Because I know that I'm too busy, unreliable and likely to cancel last minute, I'm not looking for language exchange. I had great language exchange partners for Chinese and Spanish but it just feels so bad to let them down. For me, it's easier to just exchange written or recorded audio messages. Live sessions are too much of a hassle for me. So, when someone sends me a request, I always make clear that I'm not regular language partner material.

I’ve never relied on language exchange because of many reasons that have been mentioned here many times. I do agree that hiring a tutor is the best option to improve your spoken language. Yes, you have to pay for it, but you usually get what you pay for. On top of everything else YOU decide what to talk about, YOU are allowed to refuse if you do not want to do something, the tutors usually meet your needs and expectations and they are rarely late or no showing up. I thing nobody is so busy that they can’t plan 30 to 60 minutes of their free time in advance to do something they like to do. We are all acting according to our priorities and we are accustomed to taking prirority over other things. You know, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”.