During the 2017-2018 academic year the Voluntariat Lingüístic programme has worked both to keep offering a wide range of trips and guided tours to international students and to ensure a proper working of the language tandem programme. One of the major challenges VL has faced this year has been the increasing number of international students coming to UPF, that has resulted in a higher demand in both trips and language tandems.

Tours and cultural activities programme

From Saturday the 30^th of September 2017 to Saturday the 2^nd of June 2018, the Voluntariat Lingüístic has scheduled a total of 35 tours and activities, 12 during the first term, 11 during the second and 12 during the third. From these activities, 21 were in Barcelona, 13 in the rest of Catalonia and one in the Principality of Andorra. Mostly all of them took place on a Saturday (28 trips, one of them throughout the weekend), and the remaining seven trips were carried out during weekdays.

List of trips and tours during the first term:

1. Catamaran ride from Port Olímpic to Port Vell & panoramic tour by bus around Barcelona

2. Guided tour around the Roman and medieval Barcelona

3. Trip to the Costa Brava: L’Escala, the ruins of Empúries and the medieval village of Pals

4. Tour around the Barcelona of 1714, in La Ribera district

5. Visit to Ripoll + 'pa amb tomàquet’ workshop and ‘castanyada (chestnut festivity) + hiking to the Santa Margarida volcano, in La Garrotxa area

6. Visit to the Hospital de Sant Pau's Art Nouveau site

7. A walk across vineyards and a visit to a winery in the Penedès area

8. Visit to the Parliament of Catalonia

9. Visit to Fabra Observatory and walk along the Carretera de les Aigües, Barcelona

10. Guided tour at the city of Girona

11. Visit to the Pedralbes monastery and tour around Sarrià district, Barcelona

12. Catalan Christmas traditions tour + end-of-term Christmas party at the Rectoral building

List of trips and tours during the second term:

1. Visit to the Palau de la Generalitat and to the bell tower in Sants Just i Pastor church, Barcelona

2. Visit to Montblanc, to a winery & 'calçotada' + ‘porró’ drinking contest in Barberà de la Conca

3. Guided tour around modernist Barcelona

4. Visit to the city of Figueres, to the Sant Ferran fortress and to Dalí Museum

5. Visit to the Parliament of Catalonia, Barcelona

6. Guided tour around the Montjuïc hill, Barcelona

7. Trip to Les Ferreres aqueduct and the city of Tarragona

8. Tour around Picasso’s and Miró’s Barcelona

9. Touristic and ski weekend in Andorra

10. ‘Ruta dels Turons’ (hills route): end-of-term international brunch at Turó de la Rovira (bunkers) + walk to Turó del Carmel and to Park Güell

11. Visit to the Catalan national TV

List of trips and tours during the third term:

1. Guided tour around Sitges

2. Collserola mountain range: Tibidabo, communications tower and Vallvidrera water reservoir, Barcelona

3. Tour around the medieval city of Hostalric + 'pa amb tomàquet’ workshop + ‘porró’ drinking contest + celebration of Sant Jordi

4. ‘Castells' [human towers] workshop with Castellers de Barcelona

5. Guided tour around Gràcia + visit to the air-raid shelter in Plaça del Diamant, Barcelona

6. Trip to Besalú, Banyoles and Girona

7. Walk between vineyards + visit to a winery in the Penedès

8. Visit to the National Library of Catalonia and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

9. Trip to Montserrat + trekking to Sant Jeroni peak

10. Barcelona from the sea, Barcelona and the sea: catamaran ride in the sea front + guided tour about the relationship of Barcelona with the sea and the Barceloneta

11. Attending as audience Està passant, a TV humour and news programme live in the Catalan national TV

12. Trip to Vall de Núria, in the Pyrenees

Language tandem programme (linguistic partners)

During the 2017-2018 academic year, a total of 369 language tandems have been matched, out from the 746 applications received: 370 applications from international students and 376 from Catalan students. Per terms, the language partner applications distribution has been as follows: in the first term, 217 applications from international students and 211 from Catalan students; in the second term, 74 applications from international students and 92 from Catalan students; and, finally, in the third term, 79 applications from international students and 73 from Catalan students.

Most of applicants were undergraduate students (they accounted for 74.6% of all the applications this year), followed by postgraduate students (who account for 20.5%), while the remaining 4.9% corresponded to lecturers, administration staff and alumni. It should be pointed out, on the other hand, that a 62% from all applicants were women. And concerning the applicants’ ages, around 85% were, when submitting the application, between 17 and 25 years old, while the remaining 15% were older than 25.

And as far as languages are concerned, Catalan students applied for 21 different languages. English has been both the most requested language –being present in 67% of the applications by Catalan students– and the most offered one –being present in 70% of the applications by international students. Other languages such as French, German and Italian also had a significant presence in the whole of the applications, but to a much lesser extent.

The 2017-2018 academic year in some figures

• 35 tours and trips (12 in the first term, 11 in the second term and 12 in the third term), from which 28 were on a Saturday, including one weekend trip, and 7 were on a weekday

• 3,202 kilometers travelled by bus

• 4,279 e-mails sent

• 550 different students enrolled in tours and trips

• 2,317 attendants to tours and trips throughout the year

• Average participation in every tour: 42 students

• 68% of attendants were female students, and the remaining 32% were male students

• More than 13,000 pictures, 200 posts and 25 videos posted on our Facebook site

• 1,600 Facebook followers (some 280 new this year)

• 746 language tandem applications received

• 369 language tandems matched