Lingua Franca Club
Having fun while learning languages!
How it Started
It started in January 2021 when Tommy from Canada, and Sumit from India were looking for language learning partners. Sumit wanted to improve his English, and Tommy wanted to know more about India. They quickly transition from Speaky to WhatsApp and Zoom. A couple of days later, they were doing their first language learning Zoom with an American from New Jersey. At the end of the month, they met Boudour, our collaborator from Tunisia. While learners came and left, Tommy, Sumit, and Boudour stayed. Then, in February, they had the idea of making it more official. On the 20th of February 2021, the Lingua Franca Club was officially created.
Since our beginning, the club has helped hundreds of people from more than 30 countries on five continents! Sorry Oceania! Right now, we have 8 collaborators on five continents and there are more than 100 people in our WhatsApp! We have an average of 8 people attending the meetings, but we hope it can go to 15-20 on a regular basis.
How to Join the Club and the Meetings?
You can send us a message on our social media platforms to be included in our WhatsApp group and our Slack channel. We post our Zoom links and all other language learning resources there. We can also send you the Zoom links by email or directly by private message on our social media platforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KfLwdkbnxc
Except for special events or periods of the year, our meetings are only during weekends. For someone living in New York, they are around midday.
How our Meetings Work?
- We join the Zoom meeting with the link we received.
- We wait 4-5 minutes to let everyone in.
- We always start the meetings with a song.
- We follow with "This Day in History" from History Channel.
- We introduce the topic.
- We have a discussion on the topic. If it is a game; time to play!
- We conclude the discussion or the game.
- We take a group picture.
- We answer questions and comments.
- We tell you when is the next meeting, and what is the topic.
- We leave the Zoom.
*If you do not want to open the microphone or camera, it is totally fine. It is not an obligation.
Rules of the Club and the Meetings
On WhatsApp and Slack
1) Be respectful or you are banned right away. No harassment, bullying, sexist or racist remarks, etc.
2) Language learning related post, culture, language, religion, etc. Things that help others either learn a language or help discover a country, understand a culture, for example. No spamming and publicity unless approved before. You need to ask us to allow you to post something.
A reminder that the goal is to help each other and we do not go at the same pace. Response can also be long to obtain as we are in many time zones. Be patient.
On Zoom
1) Like mentioned earlier, be respectful of everyone in the virtual meeting. We have 0 tolerance for racism, sexism, and other form of harassment. You will be banned if something of that sort happens.
2) You do not have an obligation to open the microphone or the camera, but if you do use the videofeed, be sure that your clothing is appropriate as it will be shared on our social media after.
3) If you are in a meeting with many other learners, it would be better if you raise your virtual hand if you want to say something.
4) To be sure that we are not mixing you up with someone, it would be better for us if you would put the initial of your country at the end of your Zoom name. Example: Tommy-M. Gouin (CA) or Tommy-M. G. (CA).
Thank you very much and if you have other questions, send us a message!
