What was your worst or strangest experience with an online tutor?

[Cavesa]

nope, you cannot reach B1 in a few months

What a terrible teacher. I wonder if she really believed that, or she just wanted to stick to some crappy pre-designed plan of hers.

Most language learners suck (they take a lesson every week or three, and then do nothing or next to nothing between lessons), and most language teachers cater to students who suck. Teachers are also very used to students who come to them with ambitious goals (and occasionally impossible goals, such as becoming completely indistinguishable from native speakers), and then do nothing to achieve those goals. That being the case, it's unsurprising that some teachers come to the conclusion that all students are like that, or at least that all students who come to them are like that. (Perhaps they think that all the good ones are at Oxford or what have you.) But of course, that's a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you assume all students who come to you suck, then the ones who don't suck will run away from you. Which just goes to confirm your conviction that all students suck.

But it's not an easy job, if you think about it. You have to be patient with lazy and/or clueless students, because that's where a lot of your income comes from. But you also need to be open-minded, because every once in a while, a serious student comes your way, and those are the students you want to keep.

Oh, I have no doubts about all that! The problem was, that she had clear proves of the opposite and still treated me like a moron. The clear proves:
-I was already speaking A2ish Italian after a rather short period of self study. Prove enough of self study actually happening and working
-I said I was in medschool, so clearly much superior in study abilities to most people

The crazy part in my story was not the prejudice itself, it was keeping it in spite of the obvious proves, especially me already speaking.

I was just sharing one of the crazier tutoring stories, not asking for an explanation. As you see, it is useless.

[Cavesa]

Tutors serve the client. The client should be doing most of the talking during a lesson. The tutor should adjust the lessons as per the client needs and skills.

Well yes, but there's a bit of a disconnect when a tutor meets language learners of the type found on here on this forum. It seems to me a lot of 'students' don't want a tutor at all, but a sounding board for what they consider to already be an ideal plan. So there's going to be some friction. For good reasons or not there is less willingness to trust a tutor's ability to provide what a student seems to want. Not least because the general opinion appears to be that 'most tutors are rubbish'...yet palatable because they are cheap. Since a high-quality professional teacher wouldn't accept the likes of italki 'gig' wages. So people hire have-a-go teachers, then moan about the results. Baffling.

Considering the average autodidact believes they already know more than the teacher I'm surprised they don't send an invoice to the teacher after the lesson, with a list of spelling and pronunciation corrections enclosed for the teacher to think about and improve for the next meeting.

I have encountered very similar issues with both an Italki tutor at 15 euro per hour, and an in person "highly skilled" tutor for 120 francs per hour. It is not just a question of price unfortunately. I wish it was just about the price.

An average autodidact doesn't know more about the language, but they clearly know much more than an average teacher about learning strategies, and shouldn't be discouraged from using them in between the lessons. If the autodidact is clearly getting some results, and just wants another good tool (the teacher is just a tool, nothing less, nothing more), than the "throw it all away, it doesn't work, do just what I say" sounds like the tutor is totally dumb and disconnected from reality.

[Raconteur]

Generally speaking, I do not seek out a tutor from day one.

However, given how different Turkish is, I thought it would be a good idea to have 1h a week with a tutor in addition to my regular autodidact routine.

Thankfully, I found a wonderful tutor. However, I had two rather strange encounters before that.

First one was on the messaging stage. I made a shortlist of 4-5 tutors with good reviews in my price range that were claiming to specialize in teaching beginners, and I wrote them a quick intro. Not a novella, mind you. A really short introduction with a basic open-ended question.

You be the judge:

Hi [their name]! I'm looking for a serious tutor who can provide structured guidance - beginner level. I would be starting from zero, but plan to study independently in addition to class time.

Can you explain your process and method for working with new students (beginner level) in some detail?

I hope you don't mind the question, I'm just looking for a good fit, and do not want to waste your time on an unnecessary trial lesson.

I should add, this platform does not pay teachers for trial lessons, they only get paid if you continue on, hence that bit about determining fit ahead of time.

Anyway this is the response I got:

You can't take lessons for a low price and get great services. find another teacher

Huh? First of all, kinda strange for a tutor to openly admit they are NOT offering a "great service" ... but okay. Also, it's not like I was lowballing them or haggling - they set their own price, I didn't set it for them. This tutor is also the most expensive one I contacted, which is fairly ironic. Also, how someone like that gets a lot of good reviews is beyond me... maybe he just had a bad day?

