FAQs - Language Voluntariate

Who can take part in the LV activities?
Can I bring a friend of mine who's not a UPF student to the LV outings?

Not really. Most LV - ran activities have limited places available only, and it wouldn't be fair that those belonging to Pompeu Fabra University or to any of our partner institutions missed out an activity because of this. Therefore, if you'd like to bring a friend, first of all you must be a UPF member and, secondly, you'll have to send us an e-mail to enquire whether we have any spare places; that is in those cases when we do not have limited places for the outing.
How much do I have to pay for the LV activities?

In general, activities at LV are for free. Our guided tours are subsidized thanks to some funds that we receive on a regular basis. Please note that we will not be paying for your travel expenses. Everyone should pay for their own in order to get to the towns we are travelling to.

In any case, we will let you know how much it will cost you to travel by train, underground or coach once we sent you by email the information update on the weekly trip, as well as how to get to the meeting point and if you'll need to pay any fee in order to enter a museum, church, etc.
What do I have to do in order to sign up for the LV activities?

If you are an exchange students, we will receive your email addresses straight away from the OMA, the UPF Translation and Interpreting Faculty secretary's office, or your incoming coordinators - ISA, ESCI, CASB and Trinity College students. Then, we will add you to our mailing list.

Those people registered at LV will receive an email each week with the required information in irder to attend the trip. This will feature a brief description of the place to visit, the meeting point and time, etc. You will only need to let us know by email if you'll be joining us.
Is it compulsory to attend all the outings?

Not at all. Attendance is completely voluntary. We run a different activity each week and you can choose if you fancy attending one, two, three or all of them! Again, the only thing that you'll need to do is to send us an email to confirm your attendance.

Nonetheless and taking into account that the LV pays tour each tour guide on the basis of people who signed up -regardless of how many people show up-, we do expect some commitment on your behalf. So if you signed up for an activity and then you realise you won't be able to make it, then please let us know ASAP so that we can allocate your place to somebody else.
How does the language exchange programme work?

Each term there is an enrolment period in which you can apply online for a linguistic partner. Foreign students can apply for Catalan and/or Spanish and local students can apply for any foreign language they wish. Afterwards we do our best to assign you a partner according to your request.

Once you have been assigned a language partner, you must contact him/her and decide when, how often and where to meet, and also you must mutually agree how to arrange your conversation exchange schedule in the two languages. The time of conversation between the two partners should be shared equally between the two languages. There are no strict rules, no control of learning aims; a language tandem is based on autonomous learning, and you and your partner may talk about whatever and meet whenever you want.
I am an exchange student and for some reason I am already receiving information on the LV despite the fact that I won't be coming to Barcelona until next term. If I want to have a language partner later on (i.e. when I'm in Barcelona), what shall I do? Shall I sign in the language exchange programme now as well?

No, you should not. You should wait till next term. As we stated previously, we receive your data from different sources and while most times we receive accurate data, sometimes their IT programme feature a few mismatches regarding the term when students will attend lessons at UPF. So if that's your case, please do not worry. Let us know what is happening so that we stop sending you emails of our activities while you are not here, and only register online for the language exchange programme once you are in Barcelona -or a couple of weeks before. Thanks!
May I request to have language partner once the initial deadine for registering at the LV Language Exchange Programme has expired?

Yes. You may send us an email to do so and we'll try to allocate you a local student that matches your language needs as soon as we can - always bearing in mind the current language supply and demand.
I have Spanish as my mother tongue and would like to have a language partner in order to improve my Catalan. Is it possible?

Certainly! All you need to do is fill in the "Inscription Form to the Language Exchange Programme". You'll see that we have recently mended some fields so that is easier for you to request a language partner who wll help you out with your Catalan.

Some Catalan students are really commited and truly enjoy the experience of meeting people from a different cultural background while speaking Catalan. Once again, we would like to remind you that our programme is aimed at the UPF Community ONLY.
What happens if you find it difficult to meet with your language partner -due to time schedule overlappings, lack of interest by the other side, etc.?

Send us an e-mail and we'll try and see if we can assign you a new language partner.