During the 2019-2020 academic year the Voluntariat Lingüístic programme has continued to work both to offer a wide range of trips and guided tours to international students as to ensure efficient management of the language tandem programme. In addition, it must be highlighted that Voluntariat Lingüístic, which was created in May 2000, has celebrated its twentieth anniversary during this academic year.

Visits and cultural activities programme

From the 28th of September 2019 to the 6th of June 2020, the Voluntariat Lingüístic programme had scheduled a total of 38 tours and activities, of which, due to the coronavirus pandemic, 25 took place during the first and the second term, while 5 of them took place in a virtual format in the third term. Out of the total number of outings and activities, 16 took place in Barcelona, ​​8 in the rest of Catalonia, one in the Principality of Andorra and 5 in a virtual way. A total of 20 activities of this academic year were held on a Saturday, one during a whole weekend, and 9 on a weekday.


Activities carried out during the first term:

  1. Guided tour around Roman and medieval Barcelona (Gothic Quarter) + boat trip to discover Barcelona’s skyline from the sea
  2. Trip to northern Costa Brava: L’Escala, Empúries and Pals
  3. ‘Castells’ (human towers) workshop + attendance to a rehearsal by Castellers de Barcelona
  4. Guided tour around Picasso’s Barcelona + visit to Picasso Museum
  5. Visit to the monastery of Pedralbes and to the Sarrià district
  6. Visit to the city and monastery of Ripoll + ‘pa amb tomàquet’ workshop and ‘castanyada’ + hiking to Santa Margarida volcano
  7. Guided tour at the Museum of History of Catalonia + tour around the Barcelona of 1714, in La Ribera district (El Born)
  8. Walk and breakfast in the vineyards + visit to a winery (Can Bas) and tasting in the Penedès area
  9. Visit to the facilities of MareNostrum at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre
  10. Getting to know other nations: Mexican evening, workshop to discover Mexico, its culture, its music and its cuisine
  11. Guided tour around Park Güell + introduction to Gaudí’s life and work
  12. Guided tour at the city of Girona + visit to the two city’s cathedrals
  13. Guided tour at the Fabra Observatory + Torre Bellesguard, by Gaudí
  14. Catalan Christmas traditions tour + Christmas reception and end-of-term celebration in the Antic Teatre garden in Barcelona


Activities carried out during the second term:

  1. Guided tour around modernist Eixample, Barcelona
  2. Visit to the Roman aqueduct of Les Ferreres + visit to the city of Tarragona
  3. Visit to TV3, the Catalan national television
  4. Visit to the Hospital de Sant Pau’s Art Nouveau site
  5. Visit to Figueres + Sant Ferran fortress + Dalí Museum
  6. Guided tour around the Montjuïc mountain
  7. Visit to the Santes Creus monastery and to the walled city of Montblanc + ‘pa amb tomàquet’, ‘calçotada’ and ‘porró’ drinking workshop
  8. Visit to the Palau de Requesens and to the Sants Just i Pastor church, in the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona
  9. Visit to a winery (Caves Vilarnau) in the Penedès area + walk across the vineyards
  10. Getting to know other nations: Dutch evening, workshop to discover the Netherlands, its culture, its music and its cuisine
  11. Touristic and ski weekend in Andorra


The two activities that were initially scheduled and that had to be cancelled due to the pandemic are the following ones:

  1. Barcelona hills tour: visit to Turó de la Rovira (the bunkers), Turó del Carmel and Park Güell + end-of-term international brunch
  2. Visit to Montserrat + hiking to the Sant Jeroni peak (1,236 m), the highest point in the Montserrat mountain range


Activities carried out during the third term:

  1. Barcelona hills tour: Turó de la Rovira (‘the bunkers’), Turó del Carmel and Park Güell (virtual tour)
  2. Virtual guided tour around Gràcia + visit to the air-raid shelter in Plaça del Diamant 
  3. Virtual guided tour to three of Gaudí’s buildings: Torre Bellesguard, Casa Batlló and Casa Milà
  4. Getting to know other nations: Russian morning, virtual workshop to discover Russia and its culture and to visit Saint Petersburg, Russia’s cultural capital
  5. Virtual guided tour about cultural projects (films, urban art, literature…) created or inspired in Barcelona + farewell of the third term and of the 2019-2020 academic year


The nine activities that were initially scheduled and that had to be cancelled due to the pandemic are the following ones:

  1. Guided tour around the medieval fortified town of Hostalric + ‘pa amb tomàquet’ workshop and ‘porró’ drinking contest + celebrating Sant Jordi’s day
  2. Guided tour at Ateneu Barcelonès
  3. Trip to Besalú, to the lake of Banyoles and to the city of Girona, on the occasion of the Girona Temps de Flors festival
  4. Tour around Collserola mountain: Tibidabo and Vallvidrera water reservoir
  5. Visit to the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the national library of Catalonia
  6. Trip to southern Costa Brava: Tossa de Mar + boat trip + Lloret de Mar
  7. Visit to the Gran Teatre del Liceu
  8. Trip to Vall de Núria, in the Pyrenees
  9. Voluntariat Lingüístic’s 20th anniversary celebration and farewell party of the 2019-2020 academic year


Conversation exchange programme (language tandems)

During the 2019-2020 academic year a total of 312 language tandems have been matched, out of the 710 applications received, 345 applications from international students and 365 from Catalan students. Per terms, the distribution of language tandems has been as follows: in the first term, 231 applications by international students and 211 by Catalan students; in the second term, 92 applications by international students and 119 by Catalan students; and, finally, in the third term, 22 applications by international students and 35 by Catalan students.

Most of the participants were undergraduate students (70% of the total number of applications for this year), followed by postgraduate students (13.6% of total applications), while the remaining 6.4% corresponds to lecturers, administration and service staff and alumni. It should be noted, moreover, that 69.4% of the total number of applicants were women. Regarding the applicant's age ranges, 83.1% of the participants were, at the time of applying, between 17 and 25 years old, while the remaining 16.9% corresponded to students over 25 years old.

And finally, as far as languages are concerned, Catalan students have requested 19 different languages. The English language has been both the most requested language, present in 37.97% of the applications by Catalan students, and the most offered one, present in 46.44% of the applications by international students; other languages ​​such as French, German and Italian have also had a significant presence in the applications, although with less importance. And regarding international students, 18.5% have asked for just Catalan, 32.77% have asked for both Catalan and Spanish, and 48.73% have asked for just Spanish, in exchange for up to 34 languages.