Hi Dodo, I agree with you, I have the same problem many friends and non are actively talking with me. Some beg me to help them with English on the initial contact and then I never hear from them again. I think the internet may have caused this situation by means of spam and pornography people just don't have the trust in people like they use to. Maybe we need to be more selective in the friends we invite or accept to our friends list. One way would be to ask for a resume type introduction to why they want to learn a language and show us a sincere desire to learn. Because like you my time is valuable to me and I don't mind helping someone if their intentions are sincere. Norman

I met the same problem at first time, I was just sending friendship request believing that it's the only option here; I could find just 3 guys who are serious and I could talk with, but they are not available always in my activity time (because of the time zone as Nicolas said).But, before a couple of months I discovered the groups & answers sections. I started to post and answer , this way I could express myself ,doing a nice debates ,arguing with guys who have different opinions and show many aspects of my personality & interests .So , as a result many persons sent me friendship requests ,and I found many of them nice and very interesting people. I think that to find a nice group of language partners takes few days of activity and more originality in your posts, No Copy/paste. and also , there is something you will face it -as a female- is : the frustrated & Obsessed guys ,who are just seeking in vain for a dates here, so ignoring them is the best way . Good luck in our Community,

Hi Dodo! I'm one of them you deleted from your Skype & maybe MSN, too. pity, I was delighted with exquisite chats with you. yes, I've got some trouble in exchanging languages: I'm not available the whole day: sometimes I'm very busy because of the unstable way of my working, and yes, I'm not English native-speaker... However, I must say that I've found Italki web-site quite good place for searching for the language exchange. I've found some people really willing to exchange languages. what can decide about the effectiveness of these contacts? I'll try to answer taking in consideration my experience taken from Italki web-site: 1. motivations of both sides: question your Italki partner why he/she wants to learn a foreign language. it gives you some interesting information, how much the person is concerned and determined to learn/teach of course, there are some silly guys looking for on-line dates, but after some words you will know what's the purpose of the chat 2. suitable time for both sides: you need to make an appointment with your language partner. you both must decide what time is the best for you both. when you're signing in on-line, you can't count that your Italki partner will have enough time right now. if you had a standard teacher at your place, it's hardly to imagine that you can visit him/her at any time saying: I'm here! Teach me right now! I think it is the most essential thing 3. plan of learning/teaching: it depends on the your & your Italki partner needs 4. maybe it's a matter of Heaven gift? so pray for decent and good language partners!

and please, don't upload your picture, my sister did and she had to move it, there's a lot of cheap guys!

because there's a lot of people looking to hook uo with someone and so little who are serius about languages but don't give up, there still cool people who will be willing to help! ;-)