The Sprachcafé We Wish Existed: A Meetup for Women Learning German
“Which course should I take?”, “Is this teacher right for me?”, “How do I find time for this while working full time?”
For many of us, learning German started with questions like these. Some of us got lost in crowded classrooms, some found exactly the right teacher, some were left alone with their books before an exam. And some of us are just about to start. At the first BACIM meetup, we're bringing these experiences together: What worked, what was hard, what do we wish we had known earlier? Whether you're just starting, somewhere in the middle or already fluent, your experience is worth sharing!
We also have a dream. We love the idea of a Sprachcafé, but in practice it doesn't always work. If you're shy, it's hard to get a word in. Without structure, conversations drift. And with new faces every time, you never get past “tell us about yourself”. At this meetup, we'll use what we share to design together the Sprachcafé we've never found anywhere. Then we'll set it up and keep it going together. That's how we work at BACIM: we plan together and make things happen together.
About BACIM
BACIM exists so that every woman finding her way in Berlin has a "bacı", a sister, by her side.
When we came to Berlin, we found the answers to our questions less on official websites and more in the experiences of women who had walked the same road. But in the communities where women supported each other, the same questions were asked again every week, and the good answers got lost over time. That's why we started BACIM: a knowledge base checked against official sources and growing with women's experiences, and a woman-to-woman support network. Today the site is run by a small team of volunteers alongside their jobs.
"Bacım" is a Turkish way of addressing someone that comes not from blood ties but from walking the same road together. It's said with the same warmth in the neighbourhood, around the table with friends and in lubunya (Turkish queer) friendships. We chose the name for exactly this inclusiveness, and we're here to make this closeness grow.