Anyway, the others responded in a more expected manner. I scheduled a few trial lessons with the ones that seemed like the best fit. I was considering working with more than one tutor if the fit was good.

The tutor I had the most hope for was this middle-aged lady with many good reviews and claiming 13+ years of experience teaching Turkish to beginners offline and online. I didn't really want a 20 year old university kid with no teaching experience looking for some pocket money, maybe that's fine for conversation practice, but not for learning from zero imo.

Anyway, I get on the call, explain my level (zero - week 1) and general context for learning the language. First thing she does is tell me how handsome I am, and that she assumed I was much younger. Then she spends like a minute or two trying to remember how to say I must have good genes (as in, the looks and/or lack of visible ageing is hereditary). Okay, not a big deal, but kind of strange way to start.

So then she proceeds to open some images on a web browser, and ask me what various things in Turkish are.
– What is this?
– I'm sorry, I don't know many words yet
– Just try it
– I do not know
– Araba
– Okay Araba

Each time she was waiting, genuinely expecting me to know how to say tree, or apple, or tram token in Turkish. And when I kept telling her I am just starting, she said just to try it, and anyway it is about pronunciation practice. Okay, then maybe teach me pronunciation instead of making me guess words I clearly do not know?

Then she pulled up some PDF exercises (fill in the blank type) and expected me to solve them. Again I didn't have the vocab for it, and kept mentioning it to her. Clearly, I could have prepared for this lesson if she gave me a couple days heads up to go over the vocab, but on the fly, how? It was so bizarre, and I kept thinking how can this person claim to have 13+ years experience? Is the standard that low or is she lying?

Ironically, she was also comparatively expensive. Just like the first tutor I mentioned.

The funny thing is, I also gave this young guy a chance. Much cheaper than the other two, and not claiming certification etc. He very much fit the vibe of what I wrote I didn't want (kid with no teaching experience looking for some pocket money). However his profile was so positive and welcoming, and his response to my message so organized and serious, that I chose to give him a shot. He is by far the best tutor I ever had a pleasure of working with, in any language. Serious, organized, accommodating to my needs, able to explain points I do not understand in English flawlessly (his command of grammar terminology in English is better than mine, by far). And all of that at fraction of the price that the two clowns above were charging. Moral of the story, don't judge the book by its cover, I guess.

[Irena]

Anyway this is the response I got:

You can't take lessons for a low price and get great services. find another teacher

Huh? First of all, kinda strange for a tutor to openly admit they are NOT offering a "great service" ... but okay. Also, it's not like I was lowballing them or haggling - they set their own price, I didn't set it for them. This tutor is also the most expensive one I contacted, which is fairly ironic. Also, how someone like that gets a lot of good reviews is beyond me... maybe he just had a bad day?

Huh. This was probably a downwardly mobile person with fancy credentials who felt the job they were doing was beneath them and they were sour and grumpy about it. But if the reviews were good, chances are they were having a bad day on top of that. Good to hear that you found an excellent tutor in the end!

[Le Baron]

From your comments I could tell that I gave you the wrong thread. My bad; this is the one I was thinking of. As you can see, we've had this exact same argument before. If you want to add onto it, do you mind doing it in Cainntear's excellent Correction thread?

It seems in that discussion we came to a better understanding.

[Cainntear]

I think it's wrong.

I've been checkmated.

Sorry, but isn't that a bit heavy? I mean, Le Baron has made it explicitly clear that he's stating his own opinion, not presenting an objective fact. The "checkmated" thing seems to ignore the reality that differences of opinion are OK.

[Cavesa]

Anyway, I get on the call, explain my level (zero - week 1) and general context for learning the language. First thing she does is tell me how handsome I am, and that she assumed I was much younger. Then she spends like a minute or two trying to remember how to say I must have good genes (as in, the looks and/or lack of visible ageing is hereditary). Okay, not a big deal, but kind of strange way to start.

So then she proceeds to open some images on a web browser, and ask me what various things in Turkish are.
– What is this?
– I'm sorry, I don't know many words yet
– Just try it
– I do not know
– Araba
– Okay Araba

Each time she was waiting, genuinely expecting me to know how to say tree, or apple, or tram token in Turkish. And when I kept telling her I am just starting, she said just to try it, and anyway it is about pronunciation practice. Okay, then maybe teach me pronunciation instead of making me guess words I clearly do not know?

