An interesting phenomena has arisen around the VOIP (Voice Over IP) program Skype. With international long distance being free, people have been calling complete strangers just to practice a foreign language.
John Perry Barlow is pretty free and open, but he’s no simpleton. So when he signed on to Skype, a free Internet phone service, and a woman identifying herself as Kitty messaged him, saying, “I need a friend,” he was skeptical. He figured she was “looking for ‘friends’ to come watch her ‘relax’ in her Webcam-equipped ‘bedroom.’ “
Nevertheless, he took the call. “Will you talk to me?” she said. “I want to practice my English.”
Kitty turned out to be Dzung Vu My, 22, a worker at an oil company in Hanoi, Vietnam. They spoke for a long time, exchanging text, photographs and Web addresses, and discussing everything from the state of Vietnam’s economy to Ms. My’s father’s time in the army.
Now there is a community called Jyve just to meet people who compatible interests, especially foreign language study. So if you want to study French you can find a business man in Paris who wants to study English.
