Whether you’re a Swedish or international student at JU, you were probably faced at least once in your life with a situation that involved culture shock or a language barrier. And normally, as one does, you probably tried to learn more about it. But studying a new language that is so different from your mother tongue for example can be quite difficult, especially if you have no real life contact with native speakers or the respective culture. Well, I happen to have the perfect solution for you, completely free and comes in a package with a cozy place and amazing people. Language Café!
And I thought, who would be better to tell you more about it than one of its presidents themselves! I had the opportunity to talk to Language Café President, Virág and she excitedly told me about the project that she’s been a part of ever since her first year at Jönköping University.
Virág is originally from Hungary and a second year student at JIBS, International Management. She first joined Language Café more than a year ago as a Spanish teacher, and yes you read that correctly. Although she grew up in Hungary, she has a very diverse cultural background and a passion for learning languages, currently speaking five and trying to maintain all of them: Spanish, Russian, Greek, English and of course, Hungarian.
She confesses that she joined not only because of the learning aspect, but because she felt that with each language learnt comes a different “personality” due to the cultural values behind it, which are essential to the assimilation process. By joining Language Café, students get to experience everything there is to know about a language, the diversity and ‘lifestyle’ behind it. And the best part ? You can become a member of a community that shares the same goal as you, which Virág believes to be the main factor when forming a connection. Actually, she says this is one of the reasons why she decided to become president: because she saw it as her duty to bring together all students, from different schools and backgrounds and contribute to the overall integration and internationalisation of JU.
So, what exactly is Language Café and how does it work? Well, it takes place in Rio Café every Tuesday and students can gather for about two hours and learn a language of their choice from the teacher team that specializes in Swedish (which is the most demanded at the moment), Korean (newly introduced and gaining a lot of popularity), Spanish, French, Turkish, Italian and German. And, before you might ask, Virág assures everyone that the language lectures are based on the students’ preferences and knowledge level. Moreover, to ensure that no one leaves before having a bit of fun, Language Café has an organiser team that plans games at the end and offers small prizes.
Lastly, to let you in on a few of their secrets, they are planning on introducing Mystery Language Themed Nights and a few new patches. Furthermore they are currently looking for a Social Media Manager, as they have some fun posts planned for the future, so make sure to follow their instagram @jsulanguagecafe and stay tuned! You certainly do not want to miss out on this!
Writer: Briana Zafiu
