You don't need a camera for lessons but you will almost certainly need Skype as this is the most popular way to talk over the internet. The good news is that Skype is free to download and runs on Mac or PC. Alternatively, you may be able to agree the use of a different method of communication with your teacher. You can always ask them about this possibility before actually booking the lesson and committing yourself.

most russians use skype, so you will need it or you will have to persuade teachers to install some other means of communication. this site presumes that skype is the default mean of providing lessons, btw. about camera, it's not necessary but it's extremely useful. students often keep silent and then teacher can't know what's the reason. it may be that you are trying to remember or that you are playing with a kitten. if teacher sees your eyes it's possible to figure out when to help you, when to wait for you to come up with an answer by yourself, when to wait while you are drinking tea or whatever. besides, it's easy to see by the eyes if the student understands what teacher says or not. when there is no camera, teachers have to keep asking "have you understood well" and to test it somehow all the time, after every little explanation. or just to care not :). so yes, camera is very useful. and it's no big deal, really. when we take offline lessons teachers see us and it's not a problem :).

Just some misc info to consider about asking questions before committing yourself. I get many, many messages every day. Here is what I have observed; serious student just sign up. People who send messages before with lots of hypothetical questions often don't sign up. Not always -- but usually. If someone sends me two or three messages with detailed questions -- I stop answering. People who can afford ongoing language lessons will spend $17 to meet me, see me, talk to me, ask me questions. I am being very honest with you here. I would suggest booking a session to show you are serious. If spending $10 for a teacher's time is not feasible, then you might want to crowd-source more of your learning, for now. There are lots of free resources out there. If you're looking for the time and energy and creativity and concern of a professional teacher, put your $12 or $10 or $20 or whatever, on the table. P.S. I took Russian lessons with three different teachers and I know teach of them spent HOURS preparing the sessions (with so many materials before and after the session) ... money is the way we show value in this world so ... book a session to get started on the right foot. That is my suggestion to you...good luck!

Google Hangout works well. Skype is the best, though, IMO -- and the desktop version for Windows 7 is the best :-) If you get Skype for Windows 8, you need an MSN ID to log in. (e.g. @hotmail, @live, etc) and it wants to sync all your Skype contacts with your email contacts, etc, etc, ad nauseum...