iTalki Review: Find Native Teachers And Free Language Exchanges To Learn A Language

By Ivy do Carmo

Have you decided to learn a new language, but have no idea where to start? There are many different approaches you can take to learn a language nowadays and it is up to you to decide which one better fits your personal needs.

For example, you can take the most traditional path and attend a regular language school. There is nothing wrong with that and many people have become bilingual this way. However, along with recent technological advances over the last years, many new learning possibilities have arisen and they present many advantages over the regular languages schools. Amongst these many possibilities, the use of the Internet stands out. Take a look at some advantages of the online method:

• Time Flexibility – study at the days and times of your choice and during the time you have available, instead of being tied up by the school’s schedule;

• Learn Without Leaving Home – Instead of having to commute to the language school, losing time and money with transportation, you can study in the comfort of your home without even having to take off you pajamas;

• Save Money – Although you will have to pay for the classes with online professional teachers, the amount of money you will spend will be significantly reduced, since a regular language school has to pay for the employees and maintenance of their physical installations;

• Speak With People From All Over The World – While in a regular school you get stuck with the teacher they assign you, who will probably not even be a native, by having online classes you can communicate with native speakers from all over the world and develop a better accent from the start.

It is plain to see that using the Internet to learn a language has several advantages. There are many websites that can help you with that, but today we will focus on only one of them: iTalki. However, before beginning our honest iTalki review, let’s learn a little more about this fast-growing website.

A Global Community Of Language Learners

Created in 2007, iTalki is a platform that has become exponentially more popular over the last few years. Today, iTalki has a global community of over five million language learners and thousands of language teachers, studying more than one hundred and thirty languages.

Their website notes that “language education has historically been expensive and inefficient, and only people who studied abroad could gain fluency.” They claim that “now that language teachers can reach any student with an internet connection… anyone, anywhere in the world can become fluent in a foreign language.”

There are three different options for learning a new language on iTalki:

• Lessons from professional teachers;
• Informal tutoring with language enthusiasts and
• Free language exchanges.

Let’s consider these three options in detail, so you can choose which is the best one for you.

Lessons With Professional Teachers

iTalki has almost three thousand professional teachers of around 130 languages, from the most popular ones, such as English, Spanish and Mandarin, to some you may have never heard of before, like Azeri, Basque, Kyrgyz and Shona.

When we say professional teachers, we are referring to people who have studied for years to teach and who have experience in doing so in the real world. You can even request to see their certifications as language professionals on the website.

Since these are people who have studied to teach, it is obviously the most expensive option on iTalki. However, it may be the best one for you, specially if you are a beginner, because these teachers will have the experience needed to guide the lesson in a way that will better help you to learn the language. The hourly rate of a professional teacher on iTalki varies from $7 to more than $60, depending on their location and language.

When entering the search page on iTalki, you can narrow your search for a professional teacher by their nationality, mother tongue, hourly rate and specific skills, such as Test Preparation, Business or classes for a specific age (Children and Teenagers).

Two great features of iTalki are the video introduction, where you can get to know a little about the teacher without having to schedule a class, and the possibility of having a 30-minute trial for less than $10. It is a great idea to get several trial lessons so you can find a teacher you really get along with, without having to spend too much on this pursuit.

Different teachers use different teaching approaches. Some talk and teach “at” you, following a rigid pre-made course. Others will allow you to dictate the rhythm and the topics of the classes. It is up to you to try these different approaches and discover which one works better in your case.

If you enter a teacher’s profile, you will be able to see his ratings (giving by previous students), personal tags describing his personality and his lessons history, with how many lessons he has already given and his response and attendance rates.

Now let’s continue our iTalki review showing other alternatives to the professional teachers.

Informal Tutoring With Language Enthusiasts

Tutors are people who are not professional teachers, but simply love helping others to learn a language. They normally have a job unrelated to teaching and do it to earn some extra money or as a hobby. Tutors can be both natives or fluents in the language they are eager to teach.

