Language and Cultural Exchange Program

About LCE

The Language and Cultural Exchange program (LCE) is desgined to facilitate interaction and mutual exchange between international students and local students and staff at the University. This programme includes two schemes:

Language Exchange Programme:

This is a great programme for you if you are either:

enrolled in a foreign language course at the University and/or
interested in maintaining and improving your foreign language skills

The Language Exchange Programme matches current students and staff at the University with native speakers of the requested language. Languages that may be available for exchange include the following:

Chinese (Mandarin)
Indonesian
French
German
Japanese
Spanish
Italian
Modern Greek

What are the benefits of participating?

Local students:

LCE is designed to be a fun and educational program that provides students with an opportunity to make friends and learn from each other.

Benefits include:

Meeting people from a different background and culture than your own
Practical experience speaking and learning another language
Learning about different cultural customs, colloquial terms and local slang
Possibly establishing new friendships and expanding your social network
Increasing your understanding of today's globalised world

What does it involve?

Participants are expected to meet face to face for a minimum of one hour per week either on campus or in a public space nearby. Examples of suggested activities and conversation topics are available here. As LCE is designed to be mutually beneficial, interaction should be split relatively evenly between both languages and cultures.

The program is designed to be largely self-directed by participants, but there will be some opportunities to socialise and interact as a whole group throughout the year. An LCE 2009 Calendar of Events will be available online shortly.

When can I apply?

Now! LCE will be piloted throughout 2009 so you can apply anytime throughout the year. Details about the application process are listed below.

What is the application process?

Application Forms are available online. Participants will be ‘matched’ with a partner according to the information provided on the Application Forms. Consideration will be given to criteria such as language nominated, program and year of study, campus location, and availability. Once a connection has been made both students will be advised of their partners’ details and the local student will be responsible for getting in touch with the international student to arrange a meeting. See LCE Process for more information.

Program guidelines and responsibilities

Please read the full Terms and Conditions of participating in LCE.

Need further information?

Contact the Community Engagement Project Officer jonie.schmortte@adelaide.edu.au or call them at the International Student Centre on 8313 0556.

Who can participate?

All current students and staff are encouraged to participate.
It is particularly relevant to:

Students who are new to Adelaide and / or the University and looking to make friends
People planning to travel or work overseas and wanting to learn some basic language and conversational skills
Students studying languages, linguistics and any other cultural programs
International Studies and International Law students
Development Studies students
People interested in learning about other languages and cultures