Sam
Connection problems with my Latin America tutors I am currently taking  italki lessons with  tutors from Venezuela, Guatemala, Columbia, and Spain. I don't seem to have many connection problems with my tutor in Spain, buy I am having tons of connection problems with my tutors in Latin America. Is this a common problem? A few disconnections are not a problem for me, but the conversation is getting interrupted too frequently, and it's making for some unsatisfactory lessons. Just wondering if this is a common problem or if anybody has suggestions about other platforms that would work better than Skype. I'm thinking it's got to be that they don't have good internet though, and doesn't seem to be anything I could do about that.
May 5, 2019 12:54 PM
Comments · 5
2
It is a very common problem at the moment, especially if many of your tutors are from Venezuela. It's not their fault. They've been suffering power outages for days at a time. It's very unpredictable. I've not been able to speak to my favorite tutor because it's so hard for her to find a reliable connection at all. I'm not sure about the other countries, but I do know that in Venezuela, it's beyond people's control most of the time.
May 5, 2019

Thanks for the tips guys. And yes, I understand it's not their fault. I'm sure the services available in some areas are not great and are out of the persons control. I'm fine with some interruptions, I expect that. But if there's literally a disconnect every two minutes, that's not going to work for me. That's how my last few lessons have been, and it doesn't feel like we accomplished much at the end.

Daffodil. If I understand your comment, your suggesting that I use Zoom, but do it without the video? That helps overcome a poor internet connection? Happy to do that, just want to make sure I'm understanding your suggestion.

May 5, 2019
Hi, Sam. Before booking a lesson, you could ask a teacher what their ISP is and try Speedtest.net with servers from that ISP in that particular city. However, as Guyomar said, there can also be "last mile" problems.
May 5, 2019
Zoom is great. No video.
May 5, 2019

Some teachers like Zoom.  I have no experience with it.

I often have Skype problems with students in certain countries (including South America).  I usually call again with good results on the second or third call.

Sometimes, students have terrible WiFi and nothing works until they call me from their cell phone.

Good luck!

May 5, 2019