Frequently Asked Questions

LInguapolis organises Online Language Cafés twice a year.

• in November (details available on the website in September)
  
• in February-March (details available on the website in January)

 Want to be the first to know about our language offer? Please subscribe to our newsletter.

The offer varies depending on the number of registrations.

 Want to be the first to know about our language offer? Please subscribe to our newsletter.

In an OLC, language learners meet online for one hour once a week for 10 weeks. An OLC does not offer a language lesson, but it is a place where participants can talk to each other in an informal, relaxed atmosphere in a foreign language about the culture, current affairs and society of the countries where the target language is spoken. The conversations are guided by a native speaker – the café coach.

The coach is a native or near-native speaker, but not a qualified teacher. The coach encourages you to speak the foreign language and takes you on short trips into the culture, current affairs and society of the different regions where the language is spoken.

During an OLC, you have to actively use the language skills that you previously acquired. The café coach uses authentic online materials. Listening or reading excerpts, visual materials, music or texts from current affairs encourage you to interact. Enhancing language skills goes hand in hand with increasing knowledge about culture and society. The café coach encourages all participants to speak up, in class and in break-out rooms.

Don’t have many opportunities to use your foreign language or languages? Are you looking for extra speaking opportunities? An OLC allows you to practise and maintain your speaking skills in an informal online setting under the guidance of a native speaker. You will meet like-minded people and learn more about a country’s culture and society.

To register for an OLC, basic knowledge of the language is sufficient. In this chart, you can check whether you meet the basic requirements. You assess your own degree of comprehension. When you register online, select one of the descriptions from the chart. Based on that, you will be put in a group with speakers of a similar comprehension.

In an OLC, the emphasis is on speaking skills. In each session, the café coach challenges participants to speak up. Still unsure about your speaking skills? If so, please do not hesitate to indicate a lower comprehension degree than you effectively have when registering. This can help you overcome speaking anxiety.

Yes. In a language course, you build up knowledge of the foreign language in a structured way – together with an experienced language teacher. A wide variety of teaching methods invite you to use the building blocks of language, vocabulary and grammar in classroom conversation exercises. An OLC provides additional opportunities to practise speaking skills. You will be introduced to the culture, current affairs and country of the café coach through various topics.

• Are you taking an OLC? If so, you will receive a voucher after the start of the OLC giving you a €45 discount on registering for a Linguapolis language course of your choice.
• Are you taking a Linguapolis language course? After the start of your language course, you will receive a voucher giving you a €70 discount on an OLC.

Yes, you certainly can. In an OLC, you practice and maintain your speaking skills. If you have basic knowledge of the language, you can register. In this chart, you can check whether you meet the basic requirements. An OLC is not a language lesson. Want to improve your language knowledge and skills? Then register for one of our language courses.

An Online Language Café is not a language lesson: there is no qualified language teacher, homework, exam or certificate.

Still not sure if you should take one of our language courses or an Online Language Café? We’ve made an overview with all the differences. Of course, you can also choose to take both a language course and an OLC.

                                         LANGUAGE COURSE                                            ONLINE LANGUAGE CAFÉ

Receive a discount on a language course

Register for an Online Language Café and receive a €45 discount on a Linguapolis language course of your choice

OLCs are great for anyone looking for extra speaking opportunities. We know that practising a language is not always easy to combine with work and family life. By offering an online setting, we aim to make things easier.

A minimum of 8 and a maximum of 15 registrations will be allowed per OLC.

No, it is no problem at all if you cannot attend all sessions. In an OLC, the focus is on informal conversation. You don’t need to prepare anything and after a missed session, you can rejoin without any problems.

Yes, you certainly can. Are you a native speaker of Arabic, Chinese, German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish or Swedish and are you passionate about language and culture? Then be sure to check out the info on becoming an online café coach at Linguapolis.

When you register for an OLC, please make your own assessment of your prior knowledge using the chart below.

Based on that self-assessment, you will be put in a group with speakers of a similar comprehension. The level grading is not strict, but it is useful for the coach leading the language café.

