Café de las Lenguas

Thursday Evenings at Café de las lenguas in Groningen

If you enjoy learning different languages and are interested in different cultures, then Café de las lenguas is the place for you. Every Thursday at PS! Koffie, Kunst en Chocola between 7pm-9pm, language lovers come together to practise the language or languages they are learning, as well as helping others learning their native language.

So how does it work? Every week, the coordinator separates the languages onto different tables so that it is easy for you to find the language you want to speak. The Dutch and Spanish language tables are often the most popular, but there are always many other languages there to be practised such as French, German, English and Papiamento. There are also people wanting to practise their Japanese, Indonesian, Russian, Catalan and in the past, Esperanto! People are encouraged to move between the different tables so that everyone gets to mix around, speak a foreign language and help others learning their own. In short, any language is welcome and the more native speakers and new languages there are the better!

However, it is not just about speaking and learning foreign languages: you can also learn about a different culture and share knowledge about your own. By coming to Café de las lenguas, you will learn that there is much more to language learning than Duolingo, grammar drills and vocabulary. Culture is an integral part to each foreign language and learning about it is a very important part of the experience involved in language learning.

The event is always very relaxed and in addition to being a learning environment, it is a place to socialise and make new friends. It is not just meant for international students – everyone is welcome, people of all ages, from all countries, all nationalities, students and non-students. Every week, around 15-25 people come along to meet new people, find out about a different culture and speak a foreign language.

So if you want to brush up your language skills or just want to come along and meet new people and help others learn your native language, then come on down to Café de las lenguas!

Katherine Watts