Умоляю why force students to yawn over a textbook when a real-life native speaker is only a skype call away? at marquette university, spanish students hone their foreign language skills with frequent webcam chats with their english-learning counterparts in south america. "i absolutely fell in love with this program, " wrote one student. professor janet banhidi, the brains behind the virtual language exchange, said skype conversation gives students a surprisingly authentic experience. as a teacher (and fluent speaker), she can only give her students limited 1-on-1 attention. with skype, every student has weekly access to a free personal tutor. perhaps the greatest benefit of using skype is the radical increase in motivation. a whopping 85.3% of janet's students kept in touch with their digital pen-pals outside of the classroom through facebook. "in the end, the best part of this exchange was gaining a friend who i still today talk with on facebook" said one student. additionally, though some of her students enroll to simply fulfill a language requirement, many participants have gone on to major in spanish from the experience. students who go above and beyond mandatory assignments will be more likely to remember class material and apply it when they get out into the working world.