FAQs & INFO – Language exchanges

Language Exchanges are designed to complement, not replace traditional language learning.  We give you the opportunity to put what you have learned in class into practice.

Speaking time: At the English Oasis we use (optional) timers to switch to and from your native language thus giving you a chance to practice.  You will practice more than you would in a class, talking with native and near-native speakers of the language you’re learning, in a relaxed and supportive environment. In traditional language classes there is very little time to practice speaking, because a lot of time is spent on instruction and the class may have too many students to gi ve everyone enough meaningful practice.

Environment: We know that a relaxed atmosphere is more conducive to learning, so we meet in social places such as bars & cafés where you can order a drink and join a table of other language learners to talk about all and any topics you wish.

Different “audio inputs”: participants from different English / Spanish speaking countries, old / young, men / women, traditional / alternative etc.

Authentic:  You will learn a wide range of informal expressions and slang.

Personalised vocabulary: Many topics are discussed during a standard 2 hour language exchange, everything from the serious to the fun.  If you want to improve your vocabulary & expressions on a specific topic (anything from food to swear words) you can!

Our language exchanges are structured so that everyone has the opportunity to maximize both their language skills and social interaction.

We are aware that it is not easy to enter into a room full of people so you are always greeted and introduced to a group.

Timer & Ice-breaker

1. When you arrive, we greet you, give you a name tag, determine your level and place you into international groups of 4-5 people.

2. There is a timer (Language Bell) on every table to allow our Spanish and English participants equal amounts of practice. Each table sets the Language Bell to the desired time (usually between 5-10 mins). The bell indicates it’s time to change language.

3.  On every table you will find: a) a language bell b) Conversation cards in both English and Spanish

4. We go around the tables checking that everyone is participating equally and if the dymanic is not working for whatever reason, we make the necessary adjustments.

Note: If you would like to change tables, please speak to the night’s organiser and we will try to move you as much as we can.

There is no need to reserve for our language exchanges, simply show-up at the correct time and place.

As no reservations are required, we never know how many people will be at each intercambio, but our average is between 20-30 people per night.

If you regularly attend English Oasis events (intercambios and / or activities) you may want to consider buying a 30€ pre-payment voucher card.  You get 6€ off!  That’s 6€ for free!

Advantages:

• Convenience.  No more looking for change.
• You can reserve for our activities by emailing the organiser saying that you want to reserve and pay with your loyalty card.  We will simply deduct the cost of the activity.  Ask Germaine for the “loyalty card”.
• You can pay for a friend!
• Valid for one year from Issue date

For your 30€ you get 36€ worth of credit and each time you come to an intercambio or an activity, we go discounting the amount until you have no credit left.

Ask Germaine for more information.

Use the “language bells” provided

Although optional, we recommend you use the timer provided to make sure everyone gets equal practice time.  Set the time for 10-15 minutes.

The timer tells you when to switch languages. Remember: everyone speaks in one language then everyone switches to the other language. This ensures a fair exchange – and is an excellent exercise for the brain. If you don’t know how to say something in your second language, feel free to say it in your first language!

Giving corrections

• Strive for communication, not correction. Our goal is to communicate and be understood.
• Don’t correct grammar all the time, and especially do not interrupt someone in the middle of a sentence to correct him or her – too much correction interferes with the conversation and can frustrate and block speakers. Do however clear up errors that interfere with understanding.
• The best way to correct is to just repeat the word or phrase the way you would say it, even if it is not proper language.

Be considerate

• Give everyone a chance to speak – don’t monopolize the conversation.
• Develop a listening attitude.
• Allow others their point of view – you can comment, but don’t judge.
• Explain, repeat, write down or translate when necessary, and slow down if your partners ask you to.
• Encourage those who are too shy to speak. For example, you can ask: “What do you think, Jordi?”

English speakers (native or near-native)

English speakers (native or near-native) wanting to improve their Spanish or Catalan are welcome, regardless of level….so don’t worry if you only know a few words in Spanish!