When you register online, select one of the descriptions from the overview.

Click the image to zoom in.

I have no knowledge of the language yet

•     Please take a level 1 course at Linguapolis first.
  

I can talk about myself using basic phrases

• I can talk about myself using simple words.
• I can introduce myself and tell something about myself and my family.
• I can describe people and things.
• I can use the language while on holiday: I can buy or order something, ask for directions.
• I use simple language and speak slowly.
• I understand slowly spoken standard language with repetition or a little help.
  

I can talk about my life

•  I can talk about myself and my interests.
• I can talk about past experiences and dreams for the future.
• I can give my opinion.
• I sometimes speak slowly and I sometimes speak more fluently.
• I understand slowly spoken standard language, possibly with repetition.
• I can follow television programmes like the news, but I don’t fully understand them yet.

I can talk about current affairs

• I can talk about myself and my surroundings.
• I can talk about an issue and current affairs.
• I can formulate arguments in a discussion.
• I understand spoken standard language and can completely understand television programmes like the news.
• My speaking pace is normal.

I speak the language at native or near-native level

​​​​

I can talk about abstract topics and can express myself in a nuanced way.

I can formulate complex arguments during a discussion.

Communication with a native speaker proceeds without much effort.

My speaking pace is fluent and spontaneous.

I can easily follow a debate or meeting.


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Don’t have any knowledge of the language yet? Then please take a language course first.

Registration for an OLC is done online and individually. You cannot register more than one person at a time. If you want to be in the same group as your friend(s), you can send an email to onlinelanguagecafé@linguapolis.be immediately after your registration and provide the names of the befriended participant or participants.

Check whether there are any Linguapolis emails in your junk or non-priority folder (e.g. spam).

• If you have a Gmail account, be sure to check whether the mails ended up in the non-priority folders (Spam, Promotions or Social).
• If you have an Outlook or Hotmail account, be sure to check whether the mails ended up in the non-priority folders (Other, Junk email).
• Didn’t receive any emails at all? Then please email onlinelanguagecafé@linguapolis.be.

The registration fee includes:

• 10 one-hour online sessions guided by your café coach (native or near-native speaker)
• online materials such as listening or reading excerpts, visual materials or texts from current affairs prepared by the café coach
• free use of LinguaPlus, our online training platform containing a wealth of exercises (for Dutch learners)
• the use of Blackboard Class Collaborate for the online meetings

The OLC are held on Blackboard Class Collaborate. You will receive a participation link approximately three working days before the start of the first session. The use of Blackboard is included in the registration fee.

Participants are expected to have some digital knowledge. Blackboard is easy to use and will rely upon just a few basic functions. 

Yes, you can, as long as you have a good internet connection, a good camera and a microphone. Preferably, you join the online sessions in a quiet place.

OLCs are not curriculum courses, and therefore do not entitle you to credits or credit for your study programme at university or a university of applied sciences and arts.

We are currently busy preparing the OLCs. Starting from January 29 , you will find registration and start dates here.

Want to be the first to know about our offer and registration date? Please subscribe to our newsletter.

Registering for an OLC can only be done online. Follow these steps below to make your registration go smoothly:

• Choose from our language offer.
• Make sure you meet the registration requirements (see above).
• Determine your own degree of comprehension based on this chart.​
• Create your online profile if you are a new Linguapolis client.
• Make sure you pay immediately to guarantee your place.

Profile

1. Our courses are intended for highly-educated adults. This means that:

• you must be at least 18 years of age; and
• you must hold a secondary school diploma (i.e. you have received at least 12 years of education); and
• One of the following conditions:
  • you are studying at higher education level 
  • you have studied at higher education level 
  • you want to prepare yourself to study at higher education level

2.  You are not a true beginner. This means you have previous knowledge of the language in which you want to follow the Online Language Café. 

Equipment

1. You have access to a computer or tablet with internet connection.

2. You will need a camera and microphone for the live online session.

Check whether there are any Linguapolis emails in your junk or non-priority folder (e.g. spam).

