I got a new lesson request! What do I do now?

Congratulations!

Somewhere in the world, a student is waiting for your response to know if they will have a language lesson with you! 

What should you do?

You should respond quickly so the student knows if they will have a lesson or not.

Your options are:

• Accept - If everything about it looks good, accept it to confirm that you will see the student at that requested time. 
• In addition, send a friendly message.
• Add the student to your Skype (or whichever communication tool you will use).
• Be prepared - often, students don't know what to do, so the teacher should start the call to begin the lesson on time.
• Modify - If you need to suggest a change to the price or the time, do not accept the request, but first, modify it and propose these changes. The student will have an option to cancel if he or she disagrees with your proposed change.
• Send a message so the student understands the reason for the proposed change.
• Decline - If you are unwilling or unable to teach the student, decline the request right away. Now, the student's italki Credits will be available to make a request with a different teacher.

What you should NOT do:

• DO NOT IGNORE the lesson request. This is disrespectful towards the student.
• DO NOT accept and then propose to reschedule (unless you have already talked to the student). This causes an inconvenient situation for students. Always propose changes BEFORE accepting the request.

Remember that when it's time for class, it's your responsibility to be on time and to start the lesson.

Student can schedule a lesson 12 hours in advance. Please respond to the lesson request within 48 hours or the lesson start time, whichever comes sooner.

The teacher has a maximum of 48 hours to either accept or decline a lesson (or package) request. If the teacher does not accept or decline it in 48 hours or the lesson start time, the lesson request will automatically expire and the italki Credits will be returned to the student.

Note: If the lesson request is made 12 to 48 hours ahead of the actual lesson time, the teacher will have less than 48 hours to respond to the request as it depends on the actual lesson time.