Españoles, catalanes (y otras nacionalidades)

Se requiere que personas que desean poner en practica su inglés tengan nivel suficiente para poder mantener una conversación en inglés durante nuestros intercambios.  Esto es normalmente un nivel “intermediate” real.

Razón

Normalmente tenemos mas castellano / catalán parlantes que quieren poner su inglés en practica que angloparlantes que buscan poner su castellano en practica y por lo tanto necesitamos limitar el numero de castellano parlantes para guarantizar una proporción maxima de 3 castellano / catalán parlantes por 1 anglo-parlante.  Nota: El “anglo-parlante” no tiene que ser “inglés” puede ser nórdico, holandés, alemán  etc.

Why are there more Spanish speakers than English speakers?

Whereas the number of our foreign members is constantly recycled (many are in Barcelona for a limited time),  the number of our Spanish speakers keeps on growing – we are in Barcelona after all and most of our Spanish speakers live here.  This means that we are usually more Spanish speakers than English speakers and so we give incentives to fluent or near-fluent English-speakers to attend our intercambios.

Our approach to language learning

A foreign language is like a sport.  Theory is great, but of little value without practice.

Language is first and foremost a communication tool, which has both verbal and non-verbal parameters. We believe in a comprehensive approach with a triple focus — linguistic, cultural and social — where students are exposed to more than language and sentence structures.  They are exposed to the cultural and social situations in which they will find it completely natural to put their language skills to use.

The rationale behind our language exchange structure

A 1997 the EU conducted a survey of 10,000 young people’s attitude towards learning foreign languages (see graph below). Two countries stood out. Spain and the UK.

Spain had strong desire to learn a foreign language but only 55% of its youth said that they could hold a simple conversation in another language (the lowest % of the – then, 15-member EU countries).

The UK on the other hand stood out for its youth’s complete disinterest in learning a foreign language matched with its inability to speak a foreign language (see chart below). Source: 1997 and 2006 Eurobarometer Survey.

Although dated, the graph below is (somewhat comically… or sadly?) enlightening.

Subsequent EU surveys revealed that people’s main obstacles to learning a foreign language were time and money. They highlighted the problems of time and money as obstacles to pursuing lifelong learning and found that citizens consider that their learning experiences are most profitable in non-formal contexts. (Source: Lifelong Learning EU survey results) .

We structured our language exchanges based on these EU results.

1. Reservations are not required for our language exchanges, thus catering for hectic and unpredictable schedules.
2. Our price of 4euro for over 2 hours of language practice (2euro per hour) is extremely reasonable, if not cheap.
3. Finally, we created and meet in a relaxed social fun atmosphere, in response to findings that people learn more in a relaxed, non-threatening atmosphere.

No es por discriminar contra los castellano / catalán parlantes que buscan poner su inglés en practica.  Es para animar una mayor cantidad de anglo-parlantes a participar…si vemos que conseguimos tantos anglo parlantes que castellano parlantes, pues entonces nivelaremos los precios.  Explico:

• Al estar en Barcelona es natural que asistan mas castellano parlantes que anglo parlantes.  Los castellano / catalan parlantes prefieren hablar con un nativo (o casi nativo) parlante…intentamos satisfacer-os !
• Los anglo-parlantes pueden practicar castellano en la calle…es lógico que les demos incentivos para asistir

De todas formas, honestamente, pienso que 2€-4€ por dos horas de ingles es fantástico.  La mayoría de españoles lleva invirtiendo un dineral en clases de inglés sin mucho resultado.  Nosotros vemos resultados.  Pero si no os lo podéis permitir, o evaluáis que no os sale a cuenta comprendo.  La solución es  sencilla…si no venís es gratis! pero la mayoría de los que vienen repiten y repiten y repiten…así que…pienso que os gustará!

Ahorro con “Loyalty cards” (Tarjetas de fidelidad)

Abbreviated English version:

Why do you give discounts to English speakers?!

This is not to discriminate but as being in Barcelona means that we usually have more Spanish / Catalan speakers than English…and as I know many native English speakers “get away” with only speaking English in Barcelona… we want to give them that added incentive to attend our intercambios, improve language skills and meet more locals and expats.