I've noticed that some native english speakers only correct the texts or answer the questions that people non native speakers have made in English, instead, they never practice their own target language at all. I said some, not all of them, of course.
What I mean is don't they get tired of " practicing" their own language every single day?, I mean, I'm very grateful for their help, obviously but, what about learning that language they want to improve and the reason that they are here?
I suppose, and from my humble opinion it's that, they should write some texts, and practice more, whether they want to learn Spanish, French, Italian,German or whatever other language, and let us help them, at least from time to time.
This is a space to share knowledge, if they only teach but don't learn, why are there here?
It's not a topic discussion, it's just an appreciation I hope that this comment is not misunderstanding
:)
@ Mutaz
At first I had to dissect your 10 dollar badge supposition. Now I got it. For me, it's not a 10 dollar badge.
And I book lessons with teachers because I love using italki and learning other languages to broaden my experience with others.
No need to be so snide mutaz. I'm using the site the way it's meant to be used.
Such a great advertisment for learning Arabic you've done over for yourself?
@LpM: <em>I agree with you; a sincere "thank you" to everyone trying to help others on italki.</em>
@Matteo:
1. During your 10 days experience on italki, could you please tell me the percentage of the silly/ vulgar questions that English learners asked?
Arabic learners from every where including your country, ask questions but no matter how simple their questions are, we'll never consider them silly and everyone will try to help them get the meaning or translate in the correct way.
2. How is a 10 dollars badge (premium membership) going to help?
Those who give you wrong answers will continue giving you the same answers even after becoming premium members.
You on the other hand, can easily book sessions with professional teachers and make sure that you get the right answers to your questions.
3. I totally agree with you about non native speakers correcting notebook entries, they really should stop no matter what the language is because they end up adding mistakes and not correcting at all!
I'm not sure why you accused me of advertising for myself? On what grounds?I think you spoke about your 10 days experience helping English learners and I spoke about my experience helping the Arabic learners. Was I supposed to speak about Chinese learners on italki even if I had no experience with them at all?
Look around you; top correctors on this website and members who helped others "for years" don't have premium memberships, which proves my point. Money is not a motive for anyone to give you the right answer to your questions.
Also the ways of learning a new language vary from one person to another, some would like to take lessons with teachers and others prefer to learn and improve their writing through notebook entries.
LpM showed appreciation to members who are always there for others and I totally agree with her. Everyone can see that money was never the reason why they helped. They also didn't judge others' questions.
Thank God that italki is a website for everyone, and people are not judged of how much they'll pay to learn :)
I help someone today and tomorrow he/she will help another; paying it forward is what italki is all about.
Britain and the United State are first world countries. We have much more access to teachers and learning resources here. So, it's not alway necessary to ask for help on italki.
The other problem is that italki is free. Most of the ELL's I have helped (and I'm happy to share and do so) have never opened a premium account. And many ask about slang, things that are substandard English, and vulgar words that have little place here. Also many pretend (or in some scary way, believe) they are native speakers and try to correct someone else's work.
I would prefer if italki was open only to premium users. And I did ask for help in Spanish and will continue to do so, but....I have received strange answers.
One quick point: I asked about forms for Gustar. I got some answers. And then one person admitted to me that he was from Brazil, and didn't even speak Spanish! He was just writing what he thought was correct.
Now, I may get things wrong at times, but at least I am a native English speaker and I do try to help.
Too, many posers with free accounts on this site in my opinion. That being said I encourage all to learn English. The reason? It really is a universal language.
I only work in English on italki. Being a teacher on here, all I do is teach. Sometimes I answer questions. In English. Only English.
I am learning Portuguese but I do not use the notebook/answer pages on italki as I have Portuguese teachers. Asking them directly gets me good answers, straightaway, in detail, and with backup worksheets.
Italki is great for extra information, but the 'correction service' in not always reliable. I'm not sure how much value there is in simply 'correcting.' I prefer to target a particular type of mistake and build a lesson (or an answer) around that.
