In this section we are pleased to share with you comments and assessments that some of the students who have known and loved VL have sent us over the years. Thank you all very much for your kind words, which make us very happy, and reinforce our conviction that VL has been and is a beautiful story, which has allowed all of us who have participated in it to learn, share and love!

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(original comment written in Catalan - June 2025)

Hi Albert, my daughter Beatrice is an Erasmus student at UPF. Before she left for Barcelona, I encouraged her to learn Catalan and not Spanish. She was lucky enough to be able to take the first Catalan class ever held at University College Dublin, last year. When she arrived in Barcelona, I told her to look for a language partner, to meet people from there. She found one and they met a few times, but apart from that she didn't manage to make friends with anyone else who spoke Catalan. Everyone she met was also an Erasmus and, like her, had just arrived in the city.

But then she discovered the Language Volunteering, and thanks to that she has been able to get to know the place where she lives much better. I just wanted to thank you for what you do for all these Erasmus students. It’s a great idea, and you’re really giving them a gift: letting them discover the culture and beauty of Catalonia, which many (like Bea) might not have known without you. So thank you very much, Albert, from Ireland! Bea loved it — and
so did I!

Bea and I are delighted to be able to share a VL backpack, thank you very much! Bea was elated when you gave it to her because she knew how much I would love to have one. I’ve been following VL’s activities on Instagram for a while, since January. I also wanted to tell you that when you offered Bea the chance to go skiing in Andorra, it was her first time! As you probably know, Ireland is small and rainy, and usually only people with a lot of money can go skiing abroad in the winter. So that trip alone was an unforgettable experience for Bea!

Since I was going to visit Bea in Barcelona for five days in April, I wanted to learn a little Catalan and took the UPF MOOC course, which was online and open to everyone. When I arrived in Barcelona, I insisted on speaking only Catalan in shops and restaurants, with very mixed results: in a quiet bookstore near the UB the conversation went very well, in a café in Gràcia the waiter only wanted to speak bad English, and in a restaurant a waiter almost had a heart attack when I asked him for the menu in Catalan and not in English. But I really enjoyed learning a little Catalan. It is a beautiful language. And thanks to that, for the first time in twenty years, this summer we will not be going to France. We will go to the Aigüestortes National Park and then to the Empordà. 

You can't imagine how grateful I am to you for giving Bea this little sample of how special Catalonia is. Congratulations to you — language volunteering is a brilliant idea, and 25 years is a huge commitment and achievement. You have given an immense gift to all these young people. So, as a mother, I am very grateful to you.

Hugs,
Siabhra (Ireland)

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(original comment written in English – June 2025)

Dear Albert,

I just wanted to write you a small letter to properly thank you for the VL program.

I can’t accentuate enough how much your trips have made my year amazing. My other friends studying abroad in different countries have constantly been saying to me: “What is this VL you refer to? It seems it is offering you so much! I wish I had that where I am”. You are so unique in what you do and I am so privileged that I managed to come to this place and explore the country with someone so passionate about sharing all that they know and Love.

You have always been so unbelievably generous, endlessly giving presents, sharing food and knowledge. I have never met someone with so much generosity. And to subsidise the trips to such an extent is also something I am amazed by and incredibly grateful for. In a time where costs are always rising, it is so rare to find someone on your side trying to keep things affordable so you can live the life and explore in the way you want. Without VL I doubt I would have seen half the places you’ve opened my eyes to. I wouldn’t have been able to organise myself or fund the trips in the way that you have made possible. I know everyone feels the same as I do and I wanted to write this to remind you a little bit of the difference you made to all of us.

In summary, I can’t imagine my year without VL. It would have been much less beautiful, that’s for sure. I per tant, moltíssimes gràcies.

Louise (England)