Based on previous research conducted concerning eTandem or telecollaboration Foreign Language education, especially a detailed analysis of the "failed" experiences of related courses, an original pedagogical design of an eTandem course is proposed. This small-scale pilot design-based research project involved 6 students from two very different languages and cultures: Chinese/China and French/Switzerland. The eTandem Chinese-French writing course included theme-based oral communication and writing activities, peer-corrections by native speakers, and tutoring. Despite the cultural and language differences, most of the pedagogical purposes of the project have been achieved and it has proved that most potential "failures" in telecollaboration projects could be possibly avoided. The result of this pilot research has been taken into consideration for the design of a larger-scale eTandem project between Switzerland and China, following an iterative design methodology.