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Is iTalki worth it?

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iTalki Review and Rating 2021

The iTalki platform is vastly known by the majority throughout the world and it’s gaining popularity drastically. To let you know about the features and services provided by the iTalki platform, this review discusses all the functions offered elaborately. Moreover, the review mentions and explains all the courses and schedules provided by iTalki to the student, and how they can be used for further studies as well.

 

Separate sections are available for the various characteristics of iTalki, which will assist you in knowing more about the platform and its services. If you’re thinking of grabbing a subscription, this review might just be your saviour. For further details, continue scrolling!

Cost 8/10
Course Variety 10/10
Content Quality 9/10

Editors Overall Rating

8.5/10

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Table of Contents

About the Author:
Ashley Hughes

Ashley Hughes
Ashley has nearly a decade’s worth of experience in digital marketing and SEO — while also being a keen advocate of online learning. When he’s not busy with his day job, he’s reviewing e-learning platforms to ensure consumers are getting the best value for money.
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Introduction to Our iTalki Review

iTalki has been around for quite a while now, after being started as a usual language-learning platform back in 2007. While the services provided by iTalki were mostly the same as now during that time, the platform gained a generous amount of followers in 2012, after grasping a copious investment in the website. Whether you’re in Egypt or South Korea- iTalki has you covered. According to most personal reviews from the users of iTalki, the platform seemed to have prepared them for traveling to multiple places with different languages- with no worries about communication. Aside from the travellers, iTalki has even helped users sitting idle at home to learn new languages as a form of activity. 

 

From YouTube to general blog reviews, iTalki has been everywhere for the past few years. People have been reviewing the language-learning site like crazy, which has led to more people using the platform for distinct purposes. Not only did the blogs review iTalki as being extremely helpful, but they recommended it for users who wish to learn a language by heart and not just for the sake of it.

Now, the question might arise- ‘why is iTalki more talked about than the other language-learning platforms?’ 

 

Truth be told: Learning a language behind a screen can prove to be quite troublesome, especially if you’re taking the lessons alone. The whole process gets boring after a point and this leads you to eventually quit learning the language anymore. However, the platform of iTalki provides you with teachers who help you learn the language personally, through the site. As a result, you get an ACTUAL human connection through iTalki. This leads to more motivation for learning a new language as you finally, finally, finally have somebody to learn it with.

 

Before iTalki was released, most travellers suffered from learning different languages every two months due to a lack of sources available. Thus, iTalki became a life saviour for the travellers by ensuring optimum teaching quality for them to learn the languages, at any time and anywhere in the world. The effortless connection with the language teachers and ability to relate the language to learn it by heart – iTalki stands out for these unique services that no other platform can provide you with!

Pros

  • Flexible learning schedule
  • Individual and customised sessions
  • No hidden charges - transparency
  • iTalki community

Cons

  • Quality of teachers varies
  • Video conferencing difficult for some

To quote the process of learning a new language in iTalki briefly:

 

Pick a preferred language to learn, for example – Korean.

 

You get to browse through the huge database of available teachers and partners whom you can practice with. Use your personal preferences to select any and get started!

 

The teachers shall help you learn Korean with the help of classes, calls, or even texts. Book a class with them for your lessons to take place when you’re free, and get your pen and paper out.

 

For longer sessions, you can even learn over a video conference if you and the teacher have free schedules.

The scheduling and payments are then facilitated by iTalki, which might fluctuate depending on the number of reviews and ratings your teacher has.

 

That’s it- begin learning the language and in no time, you’ll have your desired outcomes. Annyeong! (It’s time to use iTalki to learn the meaning)

Sign up to iTalki and start learning languages today!

Check out iTalki

iTalki: How expensive is iTalki in 2021?

iTalki is a platform that merely connects the two parties – teachers and students- together. The teachers are language experts who are looking for students to teach and earn a few bucks from the service, while the students are travellers or idle at home wishing to learn new languages in exchange for an inexpensive fee. 

 

The pricing policy of iTalki is an independent process, meaning that the teachers can set their wages according to their qualifications posted on the platform. While the prices typically range from as low as $7 per session to as high as $20 per session, it depends on the teachers’ quality whether you should comply with the prices or not. Often, teachers price themselves even lower than $7, but you would have to browse through the database thoroughly to search for those. Furthermore, the low-priced teachers usually turn out to be quite experienced and provide you with a good experience. Similarly, sometimes the high-priced teachers turn out to be unqualified in the sector and offer you low-quality service for your time and money.

 

While iTalki is not at fault for the unfair pricing, it’s up to you to figure out the teachers best suited for your language learning journey. Going through the reviews is an excellent option to start with, as they tell you about the past performances of that teacher. Following the reviews, you may settle for the individual who suits your pricing range the best, and voila! You’ve found yourself a teacher with the perfect pricing schedule per session.

Why not kick-start your iTalki journey today?

Visit iTalki

How to Find the Right Teachers at iTalki

While languages can be learned by oneself, having a teacher to guide you through the process is always an added benefit. Similarly, the services of iTalki are used worldwide for the unique filter for teachers. The filtering out process eventually helps you decipher the best teachers available, who are native speakers of the language you wish to learn. The filter process is quite easy and assists you in observing the introductory details about the teacher.

 

Teacher Type

This sector helps you understand if the teacher is a regular tutor or an expert individual in the language. For instance, if your goal is to learn beginner-level Korean for your trip of 7 days a tutor shall more than suffice your requirements with the course. However, if you are looking forward to a press conference in Korean, you need a professional or an expert in that language to help you get on the right track.

