Newcomers and locals can take part in community-led language groups for free in over 24 cities and counting.

Kaunas, 10th January 2022: SPEAK announced their community-led language groups are now available to migrants, refugees, and locals for free. This follows the organization’s goal of providing access to SPEAK to a wider audience and fulfilling its mission to contribute to the social inclusion of migrants. 

SPEAK offers a way for migrants, refugees, and locals to feel a part of the communities in their city. SPEAK’s methodology allows participants from different backgrounds to learn together and explore common interests. This way, SPEAK’s community breaks down prejudices and barriers while celebrating new friendships, all of which are essential to the process of integration into a new community. At the time of the new free model’s launch, SPEAK had over 57 languages shared, catering to various language levels in its global community of 48,000 people across 24 cities. 

“I have experienced first-hand how difficult it is to feel like you belong when you’re living abroad, and some have it tougher when they arrive in a new city, like people forced to move,” said Hugo Menino Aguiar, Co-founder & CEO at SPEAK. “Knowing the language and meeting locals is key when it comes to developing a sense of belonging. By removing our language group fee, we can provide access to SPEAK to a wider audience and leverage the collective goodwill of the SPEAK community to champion our mission, helping create diverse and inclusive cities”.

While everyone can apply to language groups for free, SPEAK will also offer the community an opportunity to contribute to its mission through an optional “pay what you want” model. Additionally, SPEAK offers a social franchising program, “Take SPEAK to your City”, where changemakers can apply to become founders and start a SPEAK chapter in their city.

SPEAK in Kaunas

SPEAK was first brought to Kaunas by Narmin Aliyeva at the end of 2019. To date SPEAK Kaunas  has had over 500  participants and buddies and hosted more than 50 language and culture exchange events, creating an engaged community of SPEAKers to promote inclusion. Simultaneously, it has played an important role in the integration of migrants and refugees in the city through partnerships with impact organizations.

SPEAK’s language groups will be available for free starting 10th January 2022. Visit www.speak.social. 

About SPEAK

SPEAK is an impact startup founded in Portugal in 2014 as a solution to tackle the social exclusion of migrants and refugees. The organization has a community of 48,000 people across 24 cities. SPEAK was one of the winners of the European Google Impact Challenge and won third place at the 2019 Chivas Venture Tournament. For more information, visit www.speak.social.