italki Help | Help / Student Schedule a Session

Once you've seen a teacher (or two) that you think would be a good fit, then you should try to contact them.

In order to minimize surprises and misunderstandings, we do recommend that students try to at least contact the teachers through italki email or through chat ahead of time. Some teachers will even offer a free first lesson. This allows the students and the teachers to assess if they would be a good match.

Here is what a Session Request looks like:

italki recommendations

Please check to make sure you are satisfied with the teacher price. In addition, if you are a beginner and are expecting the teacher to do the lesson in your native language, please check what language the lesson will be conducted in.

Please check to make sure your teacher is available at the time you request. Given that many teachers are not in the same time zone as you, it is important to check the schedule to see if there is a time that is more convenient or both sides.

italki recommends using Skype, a very popular voice and video chat software in the United States and many other countries. It is free for computer to computer, video and audio calls. Many users also use MSN or Yahoo. Since italki is not responsible for the quality of the connection, it is important that both teacher and student use the best communication tool they have.

Once you hit send, you will send your lesson proposal to the teacher. The lesson still needs to be confirmed by the teacher. Sometimes a teacher may be very busy, or have other reasons why he or she cannot teach you at that time. If the lesson is confirmed, then you and the teacher have agreed to have a lesson on italki!

Next: Lesson Packages