By Joshua Qualls

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You might expect to pay for a Brazilian brew on any day of the week at Champions Court’s Common Grounds, but every Wednesday at 5 p.m. you can also go there to brew up a Brazilian conversation for free.

Since the middle of the fall 2014 semester, the Brazil Without Borders and International Friends student organizations have teamed up to provide Brazilian exchange students with opportunities to practice their English and develop stronger cultural ties in the U.S.

According to Jessica Singleton, an international studies freshman who became involved with Brazilian Conversation Hour through the Christian Student Fellowship, the group got a slow start, but things have picked up for them this semester.

Ifeoma Ofuani, a political science junior from Nigeria, was assigned by International Friends to be the group’s ambassador. Ofuani said she thinks communication greatly improved between UK’s International Center and the student organizations, especially (Brazil Without Borders).

“A lot of times Brazilian students … live with other Brazilian students, so their time at home is spent speaking Portuguese,” Singleton said. “So coming here, they’re making American friends and they’re intentionally speaking English at this time — and they’re doing it in a casual way, not in like an academic way.”

Although helping Portuguese-speaking students work on their English is a major focus of the group, Singleton also said that a big part of it is being able to learn about each other’s cultures.

“It’s just a great way to kind of bridge the gap between American students and Brazilian students,” Singleton said. “It’s a really relaxed and awesome, fun atmosphere.”

Bruna Fabro, an animal science senior from the state of São Paulo in Brazil, says that the group has recently had up to 12 to 15 participants per week and that they are beginning to see more people from other countries at their meetings, including some students from countries such as Iran and China. For this reason, some group members disagree with calling it the “Brazilian” Conversation Hour now.

“[It’s] just because everyone is invited,” Singleton said. “It really sparked with Brazil and Brazilian students, but I’d call it just ‘Conversation Hour’ or something. We want all sorts of international students to come and make all sorts of friends.”