The School of International Letters and Cultures created SILC Cafe to give students a space to practice and perfect their foreign language skills.
The club, which began in January 2016, has brought students of all languages together to enjoy different cultures and free coffee every Wednesday.
The SILC Cafe president Amanda Garza, a junior studying business in global politics, speaks Spanish, French, Arabic and Portuguese.
“We're trying to grow,” Garza said. “People are actually enjoying themselves and are really interested and are not just here for the free coffee. They really spend time and make friends.”
Garza said SILC Cafe is open to all ASU students who want a comfortable space to work on their foreign language skills.
“Really, anyone can come," Garza said. "We’ve had grad students come and hang out with us. There are professors and faculty here and people of all majors."
Murphy McGary, the communication specialist for the School of International Letters and Cultures, said the cafe aims to provide an organic foreign language experience for students.
“Our students like to be active and social so giving them that space where it's not programmed is my favorite part,” McGary said. “Sometimes we have Scrabble, and we’ll have like five different people playing, and they all speak another language. So you’ll have a weird Scrabble board.”
The cafe also provides an opportunity to meet SILC faculty.
“We have a lot of professors here,” McGary said. “They really like that because then they can actually talk to them. It makes them more approachable in class as well.”
At SILC Cafe, students not only have the opportunity to practice languages but learn about other cultures as well.
French Club president Ralph Stage, a senior studying French and a secretary for SILC Cafe, said the organization builds a bridge between all of the foreign language communities.
“There is so much going on at this school that it is overwhelming, that actually being able to come here and talk to somebody is pretty nice,” Stage said. “You’ll show up, speak to other people, make some friends in other majors, professors come and you can talk to them about random things too.”
The club encourages students to stop by for a few minutes and just check it out.
“Even if you’re not sure, and you’re here for ten minutes," Stage said, "there is a chance that you’ll meet someone in another club that can either help you out academically or just in general."
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