Interpals: Penpals & Languages

What Interpals is and who uses it

Interpals is a pen pal and language exchange community that has run since 1998. The developer says it has 8.5 million members. It serves two purposes: writing to someone in another country, and practicing a language with a native speaker.

It suits people who want friendships across borders, and learners who want everyday conversation with people who speak the language they are studying.

Finding pen pals by country, age and language

Search lets you filter members by country, city, age, and the languages they speak or are learning. Each member has a profile with photo albums, so you can look through someone's pictures and details before you write to them.

Browsing is done through profiles and albums rather than by swiping through cards.

Practicing a language with native speakers

Tandem matching pairs you with a partner who wants to learn your language while you help them with theirs. The listing says the conversation focuses on everyday phrasing rather than the wording found in textbooks.

When a conversation stalls, built-in message translation helps you keep going. Listed languages include English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Indonesian, Hindi, Dutch and Polish, and the listing says there are hundreds more.

Controlling who can contact you

Messages from new people arrive as message requests, and you decide who gets through to your inbox. The app also shows who has viewed your profile and which members are online at that moment.

Groups and the community feed

You can join groups built around shared interests. Members also post to a community feed, which is shared across the wider site.