Interact with Penpals-1 (Forums)

The Students of the World website provides forums where people can interact. Use these forums to create a good feeling with possible penpals. Respond to people's questions, offer sympathy and (sometimes) talk about yourself.

1) Here is are some discussions from a forum about dolphins, for example:

Michelle says that she "has loved dolphins ever since [she] saw one at a water park." Rebekah answers that she has just finished reading a book about dolphins (people can ask her about the name of the book). She says that they remind her of people and asks Michelle what they remind her of. Maybe you can add your own opinion here.

2) Nova, who is from Bangladesh, say that she has eight dolphins! Her English is not perfect (she doesn't use plurals and her sentences are very short), but that's OK. Nobody criticizes her English (you don't need to worry, either: just say interesting things). Kamen, from China, says that she is lucky, and asks her two excellent questions. Rachael and Ge Wenfan say something a little boring.

Penpal from South America-2 (Argentina)

Argentina is a large country in South America. Argentina produces excellent beef (they eat grass, so they are healthier than American cattle, which usually eat corn). What else is Argentina famous for? Get a penpal from Argentina and find out!

1) Log onto the Students of the World website. Scroll down to South America (near the end).

2) Click on Argentina:

Argentina currently has almost 1000 people looking for penpals, so it should be easy to find yourself a friend.

Today, one of the top listing is Florencia. Wait a minute! It's all in Spanish!!! I can't read Spanish! No problem, Google Translate can help us.

Paste Florencia's self-introduction on the left.

Mr Google is very smart (it's so quick and efficient that it's almost frightening). "Spanish - detected" means that Mr Google immediately knows that this is in Spanish. On the right hand side, you can see Mr Google's translation (It is surprisingly accurate):

Florencia indicates that she also speaks English, so you can write to her in English:

Click on Florencia's [My Page] button to learn more about her:

Penpal from South America-1 (Brazil)

Penpals from areas where they speak English (Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and the USA) usually write good English. German speakers (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) also tend to write well in English. However, you should not only write to people who write very well in English. Be adventuresome! Try writing to people in South America, for example.

1) Go to the Students of the World website. Scroll down to South America (near the end).

2) Scroll down to South America

Most people in South America speak either Spanish or Portuguese, but many people also understand English. There are several large countries to choose from. Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela are probably not very good choices because they face many social problems (they might be unsafe). Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay can provide lots of penpals. Check them out!

3) Here are three people from Brazil.

4) Luzirene is a 38-year-old teacher. She first shows us a photo of her family and she includes a selfie on her own page (click on "My Page"). Even though she is an older person, writing to her seems like a safe choice. Of course, we don't really know her real age and her real job; maybe she's not even a woman!

Chinese Names: How to Write Them

People in China, Japan and Korea all write their names with the FAMILY NAME first, followed by their given name. Here are some very famous people whose names are always written with the family name first:

1) The Tang Dynasty poet 李白LI Bai (Some people write Li Po). Nobody ever calls him "白李!"

Public domain image of Li Bai

2) The founder of modern Japan, 福澤 諭吉 Fukuzawa Yukichi (If you don't know him, you should find out, Wikipedia: English, Chinese). In Japan, Mr Fukuzawa is highly respected. That's why his name appears on Japanese 10,000 Yen notes:

Fukuzawa Yukichi appears on Japanese money: CC BY Fer1997

3) Korean actor and pop star 李敏鎬 이민호 Lee Min-ho. He never calls himself Min-ho Lee .

'Lee Min Ho crop' CC BY LGEPR

If you spell the two characters (for most people) of your Chinese given name in small letters (lower case) and your family name in CAPITALS, most Western people will not confuse your family name and your given name. They will understand which is which.

Foreign Friends? Be Careful! The Ann Murphy Story

Writing letters to people in other countries (penpals), is a good way to practice English and learn about the outside world. However, you should always be careful. Don't immediately give people your phone number, Facebook contact, address etc. Be friendly and helpful, but check out the stories that people tell you. Some people are very good liars.

A beautiful 18-year-old girl who only "wants to be your friend" might be hiding her real reasons: she wants your money, she wants a visa to come to your country. Maybe she is really a man!

A man who falls in love with you, is very nice to your family and gives you expensive presents might already be married. He wants you to be his third wife (but you don't need to know that right now)!

The Ann Murphy Story
A lonely Irish nurse called Ann Murphy met Nezar Hindawi, a charming man from Jordan. When she was six months pregnant with his child, he asked her to come to Israel to get married.

Unattributed news photo (fair use assumed)