The vacatiion and the Skype

The vacation came at last, and then I remembered why I came to Italki. A long time ago I read about language exchange. It thought it was a good idea to speak with a native English speaker, helping each other along the way. However, immediately after my registration on this site I ran out of time. Later I could only write the bare minimum of some small texts in the italki notebook from time to time.

However, two days ago I had a lot of time. The first step was then (signify a succession in your list of events) to install a software for conversing with my language partners (this makes the sentence a little less ambiguous). It seemed that Skype is the most popular application. However, I heard complaints from people that Skype has became huge (use present perfect because past perfect refers to an action that occurred before another action) and is now (the now is added optionally for emphasis, to indicate a change from before) eating too much of computer resources. Since I use a laptop bought ten years ago, I decided to download the older version 3.8 of Skype.

The program was installed quickly. I became cheerful and excited anticipating the first conversation with a native speaker. I opened italki and sent a message to a person who had the same level in Russian as I had in English. No answer. I tried to write to another person. The result was the same. I wrote to approximately ten native English speakers sequentially. I received only one answer (which was a very kind refusal).

And then it suddenly dawned upon me: there are many Russians learning English. I am part of a majority. Every native English speaker already speaks with some Russian speakers. Nobody need more than two or three interlocutors.

As a result, I have a nice but now useless Skype on my computer. Fortunately, the 3.8 version does not occupy much room on my hard disk.

I am sorry for what happened, unfortunately I do not speak Russian, I do hope you find someone soon though! It takes time, but good things come to those who wait! :)

Your English is pretty good, keep working at it, with or without a conversation partner, and I'm sure you'll be able to improve yourself while waiting! :)

The vacation and the Skype

The vacation came at last, and then I remembered why I had come to Italki. A long time ago I have read about language exchange. It seemed was a good idea to talk with a native English speakers and to help each other. However, immediately after the registration on this site I ran out of time???. Later I could occasionally write maximum at most some small brief entries texts in the italki notebook from time to time. (were you using a smartphone with limited data connection?)

However, two days ago I was given had got a lot of internet time. The My first step was to install a software for talking. It seemed that the most popular application is Skype. However, the people complained that Skype had became huge and eating too much of computer resources. Since I use a laptop bought ten years ago, I decided to download an old version 3.8 of Skype.

The program was installed quickly. I became was happy cheerful and excited anticipating the my first talk session with a native speaker. I opened italki and sent a message to a person who had the same level in Russian as I have in English. No answer. I tried to write to another person. The result was the same. I wrote to approximately ten native English speakers one after another sequentially. I received only one answer (a very kind refusal).

And then it suddenly dawned upon me: there are many Russians learning English, and much fewer English speakers learning Russian. We are in a majority. Every native English speaker already talks with some Russian speakers. Nobody needs more than two or three exchange partners interlocutors.

As a result, I have a nice but useless (not true not true!) Skype on my computer. It is good that the 3.8 version does not occupy much room on the disk. 

That must be an old and under-resourced laptop indeed if you worry about one small program!