What is English in Toulouse?

We are an English and French conversation group. We meet regularly for drinks in the Toulouse city centre and currently have over 500 members of many nationalities. The group is ever changing as people come and go. Some are here just for a few weeks, some for several months, and of course there are those who are here permanently. It's a network of friends, whether you've been in Toulouse all your life or have just arrived.

Who is the group for?

The group is open to native or fluent English speakers and our Friday sessions are for bilingual French/English speakers.

Our aim is to develop a network of English speakers (native speakers and bilingual people) in Toulouse for conversation and as a way to meet people with similar interests (travel, language, different cultures etc).

What is the average age of the group?

The age range varies widely and is different at every meeting. Everyone is welcome, regardless of how old or young you are — we're a friendly bunch!

How much does it cost to join the group?

English in Toulouse is a free club, but you must support the venue by buying at least a drink or two.

When and where do you meet?

Our regular meetings include:

Every Friday afternoon:
Join us for drinks and tapas every Friday from 4pm 'til 7pm for French Fridays, our weekly French/English conversation group. It's a popular event, so come early to make sure you get a seat.

Every Friday night:
After French Fridays, the party continues! Meet us at our French Friday venue, Le Delicatessen, by 7pm on Fridays and join us for happy hour. Sometimes we stay at the same bar for the whole night, sometimes we move on to another one or do something else (like see a movie or go for dinner)

Second Wednesday of the month:
Our bilingual pub night. We've been meeting at the Crowne Plaza for Crowne Plaza Nights on the second Wednesday night of the month at 8.30 since December 2005. Look out for the English in Toulouse logo, or ask for us at the bar.

Last Wednesday of the month:
Last Wednesdays is our English speaking event, held on the last Wednesday of every month at Le Sylene pub on rue de Metz from 8.30pm.

What's on this month?

View the calendar

Are there any extra events?

Yes! We regularly have extra events like restaurant and cinema nights, hiking trips and wine tours. We also have annual events like the Halloween costume party, the Christmas in July BBQ and our end of year Christmas dinner.

To find out what's coming up, you can join the mailing list by registering on the forum and keep an eye on our calendar. Got a good idea? Make a suggestion on the forum.

You can also see the photos of past events on our photo gallery.

How do I join the group?

You can join the group through our Web forum. It's free!

Who organises the group?

Hi, I'm Narelle Lewis. I'm from Australia and have been living in Toulouse since March 2005.

Professionally, I am a journalist and aspiring writer. I have taught English in France at various universities and ecoles superieurs and currently teach English at an engineering school and two universities.

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in journalism, public relations and German. You can get to know me better on: Narelle and Yves' Photojournal (or at one of our next meetups!).

How did the group get started and why?

When I lived in Edinburgh, I started a French meetup group (which is still going strong!) and enjoyed it so much that when we were planning the move to Toulouse I wanted to be part of a similar group here. Not finding anything that matched what I was looking for, I started a Web site. Before long, some people signed up and we had our very first meeting the week I arrived in Toulouse, in April 2005.

Our first meeting attracted six people and we met in a tea salon in the city centre. There were a few subsequent meetups at cafes on Capitole and then things stopped for a couple of months while I went to Paris to get my teaching qualifications, came back and learnt French and got married.

Around September 2005 I really got to work on organising the group and I learnt all about la rentree. With a fixed monthly meetup time and venue, people started coming regularly and word spread. By December we had an average of 15 people coming to every meeting and were filling up the entire coffee shop — we had out-grown our first venue!

Over Christmas drinks at the Crowne Plaza in December 2005, we decided to move the group to a bigger venue. This became Crowne Plaza Nights.

In July 2006 a few of us started meeting up regularly at Bapz, a tea salon. By September it had become our 'Friday thing'. For many expats, opportunities to speak French outside of the classroom are few and far between and so we called this meetup French Fridays with the aim of speaking both French and English on a weekly basis. By January 2010 we had officially become too big a group to continue meeting at Bapz and finally found our new venue in March 2010. We now meet at a Spanish tapas bar called Le Delicatessen.

Often after our French Friday meetings those who are still chatting at 7pm-ish go on to a pub or grab a bite to eat — and as of 9th October, 2009, it's became a bit more official. Though the venue and what we actually do will change from week to week, we do something every week after French Fridays. We call this event Happy Hour and had our first official session on 9th October 2009. We started off at the Bar Basque for half price pints, then out for curry and then off to the George and Dragon pub, where we stayed until closing. This event is different every week, and to be a part of it, members need to be at French Fridays by 7pm to find out where we're going and what we're doing.

In December 2006, again over Christmas drinks (hmmm!), someone suggested an extra pub outing in January to mark our first meeting for the new year. We had our first meeting at De Danu in January 2007 and had so much fun we decided to make it a regular thing — this meeting became known as Irish Pub Nights and we met there on the last Wednesday of the month until April 2009 when Irish Pub Nights became known as Last Wednesdays and we moved to our new and current venue, Le Sylene (60 rue de Metz) in May 2009.

In April 2009, English in Toulouse held a logo competition and in May the official English in Toulouse logo was voted in.

How many people are in the group and how many come to the meetings?

There are over 500 members in English in Toulouse. The number of people, the average age and the nationalities attending events changes at every meeting, depending on the time of year, time of day, location of the event and people's availability. It's a lively group and you're bound to find someone with whom you have something in common!

I'm not fluent in French/English, can I still join?

Yes. If you can hold a conversation without using a dictionary (even if you make mistakes), then that's good enough for us! If you lack confidence or can't make yourself understood, try doing a language exchange (see below) until you are confident enough to take part in the group.

Tell me about language exchanges

1. Register on the English in Toulouse forum
2. Advertise or find people for a language exchange.
3. Arrange a time and date to start communicating: E-mail, call, chat online or meet in real life. Learn from each other by doing an hour or so in your language and an hour or so in theirs.

How can I advertise my business to English in Toulouse members?

English in Toulouse has a no advertising policy and does not promote other businesses or clubs. On the other hand, if you are a regular and active member of the group, a link to your business Web site from the English in Toulouse links page can be added on request.

English in Toulouse in the press

In September 2007 we were featured in French women's magazine Chicks'Power. We're on page 64 in the article entitled Do you speak English?. Download a copy of the magazine (It's 25MB so may take a while to download).

Read the article on English in Toulouse in the May 2007 edition of French Property News — or see the whole page in colour (harder to read but better for the pictures!).

Questions or comments?

General questions should be posted on the forum where they'll have a better chance at getting a useful answer than if they are sent to just one person. To post a question, you must first register on the forum.

For press enquiries or questions specifically for the organiser, please contact Narelle.

Question/Answer etiquette

I am happy for you to e-mail me and introduce yourself and of course I'm willing to answer members' questions. But, please do your own research first. You'll find that this Web site, the forum, Wikipedia and Google probably answer most of your questions already.

Questions I will not answer:

• Questions that anyone in the group can answer. If you can't find the answer by researching it for yourself, you can post your question on the forum.
• Anything that has already been answered on the Web site or on the forum. This includes:
• When/where do you meet?
• I'm not fluent in French/English, can I still join?
• Am I too young/too old to join?
• Where should I look for an apartment?
• And finally:
• Requests for help finding a job, accomodation, a language exchange, a visa, a babysitter etc. These are all answered on the Web site or on the forum already.