How do I schedule a conversation?
There are many conversation partners available to you. To get started, click Make a Reservation on your student homepage. You can search for partners in several ways:
- By Country
- By Date/Time they are available – Use this if you already know the date/time you want to have your conversation and only want to view partners available at that time.
- Past Partners
- View All
A. Selecting a Partner
Once you make your selection you will see a condensed list of partners. If one looks interesting you can view their full profile by clicking on the photo or View Full Profile.
Each time you have a conversation you can speak to the same conversation partner or select a new one.
The full profile will give you an idea of the interests, hobbies, and background of the partner. Spend time looking at the available conversation partners so you can find someone with similar interests.
B. Finding an Available Conversation Time
Once you have selected your conversation partner, take a look at their calendar of availability at the bottom of the page. Choose a time that works for you by clicking on the time in the calendar. All times shown will be according to the timezone you have selected on your profile. You can change your timezone under Manage Account on your homepage.
Please be aware that conversations need to be made at least 36 hours in advance. This gives the partner enough warning to ensure they will attend.
Once you have selected the time you will be asked to confirm the time, the assignment you are completing, the conversation partner and optionally add your telephone number.
Your phone number is used to send reminder text messages before your call begins. It will also be used for communication by the TalkAbroad support team in the event there is a problem at the time of the call. You will not be contacted by the conversation partner at that phone number. Your phone number is suggested but not required.
C. Making a Reservation
To finalize this conversation click Make Reservation. You will be sent a confirmation email with details and instructions. To confirm that your reservation was successfully created, you can also look at the calendar at the bottom on the student homepage entitled My Reservations. You should now see the reservation at the appropriate day and time.
D. Canceling a Reservation and Updating an Assignment
Locate the conversation on the calendar at the bottom of the homepage. Click the link, which will display all the information for the upcoming reservation. Click “Cancel Reservation” or select the appropriate assignment. You can also update your telephone number for the text message alerts.
TalkAbroad’s Cancellation Policy is that you can cancel reservations up to 12 hours before the call is scheduled to take place. This allows enough notice so that the conversation partner can be alerted to the change. Your credit will be automatically replaced into your account.
E. Creating a Group for the Assignment and Updating a Group
Some assignments may be done in groups. This is decided by your professor. If your assignment is a group assignment you will need to first create a reservation from your account. After choosing the assignment to complete and making the reservation you will be prompted to add members of the group. All members of your group need to have a TalkAbroad account registered with their email address. When asked to add members to your group you simply need to enter the email address of each of your group members. You may not enter more group members than the number your professor indicated as the maximum.
You may always adjust the members of your group by locating the conversation in the calendar on your homepage. Click on the link for the conversation time, and add or remove group members on the following page. All members of your group need to complete the conversation using just one computer from the same location.
After completing a conversation in a group your professor will have access to all the students who were a part of the group.