Whatever your language and level, everyone is welcome at the Language Café! Come along, develop your skills and meet new people in a relaxed environment.
The Language Café is run by volunteers who are either native or fluent speakers of a huge variety of languages.
Each session, we suggest a theme to give you a starting point for conversation and to help you learn something new at every Café. Every language has three conversation groups: Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced. Conversation groups are small so that everyone gets a chance to speak.
All members of the University community - students, staff and alumni - are very welcome to attend.
‘The Language Café is a fun, relaxed, interactive way of learning and practising languages. It welcomes all students, irrespective of proficiency in the language. It's an international social occasion where you can explore different facets of culture.’
I really enjoyed the Language Cafés! They boosted my self-confidence when speaking in both English and French. I also met people and made new friends. It's a friendly environment and everyone makes an effort to include everyone in the conversation. (Penn Mackintosh, BSc Computer Science)
Hear from fellow students about what it's like to take part in a Language Café.
Regardless of your starting level, there are valuable skills that attendees can take away from participating which extend beyond pure language learning and can positively contribute to your employability profile.
Read George's blog post on why you should attend a Language Café
When I first volunteered as a Language Café facilitator two years ago, I mainly saw it as an opportunity to brush up on my German conversational skills. What I did not realise was just how rewarding the role would be, not only personally, but in terms of the employability skills I would develop.
Read George's blog about facilitating Language Café conversations.
The languages offered at each Café depends on the facilitators available, and we’re always keen to hear from people who would be interested in facilitating a group.
If you're interested in volunteering to facilitate a Language Café group, please get in touch with Carmen Schembri Wismayer.
Whatever your language, whatever your level, you'll find a warm welcome at the Language Café.
The Language Café is a joint initiative by the Skills Centre, the Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies, and the Students' Union (SU).