Bridgwater & Taunton College are proud to celebrate 10 years of our award-winning Conversation Café. Located in the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), this special occasion was marked by over 40 ESOL students and staff as well as a cake-cutting ceremony led by Adam Sturt, Deputy Director of Quality. The Conversation Café is a weekly drop-in session enabling speakers of other languages to practise their conversational English over a cup of tea or coffee in a social yet educational environment.

The initiative is facilitated by library staff and a new topic is chosen each week to initiate a conversation and equip the Caf√© members with everyday language skills. Topics range from talking about diverse countries, cultures, and traditions to “how things work in the UK”.

The Conversation Caf√© also supports students’ literacy skills by engaging them in library reading initiatives. Members who participate successfully will receive a Reading Ahead certificate when they complete six books. This builds on their confidence, which encourages students to advance their literacy skills and motivates them to read continuously.

Jolanta Peters, Research & Library Services Manager said

Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of the college’s ethos and it’s great to see that the Conversation Caf√© initiative in the LRC plays a valuable part in embracing this. Over the years we have witnessed the positive impact that the Caf√© has had on students’ language and literacy development and building their confidence levels.

If you want to find out more, visit our website on www.btc.ac.uk or call 01278441234.