Despite the circumstances generated by the covid-19 during the 2020-2021 academic year, the Voluntariat Lingüístic has continued working both to offer a wide range of excursions and guided visits to international students –that during part of the first trimester and throughout the second trimester had to be replaced by tips of activities so that students could do them on their own– as well as to ensure proper and efficient management of the language tandems programme that runs each trimester.

Cultural tips and activities programme

From the 26th of September 2020 until the 26th of June 2021, the Voluntariat Lingüístic had scheduled a total of 37 visits and activities, of which, considering that from 17th of October 2020 until the 9th of April 2021 all the outings had to be cancelled, 18 of them were completed in-person between the first and third trimesters. Of these 18 proposed activities, 10 have been carried out in Barcelona and 8 in the rest of Catalonia, mostly on Saturdays (14 activities), but also some during the week (4 activities).

Despite not being able to carry out in-person outings for most of the academic year, the Voluntariat Lingüístic has tried to provide alternatives for students who continued to reside in Barcelona and, therefore, a series of tips and proposals for the weekend were sent to them every week, replacing the cancelled activities.

List of activities carried out during the first quarter:

  1. Guided tour around Roman and medieval Barcelona (Gothic Quarter) + boat trip to discover Barcelona’s skyline from the sea (26th of September 2020)
  2. Trip to northern Costa Brava: visit to L’Escala, the ruins of Empúries and the medieval city of Pals (3rd of October 2020)
  3. Guided tour around Park Güell to get to know Antoni Gaudí’s life and work (10th of October 2020)
  4. Visit to the Torre Bellesguard, by Antoni Gaudí (17th of October 2020)

List of first quarter tips:

  1. Tip for the weekend - October 23-25. Library card, Park Güell and 48h Open House.
  2. Tip for the weekend - October 30 - November 1. Modernist building on Passeig de Gràcia, Palau Robert and Montjuïc.
  3. Tip for the weekend - November 6-8. 20 years of the VL, Picasso Museum, Horta’s Labyrinth Park and Tibidabo and Vallvidrera water reservoir.
  4. Tip for the weekend - November 13-15. Hills of the city, the Born and the Barcelona of the 18th century, Sant Just i Pastor, Brunells patisserie.
  5. Tip for the weekend - November 20-22. Gothic jewels of Barcelona, ​​the seafront of Barcelona and the Carretera de les Aigües.
  6. Tip for the weekend - November 27-29. Markets of Barcelona, ​​Gràcia district and exhibition at the Palau Robert.
  7. Tip for the weekend - December 4-6. Barcelona’s libraries, Hospital de Sant Pau and Sant Cugat.
  8. Tip for the weekend - December 11-13. Bookstores in Barcelona, ​​Christmas fairs in Santa Llúcia and the Sagrada Família.

List of tips for the second quarter:

  1. Tip for the weekend - January 8-10. Library card and Park Güell.
  2. Tip for the weekend - January 15-17. Tibidabo Avenue and Tamarita Gardens, Frederic Marès Museum, air-raid shelter 307.
  3. Tip for the weekend - January 22-24. Torre Baró Castle and bakeries in Barcelona.
  4. Tip for the weekend - January 29-31. Sarrià neighbourhood and the Collserola mountain range.
  5. Tip for the weekend - February 5-7. Casa Rússia, a bike ride from the Port Vell to the Parc Fluvial del Besòs, visits to the Palau Güell and the Museum of History of Catalonia.
  6. Tip for the weekend - February 12-14. Festivities of Santa Eulàlia and a walk from Tibidabo to the Collserola mountain range.
  7. Tip for the weekend - February 19-21. Port Vell cable car, bookstores in Barcelona and Sant Just i Pastor.
  8. Tip for the weekend - February 26-28. Poble Espanyol, exhibition at the Photographic Archive of Barcelona and visit to the Baluard Gardens.
  9. Tip for the weekend - March 5-7. Barcelona’s History Museum, el Call Museum and cinemas of Barcelona.
  10. Tip for the weekend - March 12-14. Walk through the Prat del Llobregat and the Casa de l’Aigua.
  11. Tip for the weekend - March 19-21. Excursion through two “turons” (hills) of the city.

List of third quarter activities:

  1. Visit to the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the national library of Catalonia (15th of April 2021)
  2. Walk from Vallvidrera to Tibidabo and Sant Cugat del Vallès, to discover the Collserola mountain range (18th of April 2021)
  3. Guided tour of the Born district and the Basílica de Santa Maria, including the magnificent terraces (24th of April 2021)
  4. Guided tour at the Fabra Observatory, one of the oldest in the world still in operation (28th of April 2021)
  5. Trip to the medieval city of Besalú, to the lake of Banyoles and to the city of Girona (8th of May 2021)
  6. Guided tour of the Poblenou cemetery (9th of May 2021)
  7. Visit to Montserrat + hiking to the Sant Jeroni peak (1,236 m), the highest point in the Montserrat mountain range (15th of May 2021)
  8. Guided tour at the Museum of History of Catalonia and tour around the Barcelona of 1714 (18th of May 2021)
  9. Visit to Figueres + Sant Ferran fortress + Dalí Museum (22nd of May 2021)
  10. Trip to southern Costa Brava: Tossa de Mar + boat trip (29th of May 2021)
  11. Guided tour at El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria to discover the Barcelona of the 1700's (11th of June 2021)
  12. Walk and picnic between vineyards and visit and wine tasting in a cellar in the Penedès area (12th of June 2021)
  13. Visit to Vall de Núria, in the Pyrenees, as last activity and farewell to the 2020-2021 academic year (19th of June 2021)
  14. Visit to northern Costa Brava: Roses + boat trip to Cadaqués (26th of June 2021)


​Conversation exchange programme (language tandems)

During the 2020-2021 academic year, a total of 132 language tandems were created, based on the 385 applications received: 145 applications from international students and 240 from Catalan students. Per terms, the distribution of language tandems applications has been as follows: in the first term, 90 applications from international students and 160 from Catalan students; in the second term, 29 applications from international students and 34 from Catalan students; and, finally, in the third term, 26 applications from international students and 46 from Catalan students.

Most of the participants were undergraduate students (67.5% of the total applications for this course), followed by postgraduate students (26% of the total applications), while the 6.5 % remaining corresponds to lecturers, administration and service staff and alumni. It should also be noted that 66.5% of the total number of applicants were women and, therefore, the remaining 33.5% were men. Regarding the age groups of the applicants, 84.9% of the participants were, at the time of sending the application, between 17 and 25 years old, while the remaining 15.1% correspond to students over 25 years of age.

And finally, as far as languages are concerned, Catalan students have asked for 38 different languages. English has been both the most requested language by Catalan students –present in 56.7% of Catalan student applications– and the most offered language –present in 62% of international student applications–; other languages ​​such as French, German and Italian have also had a notable presence in the set of applications, albeit with less importance. As for international students, 28.5% requested only Catalan, 16.5% requested both Catalan and Spanish, and 55% requested only Spanish, in exchange for a total of 47 languages.