I don't remember how I learned about it. Everything having to do with paid lessons works well. I like the online scheduling tool, I like the fact that it converts time zones and hours for me. All the teachers I've encountered (two professional teachers and two community tutors) have been excellent and professional.

I like the "professional distance" the site puts between me and teachers. I haven't had anything even close to a "dispute," but, even so, I like the fact that italki escrows (holds) payments and doesn't release them until I confirm the session.

I've had one or two times when I was a no-show and the teacher forgave me and rescheduled the lesson, and other times when we rescheduled by mutual agreement. And I've now had three "instant tutoring" sessions and they've all gone well.

The mechanism for meeting language companions has worked well, too, although it is surprisingly hard for people to coordinate schedules when they are living their daily lives.

The online "community" features are not so valuable. They're OK but they're not a way to learn a language.

There is a dude on youtube. He talks about languages and advertises italki.