Some time ago, a student had an initial session with me. After about 15 minutes, she nervously asked me if she would learn "the real English" with me. I was taken aback, and temporarily lost for words. After our chat, some weeping and grinding of teeth ensued, and I asked myself:
"How on earth could anyone ask such a thing of me - a lawyer, an English teacher and a native speaker all my life?! I'm from England, the home of the English language, for .... etc etc."
After I had calmed down, I realised that perhaps, in her position, it was a reasonable question to ask. I estimated that her level was around A2/B1 and so she wasn't advanced enough to assess my level of English as native and proficient. Further, she didn't know me from Adam, and so why should she have trusted me purely on my say-so?
Partly with that in mind, I later took the Oxford Online Placement Test (OOPT), which is very kindly laid on by Italki. Happily, I scored 100%, my pride was restored, and the "C2+" badge has proudly adorned my Italki profile ever since!
This got me thinking: in the haphazardly regulated world of online English teaching, perhaps community websites like Italki should require would-be teachers (if not also community tutors) to undertake the OOPT or similar, before they seek work from unsuspecting students. No doubt, the wise people who run Italki had this in mind when they first provided the OOPT here. However, from my unscientific survey, surprisingly few teachers and tutors display the badge on their profiles.
What do people think? Would a requirement to undertake the OOPT (or similar) and display the OOPT badge make it fairer for Italki students, who would then have a better idea of the language proficiency level of the teachers or tutors they are considering? Would such a requirement also make Italki a fairer marketplace for non-native English teachers, who could demonstrate unequivocally that their level of English was C2 and / or near-native?

