Community Languages Cafe

In March 2024 we piloted a Community Languages Cafe at Common Ground in Nether Edge, in partnership with Family Voice.

The event aimed to celebrate the diversity of cultures we have in Sheffield and to showcase the expertise of local migrant women who are not often in the role of expert. Learning another language is a unique way to gain an insight into another culture and can help to biuld connections and cohesion.

As Nelson Mandela said, "If you speak to a person in a language they understand, it goes to their head; if you speak to them in their language, it goes to their heart."

Women from the local community hosted 'language tables' in Urdu, Ukrainian, Nepalese, Mandarin, Tamil and Shona, sharing their native language and culture with visitors, through conversation, games and food.

We're hoping to make the Community Languages Cafe a regular event in 2026 so watch this space!