Why I joined italki Some of you may be familiar with couchsurfing. It is a hospitality service on the web, where total strangers can ask me to stay for a few nights. I joined last winter, and I have had 20 guests this summer. It's been a remarkable experience - I've had the opportunity to meet interesting people from all over Europe, the Americas and one Kiwi. My only regret is that I didn't invite more! As summer turned to fall, the requests understandably stopped coming. I live in the countryside, and tourists prefer to visit in the summer. In September I got a headset from my brother, and I read an interview with 'Rob the Irish polyglot'. His mantra to learning languages is to talk, talk, talk. He suggested this website for speaking practice. As I had an enjoyable experience meeting strangers all summer, I thought I would spend the winter talking with some - and help them with their Norwegian. If you want to chat, check out my 'About' page and send me a message!