In a year or two, we’d like to seek out pet sits in areas of Canada, where French is either the primary language or is a close second to English.
I took French while at university many decades ago. And now I’ve begun brushing up on my French using an online software program.
I am also looking for an online tutor so I can speak to someone as I learn.
Have any of you world traveling pet sitters used online tutors and can you recommend any?
Thank you for any info you can share.
I wholeheartedly recommend https://www.italki.com/
You’ll find instructors ranging from your friendly tutor, which will be like talking with a friend, all the way to professors, recommended if you need lessons and more in-depth grammar explanations.
Specific to Canada, though, unless you want to sit in far flung corners of Quebec or Manitoba, English is fairly widely spoken. However, I applaud you for wanting to brush off your French speaking skills and give it a try with the locals. If aiming to visit Quebec, I highly recommend that you choose a québécois on a learning platform to get used to their accent.
@Peonie19 Merci! Thank you for the recommendation about iTalki. They came up in my research, too!
Yes, we’ve been to Quebec City and Ille d’Orleans (I’d move there in a heartbeat) and saw first-hand how knowing basic French can enhance one’s experience. I cannot wait to go back to the French-speaking provinces. My husband also loved it.
Yes, italki is great. It’s a big platform so I’m sure there are Canadians on it teaching French.
There are also Preply and Verbling and a few others.
Tandem is often used like a language Tinder though. I used it in the past. Lots of photos of topless men and women in swimsuits. Another one for chatting and language exchange that I like better is Conversation Exchange. (No photos on it, more focus on languages)
LOL. That’s not been my experience, but maybe it depends on what language you’re trying to learn.
I love this post, I’ve been learning Spanish via Duolingo but I’m now at a stage where I need more 121 practice with proper conversations, so I’ll be checking out the sites people have recommended on here too.
I was practicing Mandarin several years ago, because I speak native Cantonese.
Love the sound of Italian. Beautiful.
I studied some German and Japanese ages ago, during college and before. Considered picking them up again, but the problem is, if you don’t use a language frequently enough, it’s easy to forget. With Mandarin, I have more opportunities.
True, it takes a lot of time and effort to stay on a good level. I’ve been doing some pet sits in Sweden, but haven’t managed to travel to Italy yet with THS. Travelled there a coupke of years ago to visit a friend, but most people responded to me in English when I approached them in Italian.
Italian is a beautiful language and so is Swedish. A lot more people speak Italian though.
If you want to practice your German you can message me 
Thanks, but my German is like at the level of a stunted grade-schooler and so many Germans speak terrific English. Plus nowadays, apps like Google Translate are so handy.
Funny memory: One time, a coworker who’d spent years in Germany as a U.S. Army brat spoke some German to me. I understood him, but our co-worker — who’s actually from Germany — didn’t. So it seems we were speaking useless, mutant German, LOL.
Similarly, my husband has been trying to learn Chinese for many years and speaks it awfully. Cantonese is a tonal language, so if you get the tone wrong, you can end up with hilarious results. Like if you mis-tone “I’m hungry,” it can sound like you’re saying, “I have diarrhea.” Anyway, my husband insists on speaking to our dog in Chinese and I keep telling him to stop, because he’s speaking a version of mutant Chinese that only HE understands. And I don’t want him confusing our dog.
That’s why platforms like italki are so handy though, because teachers there can teach you the real language spoken in their countries.
Thanks everyone for your responses. I’m definitely going to try italki or Preply, now that I’ve done a bit of research on them. They both seem good to start with. We’ll see how it all goes!