Language Programs

Come meet other Penn graduate and professional students and practice your language skills during our Fall 2023 language chats! Language chats provide an opportunity for students to practice a target language in an informal social setting. 

Language chats are not a class but are instead a fun way for students to strengthen their language skills and meet other practiced speakers. 

This spring we are excited to offer language chats in: French, Hindi, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish. Learn more and register for a chat in advance through this link.

Would you like to participate in a language chat that we are not offering this semester? E-mail us at gradcenter@upenn.edu! 

All participants should have at least basic conversational proficiency in the language of the chat they attend.

This spring we are excited to offer language chats in: French, Hindi, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish. Learn more and register for a chat in advance through this link.

All participants should have at least a basic conversational proficiency in the language of the chat they attend. While participants do not need to attend every session, we ask that you register in advance for those sessions you plan to attend.

Please note: 

Sometimes our facilitators are late or have an unexpected conflict that prevents them from attending chats. When / if this happens, we encourage you to engage one another and discuss topics of interest in the target language.

We encourage you to use the icebreaker questions below - or your own - to help get the conversation flowing!

Language Chat Facilitators lead informal conversations in a specified language among small groups of interested students. Facilitators commit to a scheduled weekly or biweekly meeting time and are responsible for leading the chats for the entire semester. 

We are currently looking for students to volunteer as facilitators for our spring 2024 language chats.  Interested in volunteering? Please fill out this survey.

Leading a language chat is a great way to practice facilitating discussion and gain hands-on experience with language learning. It is also a great opportunity to meet people from other schools with similar interests and explore the language and culture together!

Facilitators are provided with resources and guidance to help them create an environment for informal learning, linguistic conversation, and cultural exchange.

Requirements and Expectations

Language facilitators should have native or advanced, near-native fluency in the chosen language. Once the facilitator commits to a scheduled time and day for the semester, they are responsible for the chat for the whole semester.

Since these are informal sessions, the chat facilitators are not required to prepare lesson plans. However, especially if most chat participants have beginner-level proficiency, we encourage the facilitator to brainstorm some topics for each session as well as key phrases or idioms that might be covered in a first-year language course. 

Language chats run once a week or once every other week depending on the facilitator's availability. Each session lasts for one hour. If a conflict arises, facilitators are responsible for contacting us at least one week in advance so we can notify participants and/or make alternative arrangements. 

• What is your most used emoji? Why do you think that is? 
• Would you rather have invisibility or flight as a superpower?
• Cats or dogs?
• Would you rather be invisible or be able to read minds?
• If you could be an animal, what animal would you be and why?
• If you could bring back any fashion trend what would it be?
• What’s your best scary story?
• If you had 25 hours a day, how would you use your extra time?
• If you could commit any crime and get away with it what would you choose and why?
• How would you spend a million dollars? How about a billion?
• If you could be any supernatural creature, what would you be and why?
• If you could change places with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
• If you could kill any fashion trend forever what would it be?
• If you had to delete all but three apps from your smartphone, which ones would you keep?
• What skill do you think everyone should have?
• What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
• What is your favorite item you've bought this year?
• What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
• If you could be guaranteed one thing in life (besides money), what would it be?
• Would you rather lose all of your money or all of your pictures?
• Would you rather be the funniest or smartest person in the room?
• If you could pick up a new skill in an instant what would it be?
• What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
• What is your absolute dream job?
• How would your friends describe you?
• What would you like to be known/remembered for?
• What sport would you compete in if you were in the Olympics?
• Do you collect anything?
• If you could instantly become an expert in something, what would it be?
• What is your favorite time of  day and why?
• If you could live anywhere on this planet, where would you choose to live?
• If extraterrestrials landed on earth and offered to take you with them, would you go?
• If you could go to Mars, would you? Why or why not?
• If you could have the power of teleportation right now, where would you go and why?
• Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon?
• If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you want to have with you?
• What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
• What is your favorite season of the year and why?
• What is your favorite holiday and why?
• What’s your favorite place of all the places you’ve travelled?
• If you could meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
• What is the meaning of your name?
• As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
• If you had a time machine, would go back in time or into the future?
• What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
• What’s your favorite family tradition?
• Who had the most influence on you growing up?
• What’s your earliest memory?
• If you had to lose all your memories which one would want to lose last?
• If you could choose any historical figure to be your imaginary friend, who would it be and why?
• If you could hang out with any cartoon character, who would you choose and why?
• If you could add a word to the dictionary what would you add and what would it mean?
• If you could choose your age forever, what age would you choose and why?
• If you were to change your name, what name would you change to and why?
• If you could meet any living person for dinner, who would you pick and why?