Richard-Business Eng
Professional Teacher
The Discussion section is not the appropriate section to use to look for language partners.

At this moment there are 20 discussions on the first page and 10 of them (50%) are requests for language exchange partners.

italki has provided a specific section for those people who are looking for language exchange partners.

Click on: COMMUNITY

Click on: Language Partners


The Discussion section is not the appropriate section to be looking for language partners.

Thank you

May 1, 2018 6:55 PM
Comments · 41
17

Francisca, do you come to iTalki to work on improving your English or to help people who are trying to improve their Spanish?  It is odd that you have been a member here for over a year, and yet there is no sign of you having done either of those useful things.

Coming here to complain about other people´s conversations...yes, you´ve done that...but that is hardly productive.

May 1, 2018
11

May I defend the posting of language-based ( grammar, vocabulary) questions on the Discussion forum?

The Answer section is not really fit for purpose, because:

- there is no function allowing colours, highlighting, bolding, italicisation or any other tool that's often necessary for explaining more complex language points

- the posts sink without trace within a short time

In many ways, the Discussion section is better suited to language-based questions than the Answers section. This is especially so in those cases where there is no clear-cut answer,and the  OP would benefit from receiving a range of views over a period of time.

May 2, 2018
11

Let's get a couple of things clear:

Did I scold anyone for posting language requests in the Discussion section?   NO

Did I tell anyone not to use the Discussion section?  NO

Did I say that anyone was behaving inappropriately?  NO

Did I suggest that italki's Language Partners section is the appropriate place to seek a partner?  YES

Did I post this as advice and to be helpful to those looking for a language exchange partner?  YES

Have I been a member of italki for 10 years?  YES

Have I answered hundreds of questions for free and received a 68% best answer result?  YES

Have I posted hundreds of helpful grammar-related discussions for English learners?  YES

Have I posted a discussion that explains why it is difficult to find a partner and how to improve one's chances of finding a language partner?  YES    https://www.italki.com/discussion/151735

Have I "just gathered here to discuss how others behave inappropriately"?  I will not dignify this question with an answer.


Thank you 

Katarina
Sonya (special thanks to you)
Adel
Guyomar (respectful and helpful as usual)
Truman (support appreciated)

May 1, 2018
11
Please Richard, no math in the Discussion section. Thank you.
May 1, 2018
10

@Katarina

Who said anything about only elites/highly educated people who already master the language posting? 

I didn't say people shouldn't post about pizza toppings, though yes, I have poked fun at such topics in other threads because I seriously doubt writing "Hawaiian pizza" as an answer helps one's English.

A request for a language partner simply isn't a discussion topic. There is often no element of self-introduction, just "teach me english now, free."

And, no, I sometimes have to wade through a sea of several pages of advertisements to find a discussion that was interesting. Not the end of the world, but who doesn't want the best for a community/forum? 

May 2, 2018
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