Technology Reviews 
 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 13, No 2, 2020 
1 

Software review: Meetup 

 

Nishioka Hiromi  

Waseda University, Faculty of Human Sciences, Japan 

 

 

Introduction  

Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/apps/)1 is an online platform designed to get people to 

share similar interests and to enjoy social activities with other members offline. Users have 

access to a wide range of Meetup events that they may wish to participate in, according to 

their personal interests, date and time availability and location. Although Meetup has been 

developed for general users, language learners can adopt the application for the purpose of 

language learning, creating face-to-face interactions with native speakers and proficient 

users of the languages (also referred to below as native speakers). Access to such 

opportunities is not always easy for learners studying the target language either in their 

home country or in a host country (Allen, 2010; Kim, 2011). For example, learners of 

Japanese who are based in the UK may have few opportunities to converse in Japanese. 

Even learners of English who are based in the UK may lack opportunities to practise English 

outside their classroom. However, learners can break down the access barrier by using 

Meetup for language learning – namely, to identify and participate in social events providing 

learners with naturally occurring interactions with native speakers. By participating in these 

events, language learners can meet native speakers sharing similar hobbies. The social 

setting provides learners with exposure to the target languages and to opportunities to 

communicate, using the target language, what they feel passionate about.  

Evaluation  

Technological features  

Meetup provides both web- and mobile-based platforms. Image 1 shows the Meetup 

homepage on the web-based platform. To familiarise first-time users with the application, 

Meetup provides a self-introduction video on the home page (see image 1). Users can also 

learn more about the platform by accessing the ‘Help’ link located at the bottom of the home 

page. Meetup’s mobile application can be easily installed from either Google Play (Android) 

or the App Store (iPhone). The application requires devices with the 5.0 operating system (or 

later) for Android, and the iOS 12.0 (or later) for iPhone. 

                                                           
1 This paper is written based on information available by July 8, 2020. 

https://www.meetup.com/apps/


Technology Reviews 
 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 13, No 2, 2020 
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Image 1: Meetup homepage (web-based platform)  

Signing up to Meetup and navigating the platform are easy. Once the application has been 

installed to a smartphone, Meetup prompts users to choose from the categories according to 

their interests. After the user has selected a category, Meetup provides details of the 

relevant groups according to their interests and location. Users may then choose which 

groups they wish to join. Following completion of this procedure, the application prompts the 

user to sign up using an existing Facebook/Google account or e-mail address.  

Users can easily explore the Meetup events they wish to participate in according to their 

interests, date and time availability and location, either from the home page or by clicking the 

‘Explore’ icon on the home page. Once logged on, Meetup prompts users to choose the date 

of an event in which they may wish to participate. After selecting the date, Meetup provides 

the details of several events organised by the groups the user has joined (see image 2). 

Users may also, however, explore the Meetup events organised by other groups by clicking 

the ‘Explore’ icon (see image 2). Clicking each event page provides users with a description 

of the event, the time and date and the location. To participate in the event, users click the 

tick (√) symbol on the event page (see image 3).  

 

                                     

 

 

To attend this event, 

click the tick symbol 

Describes the event 

Shows the events organised by groups 

with which the user is registered 

To explore other groups’ 

events click ‘Explore” 

To send personal 

messages click 

‘Messages’ 

Image 2. Showing events by my groups Image 3. An event page  

Meetup introduces the 

service by providing a 

self-introduction video  



Technology Reviews 
 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 13, No 2, 2020 
3 

 

Users can communicate with the event organiser or other participants by posting a message 

in the event page (see image 4) or by sending a personal message to the members 

attending the event by clicking on their picture (see Image 4). The platform then opens the 

page for sending a personal message.  

 

 

 

 

Pedagogical Features  

Participation in face-to-face interactions with native speakers provides learners with 

favourable conditions for language learning, namely: 1) observing how the target language is 

used by the speakers; and 2) practising the language in naturally occurring settings. Despite 

the benefits, access to such opportunities is not necessarily easy for learners who do not 

have native speaker friends in the immediate learning environment. As a strategy to break 

down the access barrier and to create opportunities for language learning, language 

educators may suggest to adult learners that they use Meetup for language learning. That is, 

to identify and participate in Meetup events where they can mingle with native speakers. 

Meetup encourages learners to interact with native speaker members comfortably and 

confidently by providing native speaker interlocutors who share similar interests and social 

contexts to discuss topics about which they feel passionate. Users can search for those with 

a shared interest or for others who are learning the same language and based in the same 

area. Except for specifically designed language-exchange meet-ups, the Meetup group 

activities do not provide specific language-learning activities or focus on language 

corrections for learners. Meetup does, however, provide a social context where learners can 

communicate with native speakers spontaneously, using the target language while enjoying 

activities together. Language interactions in classrooms are often controlled by teachers and 

learners have limited opportunities to construct the discourse (Strobelberger, 2012). On the 

other hand, the naturally occurring language interactions during Meetup events allow 

learners to co-construct their interactions with native speakers by choosing the topic they 

wish to discuss and how they interact with the speakers. Given the nature of the interactions 

with the native speakers in Meetup events, regular participation at such events may help to 

Users can type 

questions and 

messages here 

To send personal messages to 

attendees, click their picture 

Image 4. Communicating with other members 



Technology Reviews 
 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 13, No 2, 2020 
4 

develop learners’ speaking and listening proficiencies as well as their pragmatic and inter-

cultural competencies.  

