Jumpei and Stefan: A Tandem Tale About Finding Friendship Abroad

Meet Jumpei, our latest Tandem Tale! Jumpei moved all the way to Australia from Japan using the working holiday programme 3 years ago. Now, as a Melbourne resident, he enjoys the Aussie life together with his best friend Stefan, whom he actually met through Tandem. Doesn’t that sound amazing?!

Jumpei downloaded the Tandem app last August. Back then, he was living in Perth and started using Tandem to look for a Tandem partner. He quickly began meeting the local Aussies through the Tandem app using the feature to search for members nearby. He ended up meeting some locals that he now calls friends, and his Tandem journey continued even after he moved to Melbourne, where he lives right now. This was when Jumpei met Stefan (an aspiring Japanese-learner) who eventually became Jumpei’s best friend.

As soon as Jumpei and Stefan started to chat, they quickly hit it off. In fact, they even shared a common rock climbing hobby. Not only did they enjoy teaching each other their mother tongues, but they also started going rock climbing and bouldering together. As a matter of fact, just about 2 weeks before this interview, Stefan took Jumpei out for outdoor bouldering! Apparently, it was one of Jumpei’s dreams, and how nice it is to hear that it came true with the help of his Tandem partner. Now they consider themselves “best friends” and meet up at least once or twice a week to hang out.

While there are many foreigners who move to Australia and other English-speaking countries using the working holiday visa, many of them face a common issue. It’s not easy to find someone with whom they can practice English conversations. The act of moving to a foreign country doesn’t necessarily mean that you can easily meet someone who would be open to having a conversation with you. However, Jumpei used the Tandem app to find not only a language exchange partner but also a best friend—how cool is that!? “The Tandem app has helped me to improve my English for sure. Without Tandem, I wouldn’t have been able to make any local friends like Stefan and others. It has given me more opportunities to practice English. ”

Jumpei also addresses that Tandem has made him more comfortable with speaking in foreign languages. “Because I couldn’t find any opportunity to speak with the locals before I started using Tandem, the more I spent time with Stefan I could practice my English. Gradually my fear towards speaking English disappeared.”

Stefan feels the same. Before meeting Jumpei he only had opportunities to carry out “stiff” conversations in English. In comparison, he now feels more confident enjoying the casual chat in Japanese with Jumpei.

Additionally, Jumpei highlights that the “correct” function is another one of his favorite features of Tandem. It has helped him to identify what error he made and how it needs to be corrected.

When we asked him to describe the “atmosphere” of the people he has met on Tandem, he said: “I’ve met three local friends through Tandem. I especially became close with Stefan and another person. Stefan often invites me to join him whenever he meets his friends. The other partner also introduced me to her boyfriend, best friend and even her sister! I became close with all of them thanks to my partners. Therefore I must say people I’ve met on Tandem so far are all friendly and they accepted me as who I am regardless of the fact that I’m a foreigner. I don’t need to worry about any sort of discrimination or prejudice.”

Stefan agrees with this. “Everyone that I’ve met on Tandem, but especially Jumpei, is awesome! Tandem is a safe place.” He was also lucky enough to be invited to the Japanese-speaking meetup by other Tandem members.

Jumpei believes that he wouldn’t have been able to meet the locals who speak English as a mother tongue without Tandem. “How could I have known the local expressions such as “she’ll be alright” without hearing my Tandem partner using such phrases? I’m very happy to learn such expressions used by the locals. Additionally, I could also get information about the local restaurants and food recommendations. It was very useful to get the information that is not easily accessible to foreigners.”

Stefan is also very happy to have introduced Aussie culture to Jumpei, and also to have learned more about Japanese culture in return. Meeting people with different backgrounds and learning about different cultures from all over the world is definitely another perk of using Tandem.

To sum up, Jumpei exclaims that “Tandem is a super useful app to make foreign friends and also to learn English and other foreign languages!” Stefan agrees here too, stating: “Tandem is a very good app to find a language exchange partner to improve conversation skill and the foreign language skill in general”. Wow, how flattering to hear all of this!

We wish Jumpei and Stefan all the best in their endeavor to learn foreign languages and cultures, and also in their friendship!

Tandem is perfect for anyone who is overseas for a working holiday or studying abroad. It’s a great app to make friends and learn the way locals speak! Our goal is to help our members foster a deeper understanding of language while improving fluency, strengthening confidence, and building long-lasting friendships. Download the Tandem app to connect with people from all over the world!