Tandem Language Learning is a method of language learning based on

mutual language exchange between tandem partners (ideally each learner is a native
speaker in the language the proponent wants to learn). Many language schools in the
world, organised as TANDEM International,[1] as well as many universities implement this
approach.

General background[edit]
In Tandem Language Learning both partners can meet in person (face-to-face Tandem)
or learn by e-mail, phone or other media (eTandem, also called Distance Tandem),
placing emphasis on cultural integration as part of the language-learning process.
Learning is supported in different ways, for instance, via worksheets, textbooks or simply
informal conversation. There are distinct uses of the Tandem method which promote
independent learning e.g. Tandem Partnerships (two people, supported by counsellors),
and Binational Tandem Courses (for groups, organised by moderators). The classic style
is that where partners equally share the available time during the exchange. For
example, a Portuguese speaker and a German speaker can talk for half an hour in
German and then for half an hour in Portuguese. In this way, through language exchange
partnerships with native speakers, and extra social and cultural experiences, participants
become fully immersed in the target language culture. The only condition for participation
in self-directed Tandem is to be at a lower intermediate level of language proficiency
(Lower B1 Threshold). The Common European Framework of References for Languages
( CEFR[2]) Can-Do statements provide a clear description of language ability at the
Threshold level (B1)[3] in several European languages.

Tandem history[edit]
Language learning by exchange" or the Tandem Approach is based on various systems
of teaching exchange students abroad, such as: partner learning, "peer teaching",
tutoring models and "Zweierschaften" (Steinig) or 'one-on-one discipleship'.[4]
The following are some of the most important highlights:[5][6]

At the beginning of the 19th century in England, Joseph Lancaster and Andrew
Bell instituted the "mutual system" which supplemented large parts of the teachers
activity at school with pupils mutual help. Peter Petersen (German educationalist,
18841952) developed something similar in the "Jenaplan schools", and, from 1960
on, similar tutoring models began to appear in the USA.

The "Tandem" concept for two people learning the same language appeared first in
1971 in connection with the "audio-visual method" of Wambach, and from there it
was transferred to binational German-French youth meetings.[7]

Klaus Lieb-Harkort and Nkhet Cimilli transferred the model to their work with
immigrants in the German-Turkish area, in Munich. Courses followed in Bremen,
Frankfurt and Zrich.

In 1979, this inspired Jrgen Wolff to develop the Tandem learning partner
mediation, initially for Spanish and German. In 1982 a similar course programme
designed by Wolff and his colleagues in Madrid later became the basis for the
TANDEM network.[8]

From 1983, the TANDEM model is adopted as an alternative way of language

learning, whose basic elements of language courses abroad, youth exchange,
cultural tours, class correspondence and similar cross-border activities are replicated
in selective schools throughout Europe.

The network cooperates with various educational institutions including the E-Tandem
Network,[9] founded in 1992, and renamed the International E-Mail Tandem Network
in 1993.

'TANDEM Fundazioa[10] was founded in 1994 for the development of scientific

cooperation and educational and advanced training with their head office in
Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain.

From 2003 the Foundation issues licenses for the use of their materials and
trademark. However, public institutions do not need a license.

The majority of the schools under the TANDEM Network established the association
'TANDEM International'[1] with headquarters in Gttingen, Germany, with a global licence
of Tandem Foundation.