Today I saw an interesting comment by Lisa Dukes: <a href="https://www.italki.com/discussion/249271" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.italki.com/discussion/249271</a>;. She mentioned the app Lingbe that is owned by italki. I didn't know that. I found this article:

<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/italki-acquires-lingbe-and-relaunches-the-instant-and-free-language-practice-mobile-app-300948362.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/italki-acquires-lingbe-and-relaunches-the-instant-and-free-language-practice-mobile-app-300948362.html</a>;

"italki has acquired Lingbe, a free language practice mobile app that allows users to call native speakers instantly. Lingbe is also announcing the official relaunch of the app.

The live chat app helps users practice speaking a foreign language by instantly connecting them to native speakers around the world. "It is like an Uber for language speaking practice," said Alberto Cruz Alonso, CEO of Lingbe. Users spend a virtual currency "Lingos" when they practice a language and earn Lingos when they help someone learn their native language. Users can also purchase Lingos through the app store."

So, actually Lingbe is what many people here are looking for: instant connection with someone else for language practice. But how well does it work for people who don't have money for acquiring those Lingos and are native speakers of a not very sought after language? I'm sure that as a native German speaker, I would easily find people to chat with in my target languages on Lingbe. But it's also easy for me on italki because many people are learning German. But how does it work for others who speak a language that not many people learn? Can they also easily find native speakers of their target languages as language partners?