Conversaciones con Amigos group to meet

LUDINGTON — A small group of people who want to improve their Spanish and English language skills have formed Conversaciones con Amigos – which translates into English as “Conversations with Friends” – which will meet twice a month beginning this month, to help them do just that.

Judith Dila, one of the planners, said, “We want native English speakers to be able to practice their Spanish, but also native Spanish speakers to be able to practice their English. Our meetings will be no pressure, no stress events – just friendly conversation in both languages.”

Conversaciones con Amigos will meet on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Book Mark coffee lounge at the corner of Loomis Street and Rath Ave. The first gathering will take place Wednesday, June 11.

“We got this idea while visiting Merida,” said Dila. “We wanted to practice the very basic Spanish we learned at a week-long intensive language course in that Mexican city. We began attending the Conversaciones con Amigos program at Merida’s English Library, and decided to start such a group when we got back to Ludington.”

The meeting will be very low pressure, low stress events. Attendees will simply help each other through informal conversations in both languages.

“We know there are many native English speakers who want to practice their Spanish,” Dila said, “but we hope to have some native Spanish speakers who want to improve their English, too. We’ll all be there to help each other, and just have fun.”

There will be bi-lingual books available, many at a very basic language level, if conversation-starters are necessary.

The twice-monthly meetings are open to everyone, and no pre-registration is necessary. There is no charge for these meetings.