Who are the founders of Café des Langues de Moulins, Yolanda Shamash and Benoît Crenne?
If there was a face of kindness and intelligence, it would be the couple created by Englishwoman Yolanda Shamash and Frenchman Benoit Cran. Coincidentally, they have been living in Moulins since September and are rushing to form a group to practice foreign languages.
“The first thing we did when we arrived in Moulins was to check out the Café des Langues. We met at Burges, which has been around for over ten years,” says Benoit.
Café des Langues de Bourges reopens at the Jacobins pub
“enthusiastic”
Café des Langues de Moulins meets on Thursday evenings at Berwick’s corner pub, 8, rue de Paris, in Moulins. “We walked around the pub to choose a place to organize meetings, it’s not bad to explore the city,” laughs Yolanda. The couple was looking for a large enough venue that didn’t broadcast sports. “Having Café des Langues in a pub is a nice nod to Yolanda’s origins,” says Benoit.
Since the first meeting, Thursday, Nov. 17, there have been six language cafes with seven or eight people, “not surprisingly, English and Spanish are the most spoken languages. In particular, we met a Colombian and a Mexican, but also Chinese and Japanese. The arrival of locals or big travelers is exciting. »
The main goal of the cafe is to dare to speak a foreign language, “we are more used to writing or listening than speaking”, combining both fun and the desire for progress.
Development of the cafe
A language cafe is an informal group, not an association. However, it is set to structure itself.
“Now our discussions are informal, we switch from English to Spanish or another language. Ideally, there would be one table for each language. We can imagine a game of translation of phrases, funny and interesting to make his speech less academic. We can also set up a beginner’s table where, rather than a discussion, everyone takes turns talking about a common topic like sports or music,” explains Benoit, one of the leaders of the Bourges Café des languages. .
“We’re looking for other people to connect with us, especially to take over when we’re gone,” the couple emphasizes.
“The next step is to contact schools in the conurbation to introduce themselves to language assistants,” explains Yolanda, herself a language assistant in Burges, who attended the Café des Langues and thus met Benoit.
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Two ways of life
Yolanda, who graduated in languages, French and Italian, grew up in London.
“During my studies, I lived in Italy for a year, which allowed me to gain a good level. I wanted to live in France to improve my French. I applied to the British Council for National Education and ended up in Burgess, which was a pleasant surprise. »
During the health crisis, Yolanda returned to live with her family and worked at a law firm providing free assistance to plaintiffs in dangerous situations. “If you look carefully at my career path, it is not illogical, the social aspect motivates me. »
A graduate of Angers engineering school, Benoit is currently a private tutor in mathematics and physical sciences. She set up her business in Bourges and now works in Moulins where Yolanda is studying as a social worker at the Red Cross school. Note that Benoit lived in New Zealand for a year before retraining.
Stephanie Mena