Then she pulled up some PDF exercises (fill in the blank type) and expected me to solve them. Again I didn't have the vocab for it, and kept mentioning it to her. Clearly, I could have prepared for this lesson if she gave me a couple days heads up to go over the vocab, but on the fly, how? It was so bizarre, and I kept thinking how can this person claim to have 13+ years experience? Is the standard that low or is she lying?

Ironically, she was also comparatively expensive. Just like the first tutor I mentioned.

Thanks for making me laugh! What a wonderfully weird story to share, exactly the vibe of this thread. I think this lady is a proof of a common phenomenon: lack of basic reading ability. She failed to understand "beginner" in your message. And it is also a nice example of how it should be normal to discuss the content before the lesson, to prepare.

And the compliments at the beginning sound really funny It would have been scarier, were the genders of the student and teacher reversed. But like this, it is genuinely funny

[leosmith]

I think it's wrong.

I've been checkmated.

Sorry, but isn't that a bit heavy?

My bad; it was meant to be a joke since he said it to me in one of the linked threads. Differences of opinion are certainly allowed.

[eido]

I've had several weird experiences on italki. I tend to get along better with male tutors than female, which some might find odd (being that I'm female myself, and that goes against stereotype for younger women).

I have taken lessons in a variety of languages on that site, but my focus was mainly Spanish and Korean (as you might know if you've read my many logs on this forum).

Some "interesting" Spanish tutor experiences:

• I had one guy insult me by telling me I shouldn't be watching cartoons to improve my Spanish, and I should be focusing more on "authentic" material, because I'm not a child anymore. Okay, I didn't find it half as insulting as it might come across here, as I'm pretty chill; but the way he said it with a snake-oil, slick nonchalance that would've probably gotten him punched in the face in a bar where I'm from given the wrong type of person and not me. Granted, what he said could've been taken positively: as in, maybe he thought my Spanish was quite good and maybe I should've been challenging myself with harder content. But that tone, man...
• Another guy, while in plain view of the camera, pulled out a cigarette and lit it up while we were talking and didn't miss a beat. Then after excessive banging in another room, his wife brought him dinner. Like, alright, eat dinner - but this certainly doesn't fit the pattern/schema of professionalism I'm used to.
• Now this is a little, er, funny, rather than weird. Another tutor: when I was explaining something in English to get my point across (mind you, this guy claims to have C1-C2 in it), I mentioned Scottish Gaelic, and he completely misinterpreted my words to be an inappropriate slur or come-on due to the pronunciation of "Gaelic". At the time I was concerned, since if he's an advanced speaker, he probably shouldn't be misconstruing my words even if he didn't quite get my drift.

Some "interesting" Korean tutor experiences:

• One Korean tutor (also a male), greeted me in this manner after I scheduled a class with him after a long pause, or something to this effect: "You haven't taken my classes in a while. Why?" with a bit of a nasty tone, and proceeded to kind of badger me for it.
• Another Korean tutor didn't make clear in his profile he'd only be speaking in Korean for the class, and at the time I was still very new to the language, so the whole lesson was painful. This was at the time when teachers could still leave reviews of students' progress. So when he left a review of me, he left a sort of snarky, "I don't think you're ready for my class" remark back to me - naturally in all Korean.

I'm slowly realizing I don't want to use italki, really. And these are some of the reasons why.

[leosmith]

That reminds me of another strange attempt at a lesson. I was re-learning Swahili, getting ready for a trip to Tanzania after a 20 year absence. This was early in that effort, and my Swahili sucked, but I was still able to hold a conversation. I skyped this guy from Zanzibar, which is the center of the old Swahili universe. He knew that the class was supposed to be in Swahili only. I was surprised that when he opened the camera, it was pitch black. On top of that, there was some sort of party going on with an MC using a loudspeaker, and it was very loud - way too loud to hold a class. He said his electricity was out. So I asked him if he could go outside somewhere, away from the noise, and hold the lesson there. He refused, without having an excuse, and promised to refund my money.

He refunded the money, but told italki support that I clearly was not ready to have a 100% Swahili class. Because the lesson was cancelled, that comment wasn't made public. But still, what a jerk.