Japanese Language @sopuli.xyz Zealous @lemmy.world 1y ago

Italki experiences?

Has anyone used Italki or a similar platform to aid in their studies?

I'm considering taking weekly lessons with a tutor, the main goal in specifically improving my speaking.

I've lived in Japan for a few years and work in a Japanese company and while my comprehension is okay, my output is terrible and I always hesitate to speak.

I'm hoping a tutor would give me some real-time feedback on my speaking and help build my confidence.

I don't need a professional teacher / structured lessons and I guess my budget would be around ¥2000 for the hour (is it reasonable?)

Please let me know your experiences.

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I did italki for around 2 years between the stints when I lived in Japan, and I found that it improved my comfort level with speaking dramatically. My tutor did not provide me with highly structured lessons; each weekly conversation was simply free dialogue, so it really was just to exercise my speaking muscle, rather than rigorously learn vocabulary or grammar structures.

If you are in a spot where you feel like your passive vocabulary is significantly larger than your active vocabulary, it might be worth giving it a try. I would describe my experience with italki as mostly positive, and I have recommended it to my friends.
- Thanks for sharing, did you stick with the same tutor throughout the 2 years?
  
  I think I had three or four tutors, but one in particular I stuck with for about 18 months straight.