FAQ

I’m having trouble creating my account. How do I start?

• If you are a student who has received an invitation email, you must click the “SECOND CLICK HERE” link in your email to accept your invitation—visiting Boomalang.co is not the way to log-in for your first time.

• After creating a password and filling out your profile, click SAVE. Now every time you want to log on to Boomalang, you can simply type app.boomalang.co into your web browser.

• Anytime you cannot enter the Boomalang community (i.e. clicking “HOME”), it is likely that you need to visit the PAYMENT tab and pay. This provides you with access to the Boomalang community and 4 credits, each good for 15 min. of conversation with “Featured Speakers.”

Can I use Boomalang on my iPhone or iPad?

• No, you must use a laptop computer with the latest version of Google Chrome as your web browser.

My connection is bad—I can’t hear or see my partner, or visa versa. What now?

• Try refreshing your page. Also, make sure you’re in an area with strong Internet connection and high bandwidth (i.e. Your friend isn’t streaming Netflix next to you…)
  We also highly recommend using headphones during your conversation.
• If you're still having problems, try the OpenTok Diagnostic tool to look for any other issues that might be preventing you from connecting and share those results with us at support@boomalang.co

What are Block Parties?

• Every Monday/Thursday from 8pm to 9pm Eastern Standard Time, many Boomalang learners log-in looking for new conversation opportunities. It’s a popular way to increase your chances of connecting with someone.

"Featured Speakers?" Who are they?

• “Featured Speakers” provide you with guaranteed speaking opportunities. You can spot them by the blue human icon next to their username. At any point you can also view them all by clicking the green “FEATURED” button at the top of the page.

How do I speak with “Featured Speakers?”

• If you have credits remaining, you can reserve time on “Featured Speaker” calendars by clicking “Schedule time with me” on their profiles. This will show you their available times and you can follow the prompts to reserve a spot. You can choose a 15 min. (1 credit) or 30 min. (2 credits) conversation—regardless, reserved conversations are entirely in your target language.

• You will receive a confirmation email after reserving a time on their calendar. When it’s time to connect, simply log-in to Boomalang. The “Featured Speaker” will call you.

May I cancel/reschedule with a “Featured Speaker?”

• Yes, but it must be at least 24 hours prior to the start of the scheduled time. Otherwise, it will count as a credit.

How do I connect with other learners who are not “Featured Speakers?”

• Depending on your level of access (determined by your school, if you are a student), you may be able to speak with other students, or even the general public.

• If other learners are online, the circle next to their usernames will appear green. You may try calling them by clicking the video icon.

• If you’d like to know when someone is online, you may click the “Follow” button after opening their profile—you will receive an email alert whenever they are logged into Boomalang (they will not know you are following them—we wanted to avoid spamming users of this). If you’d like to keep them as a friend but not receive email alerts, you can always turn them off by clicking the “Turn off notifications” bell icon.

• If for any reason you’d like to be invisible/inaccessible to someone, you may block him or her by clicking the red “Block user” icon.

What happens when I connect with another learner who is not a “Featured Speaker?”

• Good for you! The conversation should begin in Spanish and switch to English after 15 min. You may speak as long (and often) as you like—access to these conversations is unlimited, at no extra cost.

Can I schedule time with other students?

• No, only with “Featured Speakers.”

Can I message other users?

• Nope, you’re here to speak! When you reserve a time on a "Featured Speaker” calendar, there is an opportunity to provide topics ahead of time that you might like to discuss, however, there is never an opportunity to send messages to anyone through Boomalang.

Are my conversations being watched or recorded?

• Depending on your school, the audio of your conversations with “Featured Speakers” might be recorded and accessible by your teacher. All conversations between two learners are not recorded.

How should I prepare?!

• Take a deep breath and enjoy meeting people from different countries and cultures. This is your chance to apply classroom lessons in an authentic way that is meant to be challenging but more importantly, rewarding and fun. Prepare a few questions or topics that you want to discuss, and embrace the fun of taking risks with the language from the comfort of your computer in your happy place. The only “mistake” you could make is worrying about saying something incorrectly.