How Palavra works
Palavra is a free pen pal and language exchange community for adults. Here's everything it does and how to get the most out of it.
1. Create your profile
Sign up with your email, confirm you're 18 or older, and add your native language, the languages you're learning (with your level), your country, and a few interests. Your date of birth is used only to verify your age and is never shown.
2. Find partners
The Language exchange page shows people who speak what you're learning and are learning what you speak. These "perfect matches" are the people most likely to write back. Find people lets you filter by country, region, native language, learning language, age, interests and who's online now. Every profile shows a match score out of 100, based on shared languages and interests.
3. Chat in real time
- Voice notes: record up to 60 seconds with your microphone so partners can hear and correct your pronunciation.
- 🔊 Listen: hear any message read aloud in its language.
- Translate: uses your browser's on-device translator when available, otherwise opens Google Translate.
- ✎ Correct: suggest a correction to a message you received; it appears right under the original.
- ✨ Conversation ideas: starter questions based on the other person's profile.
4. Post Moments
A Moment is a short public post written in the language you're learning, about your day, a question, or the daily prompt. Native speakers see Moments in their language and can correct them on the post: the original is crossed out, the fix is shown next to it, with a short explanation. Tap ★ Save on any correction to keep it.
5. Send slow letters
Slow letters are long-form letters that take real time to arrive. Delivery is based on the distance between your country and your pen pal's, at roughly 450 km per hour with a one-hour minimum. Distance is measured between members' countries, so a letter from the United States to Brazil takes about 16 hours, and one to Japan about 24. You can watch your letter travel and collect a stamp from every letter you receive.
6. Review with your notebook
Everything you save goes into your Notebook, which doubles as a deck of spaced-repetition flashcards. Cards you know well move up; cards you miss come back sooner.
7. Build a habit
Four small daily goals (send 3 messages, make 1 correction, review 5 cards, post 1 Moment) keep you practicing. Activity earns XP, levels and a 🔥 daily streak.