italki Review

Tutors are available to teach over 150 languages.

The most popular are: English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese (Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien), French, Italian, German, Korean, Arabic (Egyptian, Gulf, Levantine, Maghrebi, Modern Standard), Hindi and Russian. But equally, a range of less widely spoken (or even fictional) languages are also on offer including Basque, Choctaw, Dothraki and Klingon.

italki launched in 2006 as a social network for language exchange. It connected people around the world so they could learn from one another.

It expanded in 2008 to include a marketplace where learners could pay fees to teachers for live online individual or group lessons.

Italki now has over 5m learners and 20k+ teachers from 180 countries who offer personal tuition in 150+ languages. You select the language you want to learn, the level you want to learn at and the teacher that best suits your needs. And you pay as you go for lessons so there are no fixed fees or rigid timeslots to commit to.

To get started you go to italki.com and simply click on ‘Start now’ and open a free account using your email address, Google, Facebook or Apple.

From that point on, you are in control of what and when you learn, as well as who you learn with.

After selecting the language you want to learn, you can choose your skill level, take a language placement test or work with a teacher to build a customized learning plan.

Teachers will be filtered to match your target language and skill level. Most offer a 30-minute trial at a reduced rate and hourly rates for each lesson. They set their own fees and sessions helping you find those best suited to your budget and schedule. And because you pay per lesson, there’s no fixed fees and you can choose how much time to commit.

The italki Classroom is similar to Zoom but is a built-in feature of the italki desktop and app versions. So, you don’t need to download any additional software. Some tutors also offer the option to use Zoom or Skype.

With the aim of immersing you in a language, italki tutors will speak to you mainly in the target language right from the get go.

You also have the option to record lessons and watch them back as often as you’d like, which is great for revision.

Lessons on italki vary depending on the teacher you choose, lesson length, your skill level and your individual preferences.

Teachers will assess your current level if you’re new and help to develop a programme that suits you if you choose to commit. You can contact any teacher to clarify lesson content prior to purchasing.

Once you’ve chosen your teacher, you connect via italki’s own version of Zoom. This is built-in so you don’t need to download any software. The connection is stable and high quality so you can stay focussed on the lesson.

In a typical lesson you will:

• Converse directly with your tutor in the target language as much as possible (aiming for this to become 100% of the time)
• Speak, read and translate phrases from a worksheet, with real time feedback to help pronunciation
• Engage with interactive whiteboard content
• Pick up new vocabulary with picture clues and real life examples

• Use the note function to write phrases

  Each tutor and every lesson I took was conducted mostly in the target language. This was rather intimidating at first. But repetition, visual clues, use of worksheets, notes and the interactive whiteboard help to make things clear.

You can also review lesson content by re-entering the chat page and your teacher can share resources and set tasks to take learning beyond the classroom.

italki is a pay as you go service with no subscription fee.

Instead, you search and select sessions according to your own wants and needs and only pay for what you use. For a 30-minute trial lesson, you can pay as little as $5.

After that, teachers set their own hourly rates. On average, this is about $10 -- but varies according to the teacher's experience.

italki offers full refunds for any canceled or declined lessons. If you have a lesson problem, you should report it to italki within 3 days so they can review it.

Because there are no fixed fees, this also means there’s no commitment if you find italki isn’t for you. That being said, the scope of available lessons and teachers means you’re more likely to find a tutor that works for you.

To review italki, I spent 2 hours learning Italian, and 2 hours learning Welsh, both as an A1 (beginner) student.

Although I have some Italian, I wanted to see if italki provided a good introduction for beginners. I chose Welsh as it’s not a widely spoken language and I wanted to see whether there was still a wide choice of teachers available to teach it (which there was).

What I liked about italki

Live teaching

Live tutoring from professional or community teachers is a major benefit of italki. You get real time feedback and the teacher can quickly adapt to your specific needs. Your strengths and weaknesses can be instantly identified and addressed to best encourage fast learning,

To help you get fluent even more quickly you can choose teachers who are native (rather than second language) tutors. You can also connect to native speakers via the community.

Connects you to native speakers

When it comes to learning languages native speakers will always make the best teachers. This is because they can provide you with idioms, nuances and cultural tips that help you avoid social gaffs and change your speaking of a language from passable to perfect.

You select a native speaking teacher and use the free online community where you can post and answer questions as you please.

This is a great tool to encourage you to engage with different content and to clarify any misunderstanding in your language-learning journey.

Effective and comprehensive 

One of the advantages of italki over other competitors is the scope of languages (150+) and teachers (20k) to choose from.

Live tuition means you’ll be getting a more personal and realistic language-learning experience, compared to textbooks or automated online programmes. And whilst there is a strong emphasis on speaking and listening you can ask your tutor to focus more (or set after lesson tasks that focus) on reading and writing.

More immersive than conventional apps 

italki lessons plunge you straight into the target language. Where possible, your tutor will only use the language you are learning but provide lots of visual clues to help you understand what is being said.

While this may seem a little daunting at first; it exposes you to the language in a way where it becomes more familiar quicker. to help you get fluent fast.

Adaptable and easy to personalize

Though you can join group lessons, italki specializes in offering 1-1 tuition.

As such, individual questions and concerns can be instantly and all lessons can be tailored towards your personal goals.

Flexible 

In addition to italki’s 1-1 tutoring, what helps give them an advantage over some other providers is their pay-as-you-go-system.

This means that you can pick and choose lessons based on your availability and avoid committing to rigid programmes that don’t work around your lifestyle.

Overall, this means you get more value for your buck, as you get to frame your language-learning around your personal schedule, rather than catering to a fixed timetable.

Free resources 

italki teachers will usually provide worksheets and tasks to practice and extend your learning between lessons. And italki itself provides podcasts you can listen to on the go as well as daily practice exercises in most languages.

