I noticed that some new English learners have “send writing in English” on their profile.
Could it be that they do not realise it means having native or near native status?
Could be that they are simply specifying the language in which they want to hear from others?
Is there a way to make the section clearer within the profile settings?
One reason could be that new members don’t understand the description.
Another reason could be that members think they can do it.
Anyway, now students have to be very careful to whom you speak, or to whom they submit writings. It’s in the hand of the student to choose the tutor.
You may have a point and we will see what Mark thinks. Yes, Vera is right, we have to choose our tutors with a little care. There are native speakers offering services that might help some people but not others.
I suggest to make a special site for tutor settings. That would make it more clear.
Today I saw a profile with horrible English, and the settings were “correct English”. The member signed up 3 or 4 days ago.
We can’t really prevent people from tutoring in specific languages short of having an approval process. For the most part, users will have to use the information they have available to make an informed decision about which tutor to try. We did add the Native Language indicator and country flag to help with this in addition to the writing corrected and conversations hosted numbers. We have not heard from members disappointed with the tutoring they have received so we have to assume that the system is working. There are going to be people offering to tutor in languages they are not native in.