Language lessons in Houston

In Houston, the most populous city in Texas, more than 100 different languages are spoken. This is hardly surprising if you take into account that Houstonians are extremely diverse and come from many parts of the world. To be precise, 20% of the total population is foreign-born, according to the official 2014 census. The most commonly used languages in the city after English include Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, French, and Arabic. 

As you can imagine, being multilingual in a city where so many different languages are spoken can bring you many advantages and impact your life in an extremely positive way. Not only will it help your social life grow and include people from all kinds of immigrant communities, but it can also advance your career and allow you to reach your true potential in Houston and abroad. On top of that, learning any language is the best way to truly change the way you see other cultures and the door to understanding them more deeply.

Where to study foreign languages in Houston

Whatever language you’re interested in learning, you’ll find that there are many places in Houston where you can find great resources to boost your skills. For example, if you’re interested in Urdu, the Public Houston Library has interesting books like Adab? d???ir?, a selection of the most famous Indian poems from the 20th century in its original language, and Empathy, a children’s book in English and Urdu that is perfect for beginners who are looking for a simple text they can read. Additionally, the library has a great collection of music in many languages you can check out. If you want to immerse yourself in the German language, there are great albums available at the library by some of the most German singers like Muttersprache, by Sarah Connor, and Tumult by Herbert Grönemeyer. On the other hand, if you want to learn any other languages, you’ll be glad to know that the library has resources in Korean, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Vietnamese, and many others.

Language exchange groups in Houston

Socializing in other languages is one of the best things you can do to improve your skills. Fortunately, there are many events in the city where language enthusiasts just like you meet to have conversations in other languages. One of the biggest communities is Houston Language Partners, a great place to find native speakers who will teach you their language in exchange for your English knowledge. In these meetings, you’ll spend half an hour speaking in your target language and then half an hour in English, so both you and your language partner can learn new skills. These events are held weekly at different bars and public places around Houston like the Jungman Branch Library, located at 5830 Westheimer road, so if you want to attend, check their events list here.

If you’re a Russian learner, there’s a great local group called The Houston Russian Language Meetup Group that organizes meetings every month at the Russian Cultural Center, located at 2337 Bissonnet St. It’s the perfect chance to meet Russian native speakers and learn about their fascinating culture. These events are completely free and open to learners of all levels, so no matter how good or bad your skills are at the moment, this meeting is just what you need. 

Cultural institutions and events in Houston

There are many great events in Houston that you can attend to learn about some of the cultures where your target language is spoken. If you’re interested in Spanish or Portuguese, for example, you can’t miss The Houston Latin Fest, a family-oriented annual event held in April where you’ll get to enjoy the best live Latin music and dance to the best songs from countries like Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico, and Brazil. The festivaltakes place at Midtown Park, located at 2811 Travis Street and it’s the perfect chance to taste traditional foods from many different Latin countries and buy some of their beautiful crafts. The aim of this festival is to bring all Latin communities from South, Central, and North America together in one explosive festival that will make Houstonians fall in love with Latin culture, you can’t miss it!

Language jobs in Houston

Many people in Houston start learning a language because they want to become more employable. This is a particularly smart thing to do if you’re trying to land a job in the Oil and Gas industry, one of the city’s top employers. Companies like Contango Oil&Gas, Freedom Oil&Gas and Sandefer Oil&Gas offer many job positions for bilinguals like Traffic Analyst, Oil&Gas Accountant and Solutions Engineer. Some languages you should consider learning if you’re trying to impress companies in this sector are Norwegian, Russian, German, Chinese, or Portuguese. Being able to communicate fluently in any of these languages will help you build business relationships for these companies that will help them expand abroad.

Get started now!!!

As you now know, learning a language in Houston will improve the way you experience the city dramatically, so what are you waiting for? Although there are many great places where you can find language courses like the University of Houston, if you’re tired of using the same outdated materials, your best choice is Listen & Learn. We offer the best flexible courses that stand out from the rest because they’re completely personalized so whatever your goals and interests, one of our teachers will tailor a course just for you. All you have to do to start learning with us is send us a quick inquiry and one of our team members will contact you in no time. If you’re not sure about the level of your skills and want to find out before contacting us, you can check out one of our free level tests available on our website in many languages.