Estonia
participants
Spend a chill night while teaching the newcomers some commonly used words and phrases in Estonia. Basically give them a chance to interact with the locals (and give the usually shy locals a chance to “talk” 😂)
It is widely known that Estonians are very shy people and usually would never talk to you. The event is a chance where the foreign students in Tallinn get a genuine chance to interact with the local students. The language cafe is prepared with hope that some of the local students (who usually do not join ESN activities) look at the event as a chance to promote their language and teach others what to say and what not to.
Every participant is given a sheet of paper that contains a list of most frequently used words / phrases in Estonian language. Translation of everyday grocery items and greetings in Estonian are obviously the ones that foreign students are most curious to learn. Estonian students are asked to participate and share stories, some cool facts about Estonia and the language and common stereotypes about Estonia. At the end participants can play a game or two which is usually related to guessing the Estonian word they have been given by asking questions to other people around the table.
The event was popular and the ratio of students was about 1 Estonian to every 5 foreigners. All of the Estonian students were members of some section of ESN which highlighted the shy nature of pretty much every other Estonian 😄
The event was a success nonetheless because everyone really loved hearing about the stereotypes and trying to pronounce the most difficult words in Estonian.