Frequently Asked Questions

LInguapolis organises a series of Online Conversation Practice sessions 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 OCP, language learners meet online for one hour once a week for 10 weeks. An OCP 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, and a professional 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 OCP, 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 OCP 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 OCP , 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 OCP, 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. Online Conversation Practice 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 OCP? If so, you will receive a voucher after the start of the OCP giving you a €45 discount on registering for a Linguapolis language course of your choice (within 12 months).
  

Yes, you certainly can. In an OCP, 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. Online Conversation Practice is not a language lesson. Want to improve your language knowledge and skills? Then register for one of our language courses.

Online Conversation Practice 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 Online Conversation Practice? We’ve made an overview with all the differences. Of course, you can also choose to take both a language course and an OCP.

Languages on offer

• Language Course: Arabic, Chinese, German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish
• Online Conversation Practice: Dutch, English, French

Setting

• Language Course: On campus / 100% live online / Combination
• Online Conversation Practice: 100% live online

Type of course

• Language Course: Group course
• Online Conversation Practice: Group sessions
  

Interaction

• Language Course: yes
• Online Conversation Practice: yes

Guidance

• Language Course: by a qualified language teacher (a native or near-native speaker)
• Online Conversation Practice: by a qualified language teacher (a native or near-native speaker)

Level Assessment

• Language Course: yes, according to the ERK after an oral and written intake interview by Linguapolis
• Online Conversation Practice: no

Skills

• Language Course: speaking, writing, listening, reading
• Online Conversation Practice: speaking & listening
  

Homework & Exam

• Language Course: yes
• Online Conversation Practice: no

Certificate

• Language Course: yes
• Online Conversation Practice: no

Course Materials

• Language Course: yes
• Online Conversation Practice: limited

E-learning Platform

• Language Course: yes
• Online Conversation Practice: limited

Aim

• Language Course: improve your language skills with the possibility of progressing to the next level
• Online Conversation Practice: maintain or refresh your language skills

OCPs 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 OCP.

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

If you are a (near-)native speaker of Dutch, English or French, you are welcome to send your cv to onlinelanguagecafe@linguapolis.be 

When you register for an OCP, please make your own assessment of your prior knowledge.

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.

Registration for an OCP 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/Zoom for the online meetings

The OCPs are held on Zoom. Blackboard Class Collaborate is used as a student platform You will receive your login information approximately three working days before the start of the first session. The use of Zoom and Blackboard are included in the registration fee.

Participants are expected to have some digital knowledge. Blackboard and Zoom are 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.

OCPs 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.

LInguapolis organises a series of Online Conversation Practice sessions 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.

Registering for an OCP 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 OCPs will take place. That way, you will know before you register if you can combine different OCPs.

The registration deadline is one week before the start of the Online Conversation Practice. 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 OCP 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 OCP cannot be interrupted and carried over to the next period.

• Too few registrations: If there are fewer than 8 registrations, Linguapolis reserves the right to cancel the OCP. 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 OCP 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 OCP 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 OCP 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.