Since they don’t have a certification as language professionals and may not have any experience in teaching via Skype, the hourly rate of a tutor is cheaper than the one of a professional teacher – around $6 to $20.

There are more than two thousand and five hundred community tutors on iTalki and the search page is exactly the same as the one for professional teachers. You can refine your search for a tutor by choosing their nationality, mother tongue, hourly rate and specific skills. You can also watch a video presentation of the tutor and schedule a 30-minute trial with him.

“Should I choose a professional teacher or a community tutor?”, you may be wondering. Well, if you are a beginner and you can afford to have classes with a professional teacher, it is definitely the best choice, because of their experience in teaching. However, if your main purpose is to simply practice a language you are already basically familiar with, it may be the best cost-benefit choice to schedule a class with a tutor.

Free Language Exchanges

What if you can’t afford to pay for online classes? There is still a great option for you to learn a language: finding language partners. Click on the ‘Community’ tab on iTalki website and you will be able to search for conversation partners according to their mother tongue, current location, gender and home country.

Do you know how do language exchanges work? It is quite simple: suppose you want to learn Spanish. All you have to do is search on iTalki and find a native Spanish speaker that wants to learn English (or whatever is your mother tongue). You two set up a Skype call and then you will talk half of the time in Spanish and the other half in English. This way, you both will practice the language you want to learn for free!

One of the advantages of having free language exchanges, besides the obvious monetary factor, is that you can befriend people from all over the world without compromising your safety and without leaving your home. The downside is that you have to “waste” half of your available time to help the other person practicing your native language. Another negative side is that since you don’t previously know your language partner, you may not have much in common with him and the conversation may be a little shallow, repetitive or boring, but hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Now that we have covered the three available options to learn a language on iTalki, let’s talk a little about a possibility of earning credits to have classes for free.

Referral System

Every person who creates an account on iTalki has a referral link that they can share on their blog or social media. Every time a friend clicks on you referral link, creates an account and makes a purchase on iTalki, both of you are rewarded with $10 USD in italki Credits in your Student Wallet.

We obviously know that iTalki purpose is for you to advertise their platform so that they can attract more language learners. However, it is a win-win situation, since you can earn many free classes if you get your friends to use the platform too.

Become an iTalki Teacher

Are you a professional teacher who would like to work in the comfort of your house? Are you a language enthusiast who would like to earn some extra by teaching a language? If you answered positively to one of these two questions, becoming a teacher/tutor on iTalki may be a great idea for you.

You will earn more than teaching in a regular language school (you pay a 15% commission of your earnings to the platform) and you will likely find students more easily than you would if being an independent private teacher. How can you become a teacher on iTalki?

You will have to upload documents showing your training and experience as an educator. You will be expected to provide your students with resources, prepared materials, and structured lesson plans to help students reach their goals. To teach on iTalki, you will need:

• “Native” or Advanced (C2) language proficiency according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages;
• Reliable access to an internet connection;
• VOIP software (Skype, Hangouts, Facetime, or QQ);
• External microphone and/or webcam;
• An iTalki user profile and
• A completed teaching application.

The Final Thoughts Of Our iTalki Review

It becomes clear that iTalki is a great website for those who are eager to learn a new language. We have seen that you can have classes with professional teachers or community tutors, or even have language exchanges with people from all over the world. Check out the summarize of our iTalkki review, with the pros and cons of the service:

Advantages:

• Thousands of native teachers to choose;
• Around 130 languages to learn;
• Affordable hourly rates;
• 30-minute trials to see if you like the teacher/tutor;
• Video presentations to get to know the teacher/tutor;
• Ratings given by students;
• Free language exchanges with millions of people.

Disadvantages:

• Occasional problems with the Skype connection;
• Shallow and boring conversations with conversation partners;
• Pre-fixed classes with teachers instead of working with your personalized learning style.

Give iTalki a try and good luck with your studies! If you liked this iTalki review, be sure to subscribe to get our free learning guide that will help you get the perfect pronunciation and improve your listening skills.