Pam, it's great to see your interest in helping your language partners.

With the people I currently speak with, we often have an arrangement which involves either correcting a few points as we go along, or taking a few notes of what the other person says and then correcting these at the end.

A couple of my contacts were recently practising for official exams and wanted to speak about a relevant topic for about 15 or 20 minutes. I wrote a few notes during the conversation and then we talked about them after that.

On the other hand, if the person isn't doing exams, I would give the correction there and then. Of course, you need to see what the other person's level is like and then decide what you need to correct. If someone makes an important/big mistake, of course you should correct that. If a beginner makes a small mistake then I ignore it, if it was an advanced learner, I would point it out.

Being new to it all, take your time and get a feel for what works best! And of course, the best idea is to ask the other person what they would prefer. Learners' goals certainly change, but someone who is focusing on improving their accuracy will want your corrections, someone focusing on improving their spoken fluency won't be just as concerned if their aim is to speak with less hesitation.

In terms of preparing, sometimes someone will tell me that they would like to speak about a certain subject, so I'll send them a link for a YouTube video or an article from the internet that deals with the subject. Then we talk about it together. In October when I started learning some Italian I would also prepare something myself to say - I wasn't ready to speak independently at all, and I asked the other person to correct some mistakes or help me with my pronunciation.

You seem very conscientious! Whoever gets to speak with you will be very lucky!

Well, as I say Pam, whoever gets you will have landed on their feet!

I AM a teacher, but not a language teacher, and so I remember feeling exactly the same way when I started exchanges!  I hadn't a clue what I was supposed to do or say.  Thankfully, most learners are very happy with interesting conversation, some clear corrections and a good sense of fun throughout the conversation, whether they are studying for work purposes, academic reasons or even just out of fun or interest!

Good luck with it all!  I don't know if there's any more advice that I can share, but if you do have any more questions, don't be afraid to give me a shout!

Don't worry. Just chat.

Thanks Dorothy. I have accepted your friends request . I seem to be having some glitches myself here on italki.