Language partners sound great in theory, but in reality, this almost never works out. People will eventually realize that paying for community tutors or professional lessons is the best way to learn.

I think community tutors are often chosen because for their lower price, where as professional tearchers are often chosen for their experience and the desire to have more intensive lessons. Language partners can be multiple things, but for me have been random

individuals to practice conversations with.

For me I usually prefer informal teaching because I learn best when I enjoy, have fun and am free from stress and pressure. Community tutors' approaches are usually less academical or structured. I dont like when I feel like I am back to school, with syllabus quizz, and test. At the same time when I pay the community tutor to learn with them, I tend to be way more committed in learning than I would be with a language partner I don't have to pay. I don't know if it makes sense, but to make it short, I need not much structure to learn best but incentive enough to persevere ;) But not everybody is like me and I am sure many people benefit from professional teachers' skills and competency! :)

I am a slow talker. In an usual language exchange of 30 min - 30 min, I get maybe 15 minutes of practicing. Additionally, I may need to spend a few minutes to research the subject my partner is interested in before coming to the exchange. Too much time spent for too little benefit. So, as long as it falls within my budget, I am going to pay for classes.

For me, qualifications aside, I'd be more motivated if I usually saw more concrete information in a teacher's profile section about what curriculum or teaching style they follow. Or make it easier to search for specifics. There's usually too much incidental information about their life story instead. Maybe at least if they recommend certain textbooks, or they have their own teaching material.

Anyway, when I've searched for online teachers in my target language, I've had to ask myself what does "informal tutoring" really entail? And why do so many seem to only offer beginner courses? I know you can always take trial lessons or ask questions, but it does sap my motivation to dig deeper on this platform.

I had no real previous experience with online language lessons until the coronavirus outbreak. I've mostly just gone with in-person group lessons on and off, and even (relatively briefly) paid for some in-person private lessons some years ago. My biggest gripe with some lessons is that unless they follow some kind of progression plan, it feels like a random tour of the language and you have no idea where you've been or where you're going.

It doesn't help either that my target language isn't among the most in demand, so many of its teachers seem to market themselves as English teachers first. But let's just say what I read and hear often just adds doubt to my mind.

It'd be better if the platform at least supported multiple videos, instead of making you skip through the alphabet of languages to get to the one you're interested in. I saw one that at least put a language icon in the background of the video. But then again, I suppose it's usually the same speech in each language anyway.

Anyway, I don't mean to come off all negative, but maybe it's useful marketing feedback.