By Ana Baltar Quiros
Disclaimer: Unless specified, the interviews in this article were conducted in Spanish and translated to English.
On April 4, the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LLC) hosted the fourth and final Spanish Conversation Table of the 2024-25 academic year in the Podium building. It provided an opportunity for students and faculty across campus to improve their Spanish and connect with Hispanic culture. The event welcomed everyone, regardless of their proficiency in Spanish.
Fewer students had attended the previous meetings, but this time, over 30 people showed up, filling up the small room and leaving some to stand outside.
Makszim Krjukov, a third-year biomedical science student at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) was one of the attendees. During the 2014 Donbas War in Ukraine, when tanks flooded the streets, then-10-year-old Krjukov and his family had to leave the country and start a new life in Valencia, Spain, where neither his first nor second language—Ukrainian and English—are commonly spoken.
“I love the people of the community. They help you so you don’t feel embarrassed”
Krjukov found himself forced to learn Spanish and did so through playing soccer, which helped him find community in a foreign setting. Now, as a TMU student, he decided to take a Spanish elective course where he heard about the Spanish Conversation Table offered by the university.
“These days, I only practice Spanish when I play Counter-Strike online with my friends from Spain,” said Krjukov. Since moving to Canada in 2022, he hasn’t had many opportunities to reconnect with the language.
Similar to Krjukov, this was an opportunity for Ingrid Cruz Ospina, a fifth-year business management student to preserve her culture.
“I’m very in tune with my culture and I don’t ever want to lose that,” said Cruz Ospina who was born in Canada and raised by Colombian and Guatemalan parents.
She said she enjoyed the event—her second time attending this semester—as it presented a judgment-free environment for attendees to make mistakes without fear of being teased. “Everyone in this room is there to help,” said Cruz Ospina.
Although she describes herself as a very social person, she said she has found it hard to connect with other Latin people in Toronto, especially at university.
Like Cruz Ospina, other students at the conversation table crave this connection with their culture, which motivated them to attend. Jose Manuel Gonzalez Piñeros, a first-year computer science student, is one of these students.
Gonzalez Piñeros was born in Bogota, Colombia and moved to Canada when he was two years old. He said he found himself struggling to communicate with his family back home, which inspired him to improve his Spanish.
“When I was younger, I would feel very frustrated about not being able to speak with my family when I travelled to Colombia, especially with my cousins,” he said. “I had to improve my Spanish because there was no other way for me to communicate with them, and I knew they wouldn’t learn English just for me.”
Growing up, he said he found it challenging to find others who could relate to his circumstances. “I always feel alone in my classes, and it is very difficult to find people who speak Spanish,” he said.
Now, after attending three times, he has made progress and has been able to connect with other students who share similar stories.
“I feel more at ease now that I know there are other people that are in the same situation as me,” said Gonzalez Piñeros. “I am very proud of how hard I’ve worked.”
Although the Spanish Conversation Tables can provide the opportunity for students to reconnect with their own language and culture, being Hispanic is not a requirement to participate. Ella Oladipo, a Nigerian first-year language and intercultural relations student, was also a part of the table.
“I’m very in tune with my culture and I don’t ever want to lose that”
Oladipo chose Spanish as their stream because she felt a certain connection to the culture.
“Spanish just felt right, because I love dancing, I love Spanish culture, love the connection,” they said in English in an interview with The Eyeopener. She further shared that she’s very involved with the LLC department, and when she found out about the open tables, she felt like it would be a great opportunity for her.
In order to improve her Spanish, she has watched multiple shows in Spanish, like La casa de papel and Manual para señoritas, but felt she needed real interactions to truly learn the language.
“I’m a people person and [I’m studying] intercultural relations and I’m not gonna learn Spanish if I don’t do things like this,” said Oladipo.
Oladipo also values the interconnection between their culture and tribe—the Yoruba tribe—and the Afro-Latino diaspora. They appreciated that the event was led by TMU’s Spanish professor, Dorismel Diaz as he facilitated a
“low-pressure environment.” His intersectionality of being from Barranquilla, Colombia and a part of the Black community was a plus.
While the event has an incentive for students to get extra participation credit in their Spanish electives, it also allows people like Oladipo to conduct a part of her interview in Spanish, showcasing her achievements in her language learning journey.
“I love the people of the community. They help you so you don’t feel embarrassed,” said Oladipo—as best as they could in Spanish.
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