Potential lack of consistency dependant on instructor availability

While you can fit lessons around your own life; instructor availability may mean you’ll find yourself taking classes with different tutors. While a bit of variation can be a good thing, too much can lead to a lack of consistency in the teaching.

Although all of the tutors I had were very engaging and enthusiastic, some were better communicators than others. Some were clearly following on from a previous lesson and seemed briefly disoriented. And meeting a tutor for the first time will inevitably mean time is spent establishing rapport, where you are at and where you’re aiming to go.

However, this is all probably a price worth paying for the flexibility of in person learning Italki offers.

May not suit absolute beginners or those preferring a more structured approach

You need to be prepared to dive right in with italki because, right from the get go, your tutor will be speaking the target language.

If you are an absolute beginner (as I was with Welsh) this can be quite scary. I did persevere and visual clues helped, but I did feel a little overwhelmed. This was less of a problem with Italian, so having some very basic knowledge of a language before using italki might be helpful.

Also, if you are an analytical person and need to know why things are as they are (like me) italki might not be for you. My tutors wanted me to see patterns, rather than explain the grammar and building blocks of the language.

Lack of Curriculum

Languages have so many elements. So you need a structured curriculum when learning a language, especially as a beginner.

You can of course set your own program of study with an italki tutor. Some may have their own - but these can vary in quality and style.

All this means it can take time to find the right path for you on italki.

The italki learning style would suit anyone who:

• Feels they’d benefit from 1-1 teaching
• Is keen to spend time practicing conversation in their language of choice
• Is unable to commit to rigid programmes and fixed time slots

• Already has some foundational skills and is looking to advance

  While italki is designed for students of all skill levels, you will be expected to converse in your chosen language. So, coming to italki with some basic knowledge to build upon is ideal.

Right away, italki has you speaking and listening in your chosen language. This means you get real-life experience talking to a professional teacher and/or a native speaker!

italki offers a number of features that make it an ideal choice for students who want to learn a language. These include:

 There are lots of great features on italki, here are some of the highlights:

• Personalized 1-1 live tuition
• Direct contact with native speakers
• Immersion
• Flexible pay as you go learning
• Desktop- or device-based to best suit your needs
• italki Challenge

Personalized live learning

Live lessons allow you to interact with the tutor and have your individual queries addressed immediately. Italki tutors will be able to adapt their teaching to the different needs of learners as they arise.

Direct access to native speakers

You can select a tutor that is a native speakers in your target language. This will not only mean you hear correct pronunciation but will naturally pick up colloquialisms, idioms, nuances, cultural insights and grammar.

You can also interact with native speakers via the free italki community.

Immersion

The best way to learn a language is by immersing yourself in it. Italki provides the opportunity for you to do this through live teaching. Either 1-1 or in small  group sizes. Plus  the teacher will be maximizing opportunities for you to hear, speak (and therefore think) in your target language.

Flexible Learning

italki’s pay-as-you-go-system means that you can pick and choose lessons based on your availability and avoid committing to rigid programmes that don’t work around your lifestyle.

Overall, this means you get more value for your buck, as you get to frame your language-learning around your personal schedule, rather than catering to a fixed timetable.

Desktop-or device-based to best suit your needs

This means language learning is accessible to you both at home and on-the-go

italki Challenge

The italki language challenge allows you to can rack up points, badges, certificates and coupons for hours spent practicing your target language!

italki key facts:

• Our score: 8.5/10
• Number of users: 5 million
• Avg lesson length: 1 hour
• Number of lessons: N/A
• Downloadable lessons: Flexible
• Starting proficiency test: Yes
• Provides certificate: Yes via the italki challenge
• Adaptive to user: Yes
• Number of languages taught: 150+
• Pricing: From $10 per hour
• Desktop: Yes
• Mobile: Yes
• IOS: Yes
• Android: Yes

• Our score: 8.78/ 10
• Trustpilot 4.7 /5 based on 12k+ reviews
• Google Play 4.4 /5 based on 10k+ reviews

• Apple Store 4.7 /5 based on 600+ reviews

  My aim here is to write the best and most balanced italki review, so here are some reviews I have found on the site and on forums such as Reddit:

“I joined iTalki recently and I’ve taken about 6 lessons so far. The first couple lessons are always about figuring out which tutor suits you. Once you find someone you’re comfortable with, iTalki becomes an excellent tool to practice your speaking skills.” -- Comment from Reddit

“I have noticed a significant improvement in the way I learn English. I have even already had some interviews in English, something that was not possible a few months ago.” -- Comment from italki

“I would go with italki instead of the expensive course. I think that having a cool teacher is more helpful than anything else. With italki, you can choose the teachers. With the university, you can’t.” -- Comment from  Reddit

In short, it depends on your preference.

If you’ve tried out some other providers like DuoLingo and found the content hard to translate into everyday life, italki is an excellent resource for building your speaking and listening skills.

Also, if you have a busy/unpredictable lifestyle and find that you can’t commit to fixed days, italki makes the scheduling process easy and convenient for you by letting you choose your time slot.

Although I don’t have extensive speaking skills in my chosen language, I found that after only a couple of hours I had so much more confidence speaking Italian aloud than I ever did from using previous sites. That being said, as someone with zero knowledge of Welsh I felt very overwhelmed at first - though I did make progress by the end of the lesson.

While being thrown in at the deep end and conversing almost solely in your chosen language is intimidating, it is arguably the best way to progress and advance those foundational skills.

With trial lessons starting at as little as $5, with no commitment needed, you have very little to lose and a whole lot to gain. If you’re looking for adaptive learning that suits your needs and helps you to become fluent fast, italki is one of the best e-learning options out there.

So, why not browse the teachers and give it a go?