A system similar to that of instant tutoring would be great for speaking practice with natives. Some sort of chain exchange (A helps B, B helps C, C helps D, D helps A) would open up the possibilities for many people if compared to the somehow restrictive tandem exchange (A helps B, B helps A). But organising that sort of system so everybody is happy with what they give and with what they get means a lot of work and resources (developers, servers, maintenance, support, etc.) and I wonder whether anybody would be willing to pay italki for the service, even if it was only a few cents (in terms of money) or a few minutes (in terms of time). Everything is possible and maybe a two layer system (free and paying) could be implemented.

My answer to the question is: yes I would...     IF THERE WAS

 - a strong filtering system so that both the giver and the taker could restrict (or open up) the characteristics of the people they want to help / get help from

 - a reliable on-the-fly voice chat tool with no list of contacts

 - a way of keeping track of the number of times one has given and taken

There is no English equivalent for the Spanish verb 'estrenar' when referring to a new dress or a new flat. 'Release' is a good equivalent for a film only. Several words are needed in English to convey the idea of 'estrenar (un vestido)' and, even using them all, as a Spanish speaker, I'm always left with a sense of incomplete communication when it comes to saying 'hoy estreno vestido nuevo' in English.

@Art No idea what the problem at the other end was. It all happened so quickly! Thank you for the link. I will check it and see. I will also try Gruveo in different ways so I get to know it better in both its strengths and its downsides. As I mentioned before, it would be the ideal tool for voice chats between italki users.

@Ric Thank you for sharing your experience. I am positive that for the occasional chat on italki, most users would prefer voice calls to video calls. It would be a pity if it was precisely the voice feature the weakest one of a tool that seems, otherwise, ideal for this site.

@Art I also had problems with a student on Monday. He could hear me but I could not hear him. The connection was impressive. Even without him knowing what it all was about, we were connected instantly but then, the sound problem let us down! Are there yet a few tricks to be mastered?

In theory, Gruveo seems like the perfect tool to connect users on italki for a voice chat: fast, easy, works on the fly, no engagement (list of contacts), and a few other convenient features. But is it in fact as easy and effective as it is in theory? Is it just a matter of practice with the tool or are more advanced computer skills needed to make it work?

It would be great to have a voice chat tool like Gruveo available for getting in contact instantly on a site like this. However, the useful tool here is the voice chat (alongside a text messaging box), not the video chat, so it should be really easy to make the sound work (independently of the camera), otherwise, all the prospective usefulness of a tool like Gruveo would vanish for many of italki users. 

El disfrute de las “malas hierbas”, no. 3

Disfutar de las "malas herbas"

Todas las autoridades están de acuerdo: la [planta acuática] sativa (“purple loosestrife” en inglés) es una mala hierba que es verdaderamente mala. Es muy invasora, muy dañina para los ríos y humedales. Los ambientalistas nunca no admiten//admitirán que un estanque lleno de sativa es hermoso. Ellos prefieren la palabra “showy“ (llamativa). Sin embargo, un arroyo [totalmente] lleno, de orilla a orilla, de flores de color púrpura brillante//intenso//luminoso es un espectáculo maravilloso.

esto son correcciones

esto son sugerencias

//esto es otra opción

[esto puede quitarse del texto]

¡¡Muy bien escrito y muy bonito!!

Mi estudio de español en este momento

Me gustaría escribir de nuevo algo en español aquí. Últimamente aprendo solamente el vocabulario del curso de español que se llama (No Typing) Polyglot Spanish y que está en memrise. Tiene 6835 palabras y frases e incluso las conjugaciones de los verbos en todos los tiempos, lo que es muy útil para mí. Cuando termine este curso voy a continuar con el curso (No typing) Spanish Intermediate y me gustaría también hacer al mismo tiempo un curso de   gramática española. Alguna vez veo las noticias en TVE 24 o alguna parte del programa la Mañana de//en la 1 de TVE. Por alguna razón las últimas semanas no he tenido intercambio español-checo porque mis compañeros de intercambio no estaban en skype a la hora habitual. Voy a intentarlo mañana de nuevo por si alguno estuviera presente.

en naranja >> mejoras o sugerencias

en rojo >> correcciones

una opción//otra opción

Un texto muy bien estructurado.

@Aficionado   La cuestión, de momento, sería tener algo. Yo creo que en italki están abiertos a sugerencias. Otra cosa es que tengan otros asuntos entre manos y no puedan atender a todo. Pero, si hay un número de gente importante interesada en una determinada funcionalidad y si las propuestas que reciben so fácilmente implementables, quizás estarían dispuestos a agregar esas funcionalidades al sitio. Una vez se tiene algo, después es cuando se puede empezar a transformar o mejorar.

En fin, solo intentaba aportar mi granito de arena imaginanado algo fácil, posible y a la vez útil. Espero que haya servido aunque no sea más que como punto de partida para que alguien se anime a hacer alguna sugerencia en serio.

Gracias, de nuevo, por tu información. Me resultó interesante.

I am with Paul. I think this student was not questioning your English proficiency. Google 'real English' and spend some time surfing the language teaching or language learning related sites you will get. You will be surprised how well this new motto sells online! You will also find the concept is being used on italki.