The UPF Language Volunteering programme aims at helping international students to become familiar with Catalan reality and at promoting internationalization and language learning among Catalan students. To achieve this two-fold goal, the Language Volunteering programme organizes its activities around two axes: the  programme of tours and cultural activities and the conversation exchange programme (language tandems).

Programme of tours and cultural activities

During the 2013-2014 academic year the Language Volunteering programme has scheduled a total of thirty-four guided tours and activities around Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia, with an average attendance by activity of about thirty students.

During the first term the schedule included eleven tours, eight of them around Barcelona (a treasure hunt at Park Güell, the gothic quarter, the Barcelona of 1714, the Eixample district, film settings in the city, Sarrià and the Pedralbes monastery, TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio and a Catalan Christmas traditions tour) and the other three around the rest of Catalonia (Tossa de Mar, Girona and Tarragona).

During the second term the VL offered eleven tours, six of them in Barcelona (Palau de la Generalitat, the Barcelona of 1714, Picasso's Barcelona, the ​​Parliament of Catalonia, historical women's Barcelona and Montjuïc), four around the rest of Catalonia (Sitges, Figueres, Vilafranca del Penedès, and Hostalric) and a touristic and ski weekend in Andorra.

During the third term the schedule included twelve tours, nine of them in Barcelona (Tibidabo, TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio, George Orwell's Barcelona, ​​the Raval quarter, histories and legends of Barcelona, ​the Barceloneta quarter, the Gràcia district, the Parliament of Catalonia and an attendance to a Castellers de la UPF rehearsal) and the remaining three around Catalonia (Ripoll, Montserrat and Vall de Núria).

New this year the LV has incorporated tours to four Catalan institutions (the Palau de la Generalitat, the Parliament of Catalonia, TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio) and it has opened its Facebook page in October 2013, which has over two hundred followers and has enhanced the visibility of the Language Volunteering programme.

Language tandem programme

During the 2013-2014 academic year the Language Volunteering programme has matched 365 language tandems: 205 in the first term, 117 in the second term and 43 in the third term. 582 applications were received from local students and 377 from international students, i.e. nearly a thousand applications. During the first quarter, 279 international and 209 Catalan students applied for a tandem; in the second term, we have received 199 applications from local students and 124 from international students and finally, in the third quarter 104 Catalan students and 44 international students applied for a tandem. Most applicants are undergraduate students, but many graduate students have also been involved.

International students, from almost 50 different nationalities, offered thirty different languages. 17.5% of international students applied for both Catalan and Spanish, 71.6% applied for Spanish only and 10.8% applied for Catalan only. As for Catalan students, the most requested ​​are English, (65% of all requests), German (15%) and French (12%), followed by many other languages, which accounted for the remaining 8%.