Language lessons in Melbourne

In Melbourne's noisy streets, a cacophony of more than 251 languages can be heard. This is not unusual if you take into consideration that 3 out of 10 city residents speak a language other than English when they get home. According to the 2016 census, the most common language is Mandarin Chinese, with 184,977 estimated speakers in the city. It is followed by Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and Cantonese. 

If one of these languages, or any of the others you can find in the city, has caught your attention, starting a language course in Melbourne is a great idea. Not only will it make you appreciate the multiculturalism in the city, but you’ll also meet amazing people in the local immigrant community with whom you can build long-lasting personal and business relationships. On top of this, you’ll get access to unique opportunities in Australia and other countries that can change your life forever. 

Where to study foreign languages in Melbourne

Depending on your learning style and goals, there are many places you can study languages in the city. If you’re learning German, you should check out The Goethe-Institut, an international cultural institution that promotes the study of the German language across the globe. The institute offers German courses for adult learners at all levels that specialise in grammar and great conversation groups. On the other hand, if you want to work on your French skills, the Alliance Française de Melbourne, a well-known cultural organisation, offers French language classes, and also cultural events like the French Film Festival, a perfect opportunity to expand your vocabulary by watching films.  If your target language is not French or German, you might be interested in one of the courses at the University of Melbourne, where you can study more than 12 languages that including Indonesian, Latin, Spanish, Hebrew and Russian. 

Language exchange groups in Melbourne

Melbourne, being such a multilingual city, has many language groups that organise all sorts of meetings where people from all over the world gather to practise their language skills. Linguas Melbourne is one of the biggest communities in the city, with more than five thousand members in their virtual group. This friendly group of language enthusiasts gets together at the King Hotel, located at 120 King St, every Wednesday to have conversations in many languages and make new friends. Meetings only cost $1 and are open to learners of all levels, languages and nationalities.

If you’re looking for language groups that focus on specific languages, you can check out Melbourne Language Meetup, which holds different events like Crêpes et Conversation for French learners and Deutsche Gesprächsgruppe for German speakers at different local bars in the Coburg suburb. There’s also Melbourne Hispanic Language, Cultural & Social Group, a great place to boost your Spanish skills, meet native people from Spain and Latin America and learn about their culture in events like movie nights, picnics, dance classes and live music nights. They meet at local bars in the centre of the city and also online. 

Cultural institutions and events in Melbourne

Throughout the year, there are many events in Melbourne that celebrate the more than a hundred cultures that you can find in the city. If you’re interested in Greek culture, you can’t miss the Lonsdale Street Festival, the biggest Greek street party in Australia. It’s held every February along the Greek Precinct in Lonsdale Street, and it’s a unique chance to enjoy a whole weekend of Greek culture, food and entertainment. You and your family will be able to listen to live music, participate in the Loukoumadomania eating competition and watch the Festival’s inaugural Magic Mic singing competition. If you have kids, there are going to be great activities for them, like face painting, balloon sculpting and carnival rides that they’ll love.

If you want to expand your knowledge of Polish culture, every November you get the chance to attend the Polish Festival. In addition to being able to enjoy wonderful live music performances and traditional dances, you can taste some of the best Polish dishes including bigos, pierogis, kielbasa and many delicious cakes and pastries. You’ll also find many stalls that offer a large variety of colourful crafts, jewellery and artwork. This and all the other fun activities you can find in the festival take place on the corner of Swanston & Flinders Street.

Language jobs in Melbourne

Are you looking to expand your professional qualifications? Then learning a new language is just what you need. Especially if you live in Melbourne, one of the main engines of the Australian economy, where leading companies such as GlaxoSmithKlein, Bosch, Siemens, Synnex, Eventbrite, Ali Baba and many more are constantly looking for qualified bilingual applicants for job positions like Business Development Manager, Service Technician and Software and System Engineer. On top of that, Melbourne has been named as one of the best cities in the world for tech firms to operate in, in a report made by Savills Research. It ranked 22 in the top 30 global cities, beating places like Seoul, the home of Samsung, and China’s tech capital Shenzhen. This means there are amazing opportunities in the area for multilingual professionals who can speak languages like Chinese or Korean, as they will be able to help these big multinationals expand abroad and build lost-lasting business relationships all over the world. 

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Whether you want to pick up that Arabic course you’ve been postponing for years or want to work on your rusty Japanese skills, the best choice to study languages is Listen & Learn. We offer unique, flexible lessons designed to ensure our students' success. Make the first step to becoming fluent today by taking one of our free level tests to find out how good your skills are. Then, just send us a quick enquiry and one of our team members will contact you as soon as possible!