JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local meetup group is encouraging people to immerse themselves in new cultures while learning a new language.
The Jacksonville Spanish-English Conversation Group is helping English speakers learn Spanish and Spanish speakers learn English. The group meets every two weeks at a different venue around Jacksonville.
The group spends an hour speaking in Spanish and an hour speaking in English — two hours of trying to understand each other.
Camila Ruiz, the group’s founder, who is originally from Colombia, said this is all about giving people a space to practice their second language in a casual and judgment-free setting.
“You can meet people from other cultures and other backgrounds and just create these connections and feel safe to speak and practice your second language,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said she brought the idea from Nashville.
“I used to live in Nashville, and I used to participate in a Spanish-English conversation group in Nashville. And when I moved to Jacksonville, I started to look for a place similar to this, and I couldn’t find anything, so I decided to open it myself,” Ruiz said.
Catalina Ramirez, who attends the bi-weekly meetups, said this group is all about getting people out of their comfort zones.
“Don’t be shy. Just try, because it’s a lot of people around you looking or trying to do the same,” Ramirez said. “Without fear. It doesn’t matter, go for it. Take risks. Other people will understand you.”
Richard Eason, who’s multilingual, said learning new languages has become his passion.
“I spent the last ten years trying to build a life, and this is a very important part of it to me, because our first tour was in Uruguay,” Eason said. “Something to do. I don’t play golf, I don’t fish, you know? What am I gonna do?”
Eason said he enjoys being surrounded by different cultures during these hangouts.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything, because there’s so much variety. They are from so many countries here,” Eason said. “I mean, I just love I love the language, I love the culture, I love the music. I’ve been listening to Latin music for decades as well.”
The group is always looking for more members. You can get involved in several ways. One is through the app called MeetUp. The other is on social media. You can find it on Instagram @jacksonvilleenglishspanish.