Foreign Language Pen Pals

November 19, 2016 10:37 AM

I am learning a foreign language and am looking for an old-fashioned pen pal who lives in another country to exchange letters with! What is a good service to use to find the pen pal of my dreams? Preferably free, but I would not mind paying for a high-quality pen pal service. I am looking for a snail mail, not email, exchange. Please note I am an adult and would like my pen pal to be around my age as well.
posted by atinna to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

If there is a cultural center for the appropriate locality/language (e.g. the Alliance Française), try calling them for advice.
posted by BibiRose at 11:40 AM on November 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

International Pen Friends, where I got my high school French pen pal 35 years ago (we still keep in touch), is still going strong.
posted by Melismata at 1:26 PM on November 19, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: A friend recommends Global Penfriends as a possible place to look for foreign language pen pals.
posted by ralan at 1:44 PM on November 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Here are some sites I have saved:

the Japanese PO runs a pen pal matching service
http://www.pfc.post.japanpost.jp/english/application/

http://paperedthoughts.blogspot.com.au/p/photo-sendmoremail2zps878bcd85jpg.html

http://swap-bot.com
this is not just a pen pal matching site. it's a free service that facilitates all kinds of swaps. it is also where most of my penpals have come from (I have about 20 penpals)

https://www.mylanguageexchange.com/pen-pals/Country/Germany.asp

https://penship.tumblr.com

http://www.interpals.net/

http://www.squidoo.com/penpalfriends

http://timeaftertea.blogspot.com/2010/07/looking-for-penpal.html

http://www.culturalcorrespondence.com/

http://penpalsnow.com/
posted by daneflute at 2:12 PM on November 19, 2016 [2 favorites]

You could also try Dave's ESL Cafe, Penpalling and Letters FB group, and Penpal of the Week (blog).
posted by jrobin276 at 6:38 PM on November 19, 2016

reddit penpals and reddit penpalsover30
posted by Blitz at 7:00 PM on November 19, 2016

FPN has a long ongoing Snail Mail writing list that I've gotten decent replies from over the years. I've tried Reddit Penpals but haven't had much luck other 2-3 letters.
posted by chrono_rabbit at 9:49 PM on November 19, 2016

It might be interesting to search around italki.
posted by wolfr at 7:46 AM on November 20, 2016