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| Attendance rate | 100% | 100% | 100% |
- Like a Real Classroom
italki seems almost like a real classroom, with a few exceptions.
1.) There is no talking
2.) Students give themselves assignments
3.) Students correct each other's work
4.) The teacher is mostly out of the room
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Would real school be better if it was like italki?
August 28, 201600 The short answer is: You won't know until you speak with them.
There are a number of systems for measuring ESL skill level. They assign numbers to skill levels. Some use 6 levels, some 8, some more. Each level has a test. Each system has different tests. It is complex. And then there is the matter of self-tutoring. When we are our own teacher, it is easy to give ourselves an A.
I don't have this problem. :-) My own knowledge of other languages is so small that everybody knows more that I do!
0 votedAugust 28, 20160Laura, I teach them for free. I do this for dozens of reasons I won't go into here. There is a common belief that if a thing is free, it has no value. Many feel that the more you pay, the better quality you will get. It is a normal opinion. It is sometimes true and sometimes not. We say, "You can pay as much as you want."
As a native speaker of English and an educated man, I can tell you that the average literacy rate in the US has been dropping for 30 years. Asking random passers-by to correct and advise you on such a complex and confusing language as English might not lead to the results you are seeking. If you have no basis of comparison, as most here do not, you might not see any problem.
If you're happy with what you're doing, keep doing it. :-)
0 votedAugust 28, 20160- "A regular guy" is an expression that goes back to the 1930s. It means more than just "ordinary" or "average." It means he can be relied on, because he is just like us. He is not pretentious. "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" is an expression that relates to mathematics. It is a statement made by Aristotle.0 votedAugust 28, 20160
- Old Hippie Words
To become a legitimate part of English, new words don't need to be useful, necessary or appropriate. They only need to be popular. As a result, sometimes words we don't need become accepted.
In the 60s, hippies used the word "do" to refer to consuming drugs. "I did a joint" or "Let's do a pipe" were common expressions. The word became so common that by the early 90s, a new government anti-drug campaign said "Do sports, not drugs!" Since my education was traditional, I've never used the word as it is used today. We play baseball or football. We swim or run. We do not "do sports."
"Into" is another hippie slang word that never went away. "I like" or "I take an interest in" would have said the same thing, but to target a youthful reader or listener I might say into instead. "I'm not really into vegetables."
The lexicographers at the OED are the ones who select new words for inclusion in the Dictionary. Their decisions are based on usage, not on need or value. The dictionary is invaluable, but judgement is also needed. Using old hippie slang at a business meeting might not get the results you want.
August 28, 201600 - Proofreading, Editing and Teaching
A proofreader checks for spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar errors. An editor makes changes in your sentence and paragraph structure to improve the quality of your writing. Neither a proofreader nor an editor teaches you anything. They only make corrections.
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A teacher helps you learn spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar so that you can write correctly in the future. A teacher helps you learn to improve the quality of your own writing. Only a teacher can explain the reasons for the corrections. If you don't learn the reasons, you will make the same mistakes over and over.
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Don't expect to learn much by asking others to make corrections.
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August 27, 201661
