The Language Voluntariate programme at Pompeu Fabra University aims to foster awareness of the Catalan language and reality on the part of foreign students, on the one hand, and to promote "internationalization at home" and language learning by regular UPF students, on the other hand.

To achieve this dual objective, the Language Voluntariate programme organizes its activities around two axes: the programme of cultural and leisure activities, including visits and various activities to let students get familiar with the territory, the language, the heritage, the culture or the folklore of Catalonia and other Catalan-speaking territories; and the conversation exchange programme, aimed at creating language pairs or tandems for the exchange of conversation between foreign and local students so the former can learn or improve their knowledge of Catalan (and/or Spanish) and the latter can learn other languages or practise them in an informal setting. All the activities within the UPF Language Voluntariate programme are also open to administration and services staff and teaching and research staff wishing to join them.

Leisure and cultural programme

During the 2008-2009 academic year the Language Voluntariate has scheduled some thirty outings and activities both in the city of Barcelona as on the rest of Catalonia and other Catalan-speaking territories.

Barcelona

Guided visits to Cosmocaixa, on the occasion of The night of Telescopes; to Montjuïc and to the Poble Espanyol, on the occasion of La Mercè; to Collserola Park and to Vil·la Joana; to the so-called "Golden Apple" in the Eixample; to Moja Palace, to Raval neighbourhood; to Picasso Museum, to the Catalan Studies Institute; to the National History Museum of Catalonia (twice), and also the Gourmet's route in Barcelona.

Rest of Catalonia and Catalan-speaking territories

On the occasion of the Day of Modernism, we payed a guided visit to Colònia Güell (Baix Llobregat);  we attended to the II Encounter of Xarxa Vives Language Volunteers, in Poblet (Conca de Barberà), in which we met volunteers from all the universities of the Catalan-speaking territories; we visited Girona, on the occasion of Sant Narcís Fairs; we also spent a weekend in Sant Joan de les Abadesses (Ripollès) under the framework of the Català Means Feeling, coorganized by Plataforma per la Llengua and the Catalan universities. There was also a guided visit to Vic (Osona); the Route of Modernism in Reus (Baix Camp); a guided visit to the modernist Cardedeu (Vallès Oriental); guided visit to Vilanova i la Geltrú and Víctor Balaguer Museum (Garraf); guided visit to Esplugues de Llobregat (Baix Llobregat); skying and tourism trip to Andorra, where we went to Engolasters lake; guided visit to Manresa (Bages); to Sitges on Carnival's day; visit to Figueres and its Dali Museum (Alt Empordà). We also went to some traditional cellars in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (Alt Penedès); to the Montserrat abbey; we went to Palma (Mallorca), where we discovered the city and also went to Sóller by train; a guided trekking excursion to Núria Valley (Ripollès), and also a trip to Tarragona, on the occasion of the roman festival Tarraco Viva.

Regarding the participation on these activities, we counted with about thirty people per activity, who were mainly exchange students, but there were also Catalan students and some administration and service staff members and some teachers. Accordingly to the period in which these foreign students are used to be in Barcelona, the first term becomes the one where we found the highest participation, being able to reach until 70 people in some activities (such as Cosmocaixa or Montjuic), while the third term has the least participation, given that most of our exchange students have already left.

Conversation exchange programme (language pairs)

Under the conversation exchange programme, during the 2008-2009 academic year a total of 489 language pairs have been arranged: 208 in the first term, 211 in the second term and 70 in the third term. Although most language pairs consist of students, some include administration and service staff or lecturers.

This year the most requested languages have been as follows: as to exchange students, 42 students participating in the programme ask to learn only Catalan in the first term, 32 in the second one and 11 in the third one. The remaining students asked for Catalan and Spanish or only Spanish. As for Catalan students, the most requested languages have been, in this order, the following: English, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Dutch, Japanese, Basque, Arabic, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Hungarian and Hebrew.