that it doesn't give you any input. You'll get better at speaking, but you won't really "learn" anything new. Obviously this is a good exercise, but it isn't a substitute for the large amount of input needed to learn a language.

Why would doing a language exchange mean that you can't continue to get input from other sources? In the case of my Italian LEP, we are both getting TONS of input from reading, TV shows, podcasts, etc... Getting input on your own is a really easy thing to do. So I don't see why it would be a problem, unless one were learning a language that has practically zero media and speaking with a native speaker was the only way to get any input.

Oh I agree. I just read the OP of this thread as framing crosstalk as a way to learn a language by itself, so I was reading the responses as being along those same lines. Obviously speaking practice is good if you have it together with input, I don't disagree at all.

[Elsa Maria]

I use crosstalk with one of my closest friends. I didn't know there was a name for our preferred communication method

We don't do crosstalk by design, it is just what works best for our friendship. My ability to speak Danish is far from C1. Her English level is high, but nevertheless she feels that she can express herself better in her native language. We both have high levels of listening comprehension. Thus, I speak English and she speaks Danish.

Sometimes conversations are English-English or Danish-Danish. Sometimes they are in "Danglish."

Is the crosstalk any good for my Danish? I don't know.

[Cenwalh]

The problem with this is that it doesn't give you any input. You'll get better at speaking, but you won't really "learn" anything new. Obviously this is a good exercise, but it isn't a substitute for the large amount of input needed to learn a language.

Why would doing a language exchange mean that you can't continue to get input from other sources? In the case of my Italian LEP, we are both getting TONS of input from reading, TV shows, podcasts, etc... Getting input on your own is a really easy thing to do. So I don't see why it would be a problem, unless one were learning a language that has practically zero media and speaking with a native speaker was the only way to get any input.

I think the idea of cross talk is that you get comprehensible input from the very beginning which is very hard to come by for most languages