• If you have a Gmail account, be sure to check whether the mails ended up in the non-priority folders (Spam, Promotions or Social).
• If you have an Outlook or Hotmail account, be sure to check whether the mails ended up in the non-priority folders (Other, Junk email).
• Didn’t receive any emails at all? Please email onlinelanguagecafé@linguapolis.be.

Yes, you certainly can. We will announce in advance on which day the OLCs will take place. That way, you will know before you register if you can combine different OLCs.

The registration deadline is one week before the start of the Online Language Café. You can find the registration deadline on this page.

Want to guarantee your place? Then register as soon as possible as the number of places per OLC is limited.

Want to keep up to date about the language offer and registration date? Then please subscribe to our newsletter.

Don’t worry. The level grading is not strict, but the assessment is useful for the coach leading the language café. All participants are looking for additional speaking opportunities, but there will be differences in prior knowledge.

After your online registration, you will receive – together with the confirmation email – practical information about your chosen payment method.

• You can pay online after registering for an Online Language Café via the website.
• You can pay with your bank card (Maestro, Bancontact/Mister Cash, MasterCard or Visa) at our secretary’s office.

Make sure you pay as soon as possible to guarantee your place.

Linguapolis does not send a payment confirmation unless you pay online. If your payment has been received, you will not be notified. If your payment has not been received, Linguapolis will contact you in a timely manner. When you register online for a course, you will receive – together with the confirmation email – practical information about your chosen payment method.

• Didn’t receive the email regarding payment? Then check if the mail is in your junk mail folder (spam).
• If you didn’t receive the email regarding payment, please contact onlinelanguagecafé@linguapolis.be. We will then check if your email address is correct and send you the email regarding payment again.

KBC Bank Antwerpen Centrum 

Schoenmarkt 6 

2000 Antwerp 

Belgium

IBAN BE65 7350 0931 3196

BIC KREDBEBB

No, that is not possible. You need to pay the registration fee in full and as soon as possible after your registration. Your place in the group is only guaranteed after we receive your payment.

Of course! You can find all the information about discounts here. 

You can cancel until before the start of the first online session. In that case, you will pay 20% of the registration fee as a cancellation fee. Please contact onlinelanguagecafé@linguapolis.be if you wish to cancel.

Once the first session has started, you cannot cancel your registration and we will not refund the registration fee under any circumstances.

An OLC cannot be interrupted and carried over to the next period.

• Too few registrations: If there are fewer than 10 registrations, Linguapolis reserves the right to cancel the OLC. In this case, we will refund your registration fee in full and as soon as possible.
  
• Too many registrations: If the group is full, you will be put on a waiting list. If no more places become available, your registration will be cancelled. In this case, we will refund your registration fee in full and as soon as possible.

It takes about 2 weeks to transfer the money back into your account. Reimbursement is done by the university’s finance department.

You can cancel until before the start of the first online session. In that case, you will pay 20% of the registration fee as a cancellation fee. Please contact onlinelanguagecafé@linguapolis.be if you wish to cancel. You can also first inquire if there is a second OLC in your target language on another evening. But please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee this.

All participants are looking for additional speaking opportunities, but there will certainly be differences in prior knowledge. Some learners will speak more fluently, others will make some more mistakes, and others will know more words. The essence of the OLC is that you get the opportunity to use the language in interaction with others.

Are you looking for a course that suits your prior knowledge and learning objectives? Then register for one of our language courses. After extensive screening of your prior knowledge, you will be placed in the appropriate level.

An OLC is prepared and led by a café coach. The coach is a passionate native speaker who offers speaking opportunities and guides conversations, but they are not a qualified teacher.

• If you have questions or comments, please discuss them with the café coach first.
• Was your question not answered? Then please contact onlinelanguagecafé@linguapolis.be and clearly formulate your question.

It is no problem at all if you cannot attend all sessions. No attendance records are kept.