Спасибо!

Unfortunately, by just talking to natives you won't really LEARN English. It's a good way to refine skills or to activate your vocabulary, but as a way to learn, not so great. Learning requires instruction. Any ol' Jo on Skype is not going to explain to you the finer points of grammar or the nuances of a word or context or why with an article a sentence means one thing and without something else entirely. One, he probably doesn't know the real answer and two, he probably doesn't want to tell you because that's boring and he is there to chat and have fun.

Right, so how do you think this guy/girl is going to teach you English? The idea that a person can "pick a language up" is a fallacy. You either need instruction or you need to be the kind of person who is going to give yourself mini lessons everytime you come across something you dont know or which gives you difficulty. I mean come on, how many Russians can I count which have told me that they lived in the US or England for X amount of years and they think their English is really good so they have decided to work as translators/editors/teachers? - I already can't count these fools on my 20 fingers and toes. Their English is at best, intermediate in most cases because they were not learning, but surviving. And the language you "pick up" from everyday conversation is normally no better than they half-literate language most native speakers use every day. The same goes for expats living here in Russia. We don't learn Russian by talking to the average folks on the street. That way we learn the mistakes and the illiterate constructions of the average Russian (and negrammotnost is rampant in Russia). Those of us who know know Russian have learned it by receiving instruction and by researching the meaning of words and the correctness of constructions we have heard from the average bloke.
Akh, I have gone off on a rant. But you get my point. Just opening up a Skype account and chatting with people is not going to help this person LEARN English.

Supa hasn't said anything in English on this 'vetka'.

I think that those 'Skype learners' don’t want any explanations. If they really did they would have long since found them. The sources are many. The reasoning behind learning English through Skype goes as follows – now I will be able to talk talk TALK and blast those boring grammarians. Because most people are lazy and they want learning to speak to be as effortless as it was in their childhood when moms, dads, grannies were running around them cooing, giving them toys, endlessly repeating the names for different things and asking “Oh, look, what do we have here?”. And then they would gradually pick it all up and put it together.
But Scype won’t put them back in those blissful days. And they will find out that they are back to the square one – the only difference being the location of the teacher.

Actually, some Skype learners have no choice. For some languages, you really do need to go the way of Skype. Beyond that, some of them are very serious - with text books and audio and video chat. And they actually do pay for their lessons (PayPal) - that's the amazing part.

People who are not going to bother making the call and are going to just type as if they were on ICQ are a different story - they will find that they will get nowhere.

Well of course.
All I meant was that some Skype learners are more serious than a lot of people think. And for that matter, the teachers are more serious than most people think.

That's what I am talking about. That is why I told Supa that you can't just suggest that they open up a Skype account and add a bunch of native speakers. They need to find a real teacher (on Skype or off) who can TEACH them.

Susan, hi ))

Sergei, HI!

Nina79, if I wish to practice sex with someone and are willing to pay for it, it doesn't imply I need (or want) to be taught.
___________________
Is there any point in this conversation?

Serge
My rant was accidental. I must be having a slow day at work today. :)

Shumov
Touche!
But I discerened this more from the context around things. But still, touche! The birdie to you!

then just look closer at the post:

"Serge1985 7.08.2009 17:02 link
Nina79
and if he/she just wants to reactivate his/her passive vocabulary?"

that's the idea I pointed to as I have the same reason to use Skype speech practicing.

Because before offering advice on how to ‘practice language skills’ it’s a good idea to have at least some understanding of the goals.

The asker said the person is willing to pay - i take this to mean that they are looking for a teacher. How my discussing why I think what I think is 'uporstvo' I'm not really sure. Am I supposed to just say "Oh, yeah, oh, sorry, yes master" because someone else interpreted something another way? I don't think so, love.

As for the active/passive vocabulary - yes, you know the theory, but do you know how most things work in reality?

PS
Рад Вас приветствовать

PPS
Коллеги, какой смысл спорить, если аскер не появляется и не уточняет детали?

Isn't that what this thread is all about - 'practicing language skills' ? ?
Or whatever people mean by that.

You asking me? If so, than no, this thread is not about that. Try and guess waht it is really about though...

nephew,
и как назло (и как всегда) на самом интересном месте!

Nephew
7 years
And yes, I was working. Is that a crime? :)

No, you are not supposed to.say that. I must add, however, that "somebody" did not _interpret_ anything in _any_ way, until _you_ started interpreting something in some way :). You did it by making conclusions about "the guy actually wants to learn and not practise", "they are looking for a teacher" etc.

I do not mean that your interpretation is necessarily wrong. I always prefer, however, to start with the most durect meaning of the request. In this case, that direct meaning was just "The person wants to practice". As far as his willingness to pay is concerned... I sometimes start thinking I will probably pay membersip fees and join some club attended by, say, bank lawyers, or information security peofessionals, simply because I want to refresh my knowledge in the respective areas, to listen to some interesting real-life examples for analysis, etc..I do not need a banking law teacher though.

To make it short, I am with Shumov on this one.

Actually, I wasn't asking you. I knew the answer before you entered this thread.
I’ve heard and seen enough of this ‘drive to practice’ in my life to be able to draw my own conclusions.

Совсем не хочу обидеть вашего знакомого. Он вполне может быть и счастливым исключением. Чего ему и желаем ;)

Так может быть просто взять учителя?

Нсчет скайпа - чтобы быть независимым от "географических моментов" - сам скайп рекомендует для изучения языка по (видео) телефону фирму http://www.toniks.com/russian.php

"Все преподаватели – носители преподаваемого языка, обладающие опытом обучения иностранцев.

...

Цена занятий зависит от гибкости расписания. Даже если у вас очень интенсивный график работы, мы составим расписание, которое вам подойдет. Мы оставляем возможность перенести урок на другое время даже за несколько минут до его начала. Минимальная цена занятия 57$ за час."

Мне кажется, столь глобальные віводі неуместны, особенно на фоне того, что
Совсем не хочу обидеть вашего знакомого.

А, вот, чтобы разговаривать сносно – как минимум год регулярных ! тренировок. И то при очень хороших предпосылках. В среднем – два-три, думаю. Ну, тут правда еще нужно смотреть, на какие темы человек хочет разговаривать и что хочет сказать. Если просто на уровне «бразильских» сериалов, то, наверное, меньше.

А то некоторые думают, что если они все понимают, то уже все. Ан, неет. Таких, которые все понимают, а сказать не могут, полно на самом деле. ))

Сможете заниматься с учителем, и тратить деньги на обучение адекватно. Чтобы понять как это работаете, юзаните в режиме теста это приложение.

особое спасибо Zelenskiy - ваш ответ вернул его из незаслуженного забвения

Не знаю, что это, но судя по отзывам у них довольно неплохая репутация, будет желание, протестируйте.
С ув. Я.

"бывает, что искажается голос или нельзя разобрать, что тебе говорят. Плюс отсутствие зрительного контакта. В общем, чередовать с другими формами занятий можно, а в чистом виде это будет неполноценно."

Ну, я, например, обучаю одного своего знакомого по скайпу. Ничего. Если скорость И-нета нормальная и ни картинка, ни звук не виснут, то все ОК - и видно, и слышно, и все объяснить можно. Просто преподавание по скайпу имеет свои особенности в плане использования ресурсов - упор логичнее делать на эл.ресурсы - сайты BBC и т.п. Но, в общем, вполне можно приспособиться. :)

А уж с носителями тем более. Если носитель физически живет далеко от студента, то, по-моему, скайп - хорошая возможность. :)