The Language Café is a social event that runs weekly throughout term time and allows students to learn a new language and improve their current language skills.
The Café has been running since 2013 and was set up “to give students the opportunity to learn or practise a language with other students in a social setting”. The events welcome all levels of proficiency, whether you are a complete beginner or practically fluent.
Language Café Leaders run the sessions and aid the language learning experience. They are also answer any questions attendees have.
Events are currently held on Tuesdays from 6pm-7.30pm. The Café has moved to a new location and is now held in Dine Central which is located in Bramber House. The Language Café will not be running over the University of Sussex Easter break.
Not only is the Language Café an opportunity to learn or improve upon another language, it is also an opportunity to learn about other cultures and customs.
You can attend the events weekly in order to gain peer-to-peer casual learning in a more social setting. There is no need to book to attend these events, you can just turn up to get learning. The Language Café has around 100 attendees per week.
Jimmie Franklin, Student Participation Assistant at Sussex Students’ Union, told The Badger: “We have 19 languages available and are always looking to grow. This term, we’ve had Portuguese, Bengali and Hindi volunteers begin on their respective tables.
“We run food and forum sessions for the Language Café and Buddy Scheme attendees/members so that they are able to feedback to us what they feel that we could do differently. This has been really beneficial in the past, as it was a student who first fed back to us that students didn’t enjoy our previous venue, Room 76.
“Due to this, we are now in Dine Central, which has better acoustics and more space for us to develop. We’re very thankful to that student for their honesty with us, as after the hard work of making the move, we’re happy to see the Language Café expand and attract new students and new languages.
“I’m really proud of the work volunteers do, and I really do think that all of them will go off to do amazing things in the future. We’ve got some great teachers, diplomats, communicators and mentors among our collective.
“Language Café is an amazing experience and is only for one hour and a half per week. It is a simple relaxed way to learn or teach a language and we have so much on offer.”
If you are fluent in more than one language, you can become a Language Café volunteer and help other become more confident in the language learning.
Visit the website to find out more about the scheme and getting involved as a volunteer by visiting their website. Search ‘Language Café’ on the Sussex Students’ Union website. You can also email languagecafe@sussexstudent.com with any questions.