Teacher Fit (approach)  

Language learning via Meetup events is best described by sociocultural theory – namely, 

that learning is mediated by use of cultural tools and interactions with more capable 

members. Scaffolding provided by more experienced members enables a novice to achieve 

what s/he cannot do alone (Lantolf, 2000). Meetup is a cultural tool designed to bring 

together, with an enjoyable social dynamic, people who share similar interests. In terms of 

Meetup’s application in a language learning context, it promotes language learning by 

connecting learners (novices) to naturally occurring interactions with native speakers 

(experts) sharing similar interests. Participations in the events may provide learners with the 

opportunity to observe how native speakers use the language in an authentic social context. 

Native speakers, as experts of the languages, may also support language learning by 

providing multiple forms of scaffoldings to language learners including: 1) requesting that 

they reformulate their utterances so that their comments may be better understood; and 2) 

providing language learners with expressions they know but which they cannot construct by 

themselves. Thus, multiple forms of scaffolding mediated by Meetup enable learners to use 

and learn target languages in ways they cannot otherwise achieve without using the 

application. Despite the benefits for language learning, it is difficult for some learners to 

locate such useful online resources as Meetup to use for language learning (Lai, 2015; Lai 

and Gu, 2011). To encourage language learners to use the target language outside the 

classroom, it is important to expand their repertoire and use of online resources. 

Recommending the use of Meetup to language learners is one pedagogical strategy for 

increasing their access to naturally occurring interactions with the native speakers. However, 

meeting strangers for language learning is not risk free. Since some Meetup members do 

use the application for inappropriate purposes, educators should remind leaners to use the 

application carefully and to meet its members only in public places.  

Learner Fit (design) 

Meetup is appropriate for intermediate- or advanced-level learners who want to have face-to-

face interactions with native speakers, but who cannot access such opportunities easily in 

their immediate learning environment. In particular, this application is suitable for sociable 

learners who are willing to meet new native speaker members sharing similar interests to 

enjoy social activities together. The social context provides a shared setting to discuss and 

perform the language during the activities. Consequently, Meetup encourages learners to 

communicate, using the target languages with native speakers, what they feel passionate 

about. Thus, language learners can use Meetup to break down the barrier to accessing 

native-speaker interactions as well as to construct highly personalised learning spaces. 

Despite the discussed benefits, the Meetup platform is not useful for every learner. First, 

owing to their limited language skills, learners with low language proficiency may find it 

intimidating to participate in conversations with native speakers at Meetup events not 

focused on language learning. Intermediate or advanced language proficiency levels are 

therefore a prerequisite for understanding and participating in naturally occurring interactions 

with native speakers. However, those learners with low language proficiency may feel 

comfortable participating in Meetup events organised to promote learning language and 

culture. These events are more likely to be attended by language learners of a similar 



Technology Reviews 
 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 13, No 2, 2020 
5 

proficiency level and the native speaker attendees may speak both their first and target 

languages for them. Second, language learning in Meetup requires learners to be willing to 

learn the target language by socialising with native speakers. Opportunities for language 

learning in Meetup arise while learners socialise with native speakers using the target 

language. However, shy learners may feel intimidated or uncomfortable about interacting 

with native speakers whom they have met for the first time at the event. Third, those learners 

who prefer to learn the target language by receiving corrective feedback may not feel 

motivated to use the application, as the native speaker participants usually do not provide 

such feedback at Meetup events. Some language learners expect native speakers to provide 

corrective feedback for their erroneous expressions, even in naturally occurring interactions 

(Kim, 2011). However, native speakers often prioritise flow of communication over correction 

of learners’ linguistic errors in such communication contexts (Nagami, 2005). To motivate 

such learners to use Meetup for language learning, language educators can share the 

benefits of participating in naturally occurring interactions with native speakers for language 

learning. Finally, using Meetup for language learning requires learners to develop their ability 

as autonomous learners. Meetup does not provide a fixed learning schedule or pre-designed 

learning materials such as those that learners are likely to find in classroom learning 

contexts. To enhance efficiency of language learning using Meetup, learners must be 

motivated to schedule participation at Meetup events on a regular basis. They should also 

be able to identify what they wish to learn from interactions with native speakers at the 

events and actively to initiate interactions with native speakers to facilitate such learning.  

Summary 

Many language learners have difficulty accessing face-to-face interactions with the native 

speakers. Meetup can be used to overcome this constraint in that learners can easily locate 

and participate in social events in which they engage in face-to-face interactions with native 

speakers. Participation in the events enables learners to use the target languages 

spontaneously while enjoying shared interests with native speakers. The social setting also 

encourages learners to communicate, using the target languages, what they feel passionate 

about. Given that, Meetup can be used as a pedagogical tool to empower learners by 

providing access to native speaker knowledge as well as to opportunities to communicate on 

topics about which they feel passionate.  

Acknowledgement 

Publication of this paper is supported by a publication grant provided by Waseda University, 

Japan. 

 

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