How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random stranger in English?

Posted by charlie0077 on Sunday August 16, 2020 @06:55PM
from the self-post dept.

There are a lot of people(most of them kids) in Asia are trying to practice English. And I just learned that a typical 1v1 chatting service may cost more than $30 per hour. I built a quick MVP to offer these people a more affordable option, the idea is basically this: creating a marketplace that native speakers(instructors) and learners can meet and match. You can kind of consider it as "Uber of speaking English". I am trying to figure out what would be a good price suggestion that I should have in the website. Currently I am thinking around $25 per hour.

The website is: app.lingwu.ai BTW, if you want to earn some part time money, or just chat with people from the other countries, try signing up!!

( 13 comments | 4 points | on HN )

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by gus_massa on Sunday August 16, 2020 @07:11PM (#24182193)

Perhaps you should change the title. This looks more like a promotion of your site than a question. It is fine to post your stuff here, but if it looks like you are trying to disguise it, someone will complain.

How much do you get from the call?

There is no landing page. If I go to your site, it is only a signup form. No way I'm creating an account without at least a few nice graphics.

Can I select between British English and American English?

Can I filter by topics? Can I select someone to talk about movies, or about books, or about cooking? (Is this a common feature in other sites?)

How do you prevent abuse from the users? How do you prevent that this is trnasformed into a webcam porn site?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by charlie0077 on Sunday August 16, 2020 @07:58PM (#24182448)

Hi, thanks for all your comments.

All the things you mentioned totally make sense. I do have a landing page. This is to quickly see the other people's thoughts and validate the idea.

Eventually it would be topic based and/or algorithm driven. But for now, it would be manual, it just takes time and effort to build everything. I am doing this for free and for fun.

I have not thought about the abuse issue, looks like a pretty big and valid concern.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by gus_massa on Sunday August 16, 2020 @08:18PM (#24182545)

I found that if I remove app from the link you posted, I go to the landing page. Perhaps you should add some decoration to the signin page, and a link to the main page.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by LoSpietato on Sunday August 16, 2020 @07:28PM (#24182289)

Turn on a English radio broadcast it is free and you learn every day English like a native speaker

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by charlie0077 on Sunday August 16, 2020 @08:00PM (#24182459)

A lot of people in Asian countries can read, listen, write, but not able to speak. They don't have the environment to practice.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by verdverm on Sunday August 16, 2020 @08:09PM (#24182491)

Could you offer a spectrum or market (where I can set my price) and see what happens?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by ignoranceprior on Sunday August 16, 2020 @10:21PM (#24183263)

I might sign up, are there any "customers" currently?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by sarcasmatwork on Sunday August 16, 2020 @07:11PM (#24182190)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by charlie0077 on Sunday August 16, 2020 @08:03PM (#24182474)

hmm, thanks for the input

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by sarcasmatwork on Tuesday August 18, 2020 @03:23PM (#24203134)

Not trying to be a dick, but being honest. Saturated market imho. Free apps out there already where both parties get to learn. HelloTalk is an example.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by db48x on Sunday August 16, 2020 @07:28PM (#24182292)

Personally I'd be so annoyed by random strangers calling me that it would take at least $1000/hr to make me sign up. Good luck though.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by charlie0077 on Sunday August 16, 2020 @08:03PM (#24182469)

Hmm, thanks for the info. Just to clarify, it will be appointment based, and you will go to a meeting link similar to zoom meeting. They will never call you directly, neither do they know your contact info. You can cancel the appointment anytime if you don't like talking to that person.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How much would you charge per hour to speak to a random s... by db48x on Sunday August 16, 2020 @09:14PM (#24182847)

That sounds like an entirely reasonable way to do it.

[ Parent | on HN ]