The Arqus Café is a virtual meeting place where students and staff from the Arqus partner universities can practice their language skills outside of the language classroom. The sessions are not led by teachers but instead by language tutors who are native-level speakers. This is a great way to expand your language and cultural knowledge informally and with other language learners in a relaxed atmosphere.
Please note: You should have a working knowledge of the language (min. A2/B1) so that you can actively participate in the sessions. The language cafés take place via the video conference platform ZOOM.
So grab a cup of coffee and join us at the Arqus Café. We look forward to seeing you there!
Read more about the Arqus Café on the Arqus European University Alliance main page.
Languages
We currently have language cafés for the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.
If the language you would like to practice isn’t on the schedule or you would like to participate but the café offered doesn’t fit your schedule, just let us know. We adjust the cafés we offer on a regular basis.
Leipzig University students can also register for the cafés offered by the University of Stockholm.
Current Session
The next Arqus Café session starts on 18 September 2023 and runs until 1 December 2023. This means that there will be eleven weeks and eleven meetings per language café.
Registration opens on 11 September 2023. We encourage you to register as soon as possible as the places are limited. If a café is full, we will put you on the waiting list.
Please note: The times listed for the language cafés are Central European Time (CET). If you, for example, live in Lithuania or Ukraine, the start time would be one hour later than the time listed, and if you live in Ireland or Portugal the start time would be one hour earlier than the time listed.
Registration
Register to take part in an Arqus Café on the central Arqus website. Here is some important information about the registration process:
- Online registration opens about one to two weeks before each new session.
- Complete the registration form. There you will be able to choose the language and time slot of the café you would like to participate in. Make sure to provide your university email address. Otherwise, we won’t be able to process your registration.
- You will then receive a confirmation of participation before the session begins. This confirmation of participation guarantees your place, and your registration is binding at this point. If the language café is full, you will receive a message to that regard and will be placed on the waiting list.
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In the event of repeated cancellations or unannounced absences (3 times), the participant will be excluded from the Arqus Café for the current session.
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Participation in online workshops requires a quiet workplace and functioning technical equipment (camera and microphone).
- If you have questions or difficulties, please contact the Arqus Café Team by sending an email to arqus_cafe(at)arqus-alliance.eu.
What should you do if you end up not being able to participate in a language café?
Please let us know by email! This way we can give the place to someone on the waiting list.