Gathering once every week at the World Trade Centre Mall Abu Dhabi, a group of residents of several nationalities are learning different languages and cultures through their interactions with one another.

Learning a different language is usually done in a more formal and classroom setting, but with Abu Dhabi Speaks, the goal is to make the learning experience less formal, and more natural — getting people together so that participants can learn through real-life, one-on-one encounters.

“This initiative started around five years ago with a goal of bringing different people together to know one another and to learn each others’ language and culture,” said Erika Reyes, from Mexico, and one of the current organisers of Abu Dhabi Speaks.

“The way it works is very simple. If there is someone who wants to learn Spanish, and another person who wants to learn English, we pair the two speakers together,” she explained. “The Spanish speaker will start by going over some of the basic greetings and expressions in Spanish and vice-versa. By talking to one another in a conversation, they are both able to easily understand each other’s cultural sensitivities, words and expressions that should and should not be used and so on,” she added.

The weekly meet-ups roughly get 30 people attending, and also take place in a coffee shop with the setting chosen on purpose

“This is meant to be casual and less formal, it’s not like a classroom. This is bringing normal people to share in their culture and language. It is not about handing out a certificate, this is a community gathering where people come and just get a conversation started — the best way to learn something is by understanding it,” Reyes said.

The gatherings are also providing an opportunity for newly arrived residents in Abu Dhabi to make new friends, according to Reyes.

“A lot of people who come to our sessions are new to Abu Dhabi. They often feel alone because they haven’t made new friends or found people to socialise with,” she said. “So with our group they can come and meet people, make friends, and what’s more great is they get to meet people from so many different backgrounds — there are people from Canada, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE who are all part of our group.”

Mohammad Juma, from Jordan, and another organiser of Abu Dhabi Speaks, shared similar sentiments about the bonds of friendship that have been formed thanks to the group.

“I made a lot of friends from this group, in fact some of my best friends are the people who I met thanks to the group and our meetings,” he said.

“Strong relationships have been created from the meet-ups, and that is really one of the great positive benefits of this initiative. A lot of people have come here because it gives them that sense of communal belonging, and at the same time they get to learn another language,” he added.

Cristina Oliveira, from Portugal, who has attended two sessions so far to learn Arabic, said she would recommend other residents to come and take part in the weekly meet-ups.

“I thought this would be a very good opportunity to learn a new language, and to also eventually start teaching Portuguese to other people who attend,” she said.

“The experience has been wonderful so far because I have had the chance to see so many people from so many different countries, and everything is done in such a relaxed environment.

“It is different than attending a normal language class which I have actually done before, but the quality is still very good, I have already learned the basics of Arabic such as the numbers and the days of the week,” she added.

Alexander Alexandria, from Bulgaria, who has been coming to the weekly sessions for eight months to learn English and Arabic, said that the experience has changed him as a person and made him more open to interacting with others.

“When I first started coming here, I was very a very closed person — I would not have agreed to any interview (with a newspaper), but since then I have really been able to break the barriers down because of attending the sessions. I have met so many different people from around the world, exchanging different thoughts and ideas, and learning about different cultures and languages,” he said

source : gulfnews