While some TorontoBabel attendees are hoping to hone their skills with a new language, others want to converse with someone who speaks their mother tongue.Supplied
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Imagine walking into a busy bar in Toronto’s downtown where people want you to interrupt their conversation. Here, strangers freely and joyfully talk to each other while sipping draft beer – in English, but also in French, Spanish, German, Farsi and more.
TorontoBabel, a language exchange meet-up, is a low-stakes event with high social payoff. It offers attendees an opportunity to have conversations in a language they’re learning, and maybe make a friend along the way.
One of a number of language exchange meet-ups promoted on the long-running social networking platform, Meetup, TorontoBabel has been running for more than a decade, according to co-host since 2020, Terry Gammon. Its premise is simple: come to a bar, write your name, the languages you speak, and the languages you want to learn on a nametag, get paired up with someone or mingle on your own, and have a conversation.
“The very first time I [ran this event], someone came and said they wanted to learn Sanskrit,” Mr. Gammon recalls with a laugh, adding this same attendee arrived six months later asking to practise Norwegian.
Mr. Gammon says each event brings in anywhere from 60-80 people. Many of the attendees are fluent in or looking to practise the romance languages. While some are hoping to hone their skills with a new language, others want to converse with someone who speaks their mother tongue.
On this February evening, the back room of The Madison Avenue Pub near Bloor Street West is nearly slammed wall-to-wall with a wide-ranging collection of people. Many are in their 20s and 30s, with a few in their 50s, like Farsi-speaking co-host Farinaz Jomehri, and a few retirees. One attendee is looking for native Swedish speakers and another is hoping to practise Korean. Mr. Gammon notes that a lot of attendees are new immigrants to Canada or international students looking to improve their English.
While it’s common to learn a language through apps like Duolingo, TorontoBabel offers an opportunity to have a real-life conversation. One participant, Hoaan Lee, explains that TorontoBabel provides another route for language learning.
TorontoBabel co-host Terry Gammon (far right) and other attendees at the Madison Avenue Pub in Toronto.Supplied
“It’s very hard to keep up with something only on your phone,” Ms. Lee says. “But when you’re face-to-face with it, it’s very different.”
Aline G., a Brazilian immigrant who speaks Portuguese, attended TorontoBabel events a decade ago and recently started coming back. Aline says that as a new immigrant to Canada, she felt a real departure from the social atmosphere she was used to in Brazil. “People can be a lot friendlier there,” she says.
In Toronto, “trying to talk to a random person at the table beside you at a bar – it doesn’t happen often here,” she adds.
TorontoBabel affords her the opportunity – or rather, the invitation – to walk up to strangers and start a conversation. Language drives people to come to the event, but most return for the social aspect.
Aaron Jeffrey, an English-speaker working on his French and learning Spanish, says of the meet-up: “It’s pretty much like coming to a bar but everyone’s open to chat. You can just go up and say, ‘Hey,’ whereas [at] any other bar downtown, people are in their own bubble. You can’t really just approach them.”
It’s a rare opportunity to connect with strangers outside of an app. “Everyone [here is] brand new,” Mr. Jeffrey adds. “No one really knows each other. Everyone’s here hoping to meet new people. I know [they’re] happy to practise the languages, but I feel like the standards are more social.”
Javan Graham, a software developer in his 20s who works primarily at home, attends the meet-ups for the opportunity to practise German, but also enjoys the social contact. “The language is the fun part, but you can meet people from anywhere and learn about other ways of living.”
As Mr. Gammon explains, everyone is relaxed at the meet-ups. They drop their inhibitions and open up to the possibilities of in-person human connection.
In an era when creators make TikTok videos gleefully proclaiming how happy they are to cancel plans, it’s energizing to be in an environment where socializing is the point. With so many people chatting in the warm back room of The Madison, it’s nearly impossible to hear anything on one’s phone anyway, so it’s best to just put it away.