Educational institutions are placing increased value on language tandems owing to the language development opportunities they offer for learners of modern languages. Where these learners lack autonomous language learning strategies, however, the results can be disappointing, with limited linguistic development taking place. This paper reports on recent research into the language tandem experiences of international study abroad students during their period of study at a British university. When it became apparent that the students lacked skills in managing their language tandems to meet their learning needs, strategy instruction was introduced to facilitate more effective language learning strategy use. The findings suggest that such an intervention can significantly increase learners' ability to create a language tandem which meets their learning needs.