Language and Cultural Exchange Program

About the LCEP

The language and cultural exchange program (LCEP) is a semester-long matching program where participants are paired together to learn more about one another's cultures, with the option to build their confidence in speaking another language.

At the beginning of each semester, students can submit an application to become a part of that semester’s Language & Cultural Exchange cohort. Applications are carefully considered to match students in one of two participation tracks. 

  • Language Exchange Partners: Each participant is a native speaker of their partner's target language. Conversation on life and culture takes place 50% in Language #1 and 50% in Language #2, with each student practicing and building confidence in the other person’s primary/native language.

Example: Raul, a native speaker of both Spanish and English, is interested in learning Japanese. Ren, a native speaker of Japanese and Mandarin, is interested in learning Spanish. Raul and Ren are paired to have conversations in both Spanish and Japanese.

Note: while every effort is made to match LEP candidates, there is inevitably more demand for certain languages than there are applicants who are native speakers of those languages. When applying, LEP-interested students can opt in to being matched in a Cultural Exchange Partnership if a 1:1 language partner is not available.

  • Cultural Exchange Partners: Each participant is interested in learning more about any culture which is different from their own. Conversation takes place primarily in English or another shared language. 

Participants in both tracks are added to a Canvas page, where weekly discussion questions are posted and resources on effective dialogue are made available. The Canvas page also provides space for LCEP participants to engage with one another virtually. Students may count their in-Canvas LCEP participation each semester towards earning points in the Global Mavericks Award Program.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Have any concerns or questions about the Language & Cultural Exchange Program? Find out answers to common queries here.

We do our best to find language matches across our LEP track applicants, but sometimes there is more demand for languages than we have native speakers of those languages. When you are filling out the application, you may opt-in to be paired up in a Cultural Exchange pair if we are not able to locate a 1:1 language match for you.

If you would prefer to only be considered for a Language Exchange match, then we will place you on a wait-list in case another applicant who matches your language interests joins the LCEP later. Cultural Exchange applicants are more likely to be paired up, but if we are unable to find a suitable partner from a different cultural background, we will also add your name to the wait-list for new partners.

Note: If you are taking the LCEP course for conversational credit towards a class (language-learning or TESOL classes), please indicate that in your application.
Sometimes, peoples’ availability or bandwidth changes once the semester gets going. Email the Global Engagement team at oieglobal@uta.edu, and we’ll pair you up with a partner from our wait list.

If you are the partner who can’t meet up, you can email Global Engagement to let us know of your withdrawal from the program—there are no negative repercussions for withdrawing from the LCEP, this just helps us support both you and your partner as efficiently as possible.
To participate in the LCEP, all applicants are expected to abide by the standards of good conduct and respectful behavior as outlined in the Office of Community Standards’ (OCS) student resource page. If your partner’s behavior has violated these standards, please contact us at oieglobal@uta.edu. You also have the option to file an incident report directly with OCS. If you are unsure of whether this behavior constitutes a community standards violation but would like to be paired with another student or withdraw from the program, please contact us at oieglobal@uta.edu.
No, but we highly encourage you to join other LCEP participants for the exclusive events available! Certain workshops and programs may even qualify for additional points towards the Global Mavericks Award Program.

APPLY TO THE LCEP TODAY

Submit your application to be a part of this semester’s LCEP program!

LCEP Application Form