About Us

Our Values

Be Kind
Be Respectful
Be Responsible
Work Hard
Have Fun
Love of Languages
Sharing
Be Persistent

Vision & Goals

Exchanges is a new NGO that aims to promote language learning and cultural exchange in Israel. Our vision is to create a more interconnected and multilingual society, where all people are able to communicate in more than one language.

We believe that language learning has a profound social and educational impact, and can lead to increased understanding, empathy, and cooperation among people from different cultures. We also believe that language learning has significant economic and professional benefits, and can help individuals to better participate in the global economy.
To achieve our vision, Exchanges will offer a range of language-learning programs and cultural exchange opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. Our programs will be designed to be accessible, inclusive, and engaging, and will be offered in a variety of languages and settings.

We will also work to promote the value of language learning and cultural exchange through advocacy, research, and public awareness campaigns. We believe that by raising awareness about the benefits of language learning, we can inspire more people to embrace the opportunity to learn a new language and connect with others from different cultures.
Exchanges is committed to being a transparent and accountable organization, and we will work to build strong partnerships and collaborations with other organizations, businesses, and individuals who share our vision.

If you share our belief in the power of language learning and cultural exchange to bring people together and build a better future, we encourage you to join us in our mission. Together, we can create a more interconnected and multilingual society in Israel.

Shimon Harel

Founder / Executive Committee

Eyal Roth

Executive Director

Founder's Message

The interest in languages has always accompanied me in my life. You can blame my grandfather for that. He knew Nine languages and this ability of his just amazed me.

That's where it all started. I also wanted to speak as many languages as I could, but this was not the only time speaking in several languages amazed me. Every time I travelled in a different country or met someone who spoke another language I was amazed anew, not to mention about the excitement of being able talking to a person in his native language.

You could say that one day it just suddenly hit me, I realized that as nice as it is to learn from books and videos, to really learn a language - you must speak it and practice it with people who live it. Therefore, after the military service I did the only logical thing - travelled the world and learned languages. Everything worked fine until I got back and started studying at the university. I continued learning languages, mostly Chinese (what can I say the East did it to me!) in videos and book apps, but the lack was there and I had no one to talk to (in Chinese).

I have no explanation other than fate did its job, because while I was looking for someone to talk to in Chinese, Shimon (spoiler - the other founder) was also looking for someone to talk to, in French. That's how it started - from two people who were just looking for a place to speak the languages they wanted.

Slowly with a lot of hard work we set up together the evening of Language Exchange. We established the evening on the purity of love for languages and out of an understanding that languages must be practiced in speech.

From there our amazing community was built, and the initial vision we have long since passed.

The language exchange evening is no longer just an evening but a community that connects students, locals, new immigrants, and the truth is simply anyone who loves languages combined with wonderful people!

Our community is active, and beyond the core evening that takes place on a weekly basis we go on trips around the country, we have done, and we continue to do different and varied cultural evenings and festivals!

We of course do not intend to stop here, and our work will continue forward in the spirit of entrepreneurship combined with hard work, good people, and lots of fun.

In addition, we invite anyone who loves languages and wants to take part in the crazy thing built here.

Waiting for you,

Shimon and Eyal.