Café Con Leche Brings Culture, Coffee and Conversation Together

At the Brown School, new and fluent speakers of Spanish and Portuguese have an opportunity to gather for coffee and conversation. Café Con Leche offers a casual place for students, faculty and staff to practice Spanish and Portuguese language skills.  For the fall semester, meetings will take place on Tuesdays, noon – 1 p.m., in Hillman 110.

“We want to provide a safe and welcoming environment for those who want to learn Spanish and Portuguese as well as provide a space for those who are fluent in the languages to converse and meet others who speak or are interested in learning them,” said Adriana Aramburu, second-year MPH student and event coordinator for Mi Gente. “We wish to make these meetings as comfortable and welcoming as possible for everyone.”

Aiming to facilitate a natural learning process, the meetings are open to both beginners and native speakers. The format is casual and begins with a brief introduction. Each participant creates a name tag, on which they indicate the language they wish to learn and their level of knowledge. Phrases and speaking tips in English, Spanish, and Portuguese will be presented as a starting point, the rest of the time will be for conversations between both fluent speakers and beginners.

These meetings are organized by Mi Gente and open to students, staff and faculty. Mi Gente is a Brown School student organization that strives to foster community among Latinx-identified individuals and allies to be able to advocate for visibility and community engagement at the Brown School and the greater St. Louis region. Snacks and coffee are sponsored by the Brown School Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.