French/English Language Exchange in Nyon every Tuesday evening

Would you like to practise French or English in an informal setting for free? Every Tuesday evening there is a language exchange café held at the Hotel de l'Ange (note - this was previously held at the Rive hotel, the venue has now changed - this article has been updated the 9th October 2016) The café evenings are is held on Tuesdays from 18:30 - 20:00. Full details on a Facebook page here or here. This language café has been running since November 2014 and has proved to be very successful. Between ten and twenty participants attend every week and it’s free! The purpose of this English / French language exchange is for participants to help each other practise their target language.

Living in Nyon went along to one of these language cafés and spoke to Maria Hooper, founder and organiser of this weekly Nyon event. Maria from the UK has been living and working in Nyon for four years. After initially attending a language exchange in Geneva, she then became inspired to set up one in the town of Nyon itself.

Photo above: Maria Hooper - founder of the Nyon language exchange café Maria explains: “It can be difficult sometimes (particularly for expats) to find opportunities to speak and practise French, especially if they spend all day working in English in an international company and they travel a lot for work. The same applies to the Francophones who work in and speak French all day and who rarely get to speak English. So I set up this language café to help remedy this dilemma and to try and to help everyone’s integration a little. The Tuesday evening event has been running for 18 months now, we see new faces every week, but there is also a core group of regulars who have been here right from the start.

Photo above: Left to right - Erin, Gwenaëlle and Lucy Gwenaëlle from France is one of the regular attendees and says: “This language café is such a good idea, those of us who have been coming from the beginning know each other quite well now, we have almost become like a family. Often many of us are here in Switzerland without a family so it’s great to meet a friendly face and practise our English at the same time. Yet we also really welcome newcomers, there are people from all over the world that have moved to this area, it’s a very international group". Lucy from the UK, another participant, agrees: “The beauty of these events is that you can come along when you can, you are not judged by how many times you turn up or on your level of language in the conversation, it’s a very open policy. The only stipulation is you are requested to purchase a drink of some kind as the event is held in a café/bar. If you really want to immerse yourself in French, Maria also organises a French immersion weekend once or twice a year for those interested. The café also continues throughout the entire year so we can keep up with our target language and not forget it over the summer months."

Photo above: Left to right - Russell and Ricardo Russell Gasser, from the UK, lives just across the road from the language café  and says: “Many people find it such a friendly and effective way to improve their language skills that people in the group come from the whole Nyon region, and there are even participants travelling from France.”

Photo above: Left to Right - Michael and Gill Michael Gentle from South Africa says: “What I really like about the language exchange is the chance to meet many different and interesting people. As a French-English bilingual I'm not there for the language but for the socialisation. And people feel freer to talk without being scared of making mistakes because everyone's on the same boat. I've made a number of good friends at the language café".

Photo above: Gerry and Jaime at the "Advanced Speakers" table Gerry Moes from the Netherlands (who lived in the UK for more than 30 years before moving to Switzerland) says: “As a ‘trailing spouse’ this is a brilliant opportunity to hone my French - while retrieving it from the depth of my grey cells - in a very jovial, family like atmosphere with people of very different ages and backgrounds making the conversations most interesting at times. And if the opportunity arises I can also share my knowledge of English with those who want to practise that.” Maria explains how the language café works - English and in French Groups are divided according to the level (beginner/intermediate/advanced) of the language that they are learning, Beginners are more than welcome. You don't have to be a native speaker of either language to attend Groups of 3-5 are best to ensure everyone has the chance to speak Groups can choose whether to start in English or French Everyone should be encouraged to speak Correction of mistakes is essential Some participants bring magazines, notebooks, or other aids to improve learning If you are working on improving a particular issue e.g. pronunciation, it is best to make this clear to your group at the beginning The most important thing to remember is have fun! The group starts at 18:30. The evening is informal so if you plan to arrive later don't worry, just join a group or make a new group if needed. This is a great initiative by Maria. If you want to attend the language café you can contact her on nyonlanguageexchange@gmail.com French below --------- Cette activité a lieu chaque mardi à 18h30. L’objectif de l’échange linguistique Français/Anglais est de s’aider les uns les autres à pratiquer sa langue cible. Cette activité se déroule selon les principes suivants : - Les groupes sont constitués en fonction du niveau de la langue d’apprentissage (débutant / intermédiaire / avancé). Les débutants sont plus que bienvenus * ! - Il n’est pas nécessaire d’avoir l’anglais ou le français comme langue maternelle pour y participer. - Les groupes font 3 à 5 personnes pour que chacun ait l’opportunité de parler. - Les groupes peuvent démarrer en anglais ou en français. - Chacun devrait être encouragé à s’exprimer. - La correction d'erreurs est essentielle. - Certains participants apportent des magazines, cahiers ou d'autres supports pour améliorer leur apprentissage. - Si quelqu’un veut améliorer un aspect en particulier, par exemple la prononciation, il faut le préciser au groupe du début. - La chose la plus importante est de s’amuser ! * Pour les débutants : il faut apporter un «elevator pitch» écrit afin de discuter avec le groupe. Nous commençons à 18h30. La soirée est informelle, alors si vous arrivez tard, ne vous inquiétez pas ! Il faut seulement rejoindre un groupe ou en créer un nouveau ! Merci par avance de prévoir un peu de monnaie pour régler les boissons à la fin de la soirée. nyonlanguageexchange@gmail.com More photos below

Photo above: Isa from Italy

Photo above Allison

Photo above: Inna and Yulya