InterPals.net

This site is a language exchange program, nothing more, nothing less. Nowhere does it say"hookups" I give this site a 5 for language exchange.

Ever since I've joined this website it's been nothing but great. Of course, there's always going to be rude people, weirdos, and trolls(come on people it's the internet, what do you expect?). Despite this, I've met many genuine people which led into good friendships. So far I have 6 good friends from this website and still counting. If somebody were to ask me if I knew a website to make friends and exchange languages, I'd recommend interpals 1000%.

I've read through a lot of the reviews on here and there seem to be a lot of people who don't like the site. While I can understand some of these gripes, here's the rub: Interpals is one of the best sites for penpals, epals, and online friends that you're going to find.

While sometimes the response rate can be less-than-spectacular, you can say that about most sites like this. Of course people are less likely to respond to you if there's no clear, obvious common ground between the two of you, or if half your message and/or profile is lamenting how nobody ever responds to you, or if you send a message that's only a few words long and your profile is basically blank.

While this might seem like I (and a lot of people who use Interpals) are basically raging narcissists who get off on being rude to people, you have to understand that the internet isn't always like places in the physical world. A lot more people will be trying to talk to you, so sometimes you just have to be a lot more selective about who you respond to, and you have to put a little bit of effort into making yourself stand out.

I mean, it's not too uncommon for me to get four or five messages from people I haven't spoken to before on a day when I've been on Interpals all day. This isn't a huge amount compared to the numbers other people get, but it's enough that you do have to make some decisions regarding who you respond to and who you don't. In my case, the people who just say "Hi, how are you?" and show no indication that they've read more than two or three words of my profile are the people who aren't getting a response.

I think there's a good chance that a lot of the people who want to complain about how Interpals is a haven for narcissists just aren't thinking about that aspect of things. Sometimes the case just is that you're going to have to decide between two people, and a lot of people are going to err on the side of responding to the person who sends a message that asks them a couple of questions about themselves and their interests rather than the person who just says hello.

I don't think that's indicative of people on the site generally being stuck up; it's indicative that people appreciate it when others put a bit of effort into getting to know them. It's not like people on the site are expecting a 2,000 word essay straight off the bat; most will be satisfied with a couple of lines about you and a couple of questions that you wanted to ask them based on their profile.

I think that's what a lot of the people here who are complaining about the bad response rate are failing to realise. You don't have to be writing long messages to people straight off the bat or resort to only saying hello--there a lot of middle ground between these two extremes, and that's what most people are hoping for.

Really, I think most people who complain about a bad response rate tend to be people who can't handle the fact that they're not always the kind of person people want to talk to, or they're people who don't realise that people online don't owe you their time.

There are some good, interesting people on Interpals who I've enjoyed talking to a great deal. While some of these conversations haven't lasted as long as I would have hoped, neither do some conversations I've had in real life; and neither do some of the friendships I've had in real life.

While as I said, the response rate may not always be as good as you hoped, that's true of a lot of places on the internet. Generally speaking, I've found that as long as you're willing to put some effort into your introductory message, you'll be able to find at least a few people who would like to be friends with you.

Interpals is an easy-to-use site that has a great mod team. While there have been obviously fake profiles that have been up for a surprisingly long time, the mod team will generally crack down on them fairly quickly once they've been reported. Usually the case is more that nobody's reported a problem rather than the mods are intentionally ignoring it.

Plus the mod team is just great in general, and rarely have I ever seen a mod team that's more even handed. Sometimes there have been cases where I've seen them make decisions I've disagreed with, but those tend to be the exception rather than the rule and I can usually at least see where they're coming from with the decision.

In terms of overall usability, Interpals is probably the easiest-to-use epal/pen pal website you're going to find, especially if you're like me and you don't want to pay to sign up. The site design is about as intuitive as you'd hope for. Plus, for the most part, Interpals doesn't really have the glaring on-site cultural issues that a lot of other sites of this nature tend to have.

Interpals is just overall a good site, and as I said, as long as you're okay with putting the effort into giving yourself a good introduction, you'll find some people who'll have a good conversation with you.

I read these reviews before I joined two years ago. Now I'm back, and can share experience.
-Yes, there are strange people.
-Yes, there are people who aren't who they say they are.
-Yes, you can have good conversations with people from other countries, and you CAN have good language exchange.
-DO NOT join expecting to be TAUGHT the language: you wouldn't sit there and teach someone English, I'm guessing, and no one is going to hold your hand through Japanese or French.

Always reach out to people, anyone you think you'd like to talk to; lots of them won't respond, but that's okay, because some will. Usually if you get ignored, it's for the best, and they would have turned out to be shallow or not speak your language.
When you get messaged, talk about what you have in common. Definitely get to know who you're talking to - it's fun! But don't give away information until you are comfortable - the right people will understand and be wary themselves.
If someone wants a relationship and you don't, make your intentions clear. They will either accept it, or they will move on.
No pressure. It isn't primarily a dating site, so don't go asking for significant others - many other members won't appreciate that.
You're just here for the ride, so make the best of it. Celebrate the friendships, but don't beat yourself up over the losses or the weird comments. If you feel threatened, you can always report, or you can leave.
If they publish personal information about you, it likely won't hurt you as much as you think - sure, it's embarrassing, but no one uses the site anyway, so the info won't get far.

Overall, my experience has been great. Just keep an open mind and don't take anything too seriously.

Have fun!

I don't work for Interpals - which I will no doubt be accused of by the end of this review, but as a site user who has used the site for at least 10 years, I need to set anyone straight who has just read the reviews below. This is a GREAT site for meeting others across the world. I have met several people off the site. Of course it didn't work out with all of them - just as through the years you don't hold on to all of your friends offline either. But I'm happy to have met them. The 'warning' that there are a lot of Ukrainian and Russian women on there - well what the hell is that supposed to tell anyone? It just so happens those countries are huge and internet usage is high among the populous there.
Also, to whoever said the site owner has "been accused of hacking into people's accounts" - well whoopee do. "Been accused" is absolutely meaningless, and of course, conveniently no source whatsoever is quoted.
Yes there are a lot of fakes on the site, as there are on all sites like this online. This is not some new phenomenon. Also there are a lot of amorous men - well there's a shocker - have you been down your local nightclub on a Friday night lately?
But that's why they invented a "Block" button - which is very effective. I wonder if the people criticising the site have been using the internet for more than a few weeks, because the simple fact is, if Interpals was a 'scam site' or not legitimate: a) it would not have SO many hundreds and thousands of users from just about every country on Earth and b) instead of being around for at least a decade, it would have been DEAD years ago by now.
How is it a scam site when I am now meeting up with my Polish friend who I met off there and who I now consider a proper friend? Or the American woman who came over to meet me? Or the other friends I have now on WhatsApp, and others still that I've had Christmas cards from. Does all of that sound like a "scam" to you...? Use the site for whatever purposes you like - mostly for friends, and if you're honest about yourself, if you don't hide away, and if you make sure to put photos of yourself up (not putting photos up will cripple your chances of getting friends on there because everyone will just assume you have something to hide), then you will have success - because I certainly have had.

This is an online penpal site that connects people from all over the world for the purpose of learning different languages firstly and secondly to meet new friends and even form relationships.

There are thousands of people on this site from many different world locations such as:

Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Australia/Oceania
South America

This site even offers online chatting so that one can chat with different people from different countries as well.

One can even choose if one wants to keep in contact with friends either by snail mail or by email. This site really is a fun experience as well as a learning experience and if you are interested in meeting nee people and making new friends as well as learning about different cultures and new languages then here seems like the place to do it.