Hi Vilson,

In my point of view, one reason for which people are quite reluctant to communicate with someone new is because they have no appropriate topics to talk about. You can imagine how awkward the situation is when we don't know what else to say after talking for a period of time. On the other hand, I don't think we can enjoy talking about grammar or academical things all the time. We've had it at school. What we need is practice. Yea, I admit, maybe it's because we're facing different issues or because we have little information about the current issues our partner's facing. 

For instance, once I met someone who wanted to be able to speak Indonesian language and then we set the time to meet. After we talked for some minutes that person left me without saying any goodbyes, but I could still see the "online" status of that person. Then I looked at our messages again, and I found that there weren't any questions or attempts to speak Indonesian. There were only questions about tourism sites in Indonesia but I couldn't explain them well.

So I think we should write in our profile about what we're interested in whether in politics, economics, films, musics or anime, so that we can see if that person matches our preference or not. (^__^)

Here is a previous discussion on this topic - maybe some thoughts might be of help. 

http://classic.italki.com/discussion/110575

The main thing is to just keep asking people.  I have had many excellent experiences with excellent study partners.  Quite a few have lasted for a few months.  Sometimes circumstances change and they can't keep going, but then you find new people.

Make sure that your invitation is clear, and that your profile looks like that of a serious learner.  Post a few entries to show your level and your desire to learn sincerely.  See more suggestions in the link above.

Also, you need to be wise about how to split the time between the two languages, and choose methods to practice together that are actually helpful - so that that both people feel that they have benefited, once the session ends.  That way they will come back and take the study seriously.  Come to the session with questions about words and expressions, suggestions for topics to talk about, maybe a written text that they can help you with, or any other useful ideas.  Don't expect them to think about all this, be proactive.

This is a difficult problem. I find that the time issues are the biggest obstacle.  I work full time, and have a family with young children, so my time is already very limited.  I am interested in Asian languages. However, the time difference between where I live (western United States) and southeast Asia is about 14 hours.  So, when I most able to talk (for example, during my lunch hour), it is the middle of the night there.  Aside from that, it is important to find partners who have similar goals, who you enjoy talking with, etc.  That said, I am sure I have it easier than many people, because English is in high demand.  I enjoy learning and teaching.  I wish I had more time to spend with people learning English.