 

Location

This feature helps you figure out if the teacher is a native or not, and whether they live in the country whose language you’re wishing to learn. Even though the location doesn’t matter since you will be getting the lessons through video conference, many individuals deem it necessary to know the current location of the teacher.

 

Price

The price-point of a teacher is set by the teacher, but iTalki may increase or decrease the wage according to the reviews and ratings of the teacher in question. Since you’ll be paying per session, it’s wise to go through the pricing policy of the teacher you wish to choose and see if it complies with your budget or not.

 

Language

Well, this is obvious. If you wish to learn Korean, we expect you to not lurk around the database for Spanish teachers; it is a waste of time and effort for yourself and the teachers you’ll be communicating with. Thus, use this filter section to check the teachers available for the language you wish to learn.

Tutor’s Skills at iTalki

This section covers the teacher’s qualifications and skills, and whether the teacher is capable of retaining students or not. All these characteristics shall help you determine the teacher’s quality and if you wish to learn the language under them. Good luck!

Aside from filtering out the basic features of the teachers, it’s vital to look for the following essentials:

 

The Video Introduction Quality: All teachers at iTalki are required to provide a video introduction of themselves and what they plan on doing through iTalki. These videos can be used to your benefit by verifying the teachers’ communication and language skills. The video shall act as a trailer to the entire language-learning session that you are signing up for.

 

Returning Students: iTalki discloses the number of times a student has come back for lessons under the same teacher, right beside their names. This feature allows you to notice if the tutors are doing a good job at teaching, or are the students discontinuing after one or two sessions.

 

Attendance and Response Rates: There are teachers who bail out at the last minute from a pre-scheduled lesson, which might be strenuous if you have a packed daily routine. This is why, iTalki provides you with the attendance and response rates that help you observe the teacher’s attendance for all lessons, and if they are responsive enough regarding the students’ difficulties.

 

Along with the aforementioned characteristics, here are a few other pointers you need to go through to end up with the correct language teacher:

 

First, the teacher should use the target language all the time, with a few exceptions of resorting to English if completely necessary. This way, you will actually learn to communicate using the target language and feel more confident in it.

 

Second, the teacher should let you take up most of the talking time as you are the individual struggling to learn the language. If the teacher themselves keep blabbering, it’s of no use to your learning process.

 

Third, the teacher should use different methods to ensure proper learning. Using a textbook to let you know the basics shall not suffice if you want to learn the language by heart. Moreover, textbook teaching portrays a lack of creativity in teachers, labelling them as lazy.

 

Fourth and final, some teachers stay distracted and use multiple ways of using up the session time without being productive at all. If that’s the case, iTalki expects you to report the teachers to them and ask for a refund for the waste of time and money caused due to them.

Enough info already? Head to iTalki and sign up now!

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The Reputation of Tutors at iTalki

The teachers of iTalki are the primary beholders of the entire platform, depending on whom the learning quality is determined on the site. While most of the reviews state the teachers to be quite impressive and professional, a few others mention their bad experiences with the teacher at iTalki. 

 

It all comes down to one question- did you filter out the right teacher for yourself? As long as you follow the aforementioned advice on selecting a tutor, we believe you’re good to go!

 

Two Teachers? 

iTalki offers you two types of teachers to aid your learning process. Amazing, isn’t it?

 

The first kinds are the actual teachers who help you learn the language through video conferencing. Most of these teachers have earned a degree in the specified languages, a few of them are even experts in more than two languages. These teachers are the formal forms of iTalki tutors.

 

The other kinds are the community tutors that you meet through the community section of iTalki. Since iTalki provides you with partners to learn the language with, a community is created. As a result, there are a few tutors within your community who can help you learn the language faster. According to the reviews posted online about iTalki, many students feel that community tutors do a better job at teaching than professional teachers. Then again, the opinion is quite subjective and not at all general.

Criticism & Alternatives

Firstly, the vast database of teachers available might act as a blessing and a curse at the same time. While you are being provided with multiple teachers, it can get confusing due to the huge arena of options available for you to pick from. How many reviews shall you have to go through before finding the perfect tutor? Even if you manage to find the tutor, is the pricing set ideal to the qualifications of the tutor, or is it over or undercharged? All these questions can prove to be a mess, causing you to back out from the overall experience. Secondly, the video conference sessions may be arduous to busy individuals who are not accustomed to Skype or Google Meet. Language learning is a lengthy process that requires quite some focus and determination, which might be impossible to attain through video conferences.

 

However, are there any alternatives to iTalki? While there are contenders standing out and trying to reach the level of iTalki, it’s still in the beginning phase of the competition. A few websites exist that aim to fulfil your language requirements, but they mostly have the capability of teaching only one language properly. The other platforms do not have nearly as much variety as iTalki does, which makes the alternative useless. Furthermore, the pricing policies of other platforms tend to be higher than that of iTalki; let’s keep in mind that the teaching methods are not as versatile as iTalki either. So, it doesn’t hurt to browse a bit more to gain the same lesson for a much cheaper fee, does it?

Editors Overall Rating

8.5/10

Convinced? Check out iTalki

iTalki - What Do The Students Say?

The essential part of a language-learning platform is the students’ satisfaction. If the pupils are dissatisfied, the whole platform shall crush into pieces. So far, the students of iTalki have given impressive reviews about the platform, some have even made blog posts about iTalki and shared their experiences. While a major portion of the world is discussing about iTalki, there is a part that is not accustomed to the platform yet.

 

iTalki helps you learn the language you want, and does so in a unique and communicative way. This is the reason why most students come back to using iTalki as their personal school for learning any language. Furthermore, a few students have mentioned using iTalki at home on idle days to increase their area of knowledge about languages as well! The growth of iTalki has been massive, with a special contribution from the users who never fail to recommend the platform to others.

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