Chatterbox was founded by Afghan-British woman Mursal Hedayat and connects the problem of under-utilised refugee talent with the demand for their language skills.
You can purchase lessons for yourself or a friend. As so many people make learning or improving a language a New Year's Resolution, here's a great way to make that happen.
Great idea, useful service, lovely people - what's not to love?
Pros:Fantastic cause
Cons:Unfortunately not available where I live!
great confidence booster, would highly recommend
Pros:a thoroughly enjoyable way to converse, learn and share ideas
Cons:none
I tested the service out during a pilot run at SOAS university after I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't get great exam results for Arabic and lost my enthusiasm for language learning.
Meeting refugees and forming bonds with them reminded me of why I wanted to learn Arabic in the first place, to make the world that little bit more humane a place to live in.
That inspired me to carry on despite not enjoying my university studies, and renewed my resolve to study Arabic at my own pace in a way that respects my individual needs.
I would totally use the service again in future, and definitely would recommend that others give it a try too. Of all the options available for language learning, I feel that Chatterbox offers the best holistic experience of learning Arabic and ultimately has the added bonus of working towards the good cause of creating opportunities for refugees to feel better integrated into society, and make better use of their many, many talents which otherwise would go to waste.
Couldn't recommend it more!
Pros:Tutors that genuinely care about you & your learning journey; you're not just a number to them & they're not just tutors, but friends.
Cons:Honestly struggled to think of one. At times I had very minor issues with audio on some online sessions, but these weren't super disruptive.
ML ART