That's because almost no teacher has below a 5.0 rating on italki. Most students don't actually assign 4.0 or below; they simply just stop taking lessons with that existing teacher and move on to a new one.

As a result, lesson-to-student ratio is great indicator. The higher, the better. It means that students keep coming back for more lessons. For example: I would guess that, most of the times, a teacher with 100 students and 700 lessons (ratio of 7) is "better" than a teacher with 500 students and 1,000 lessons (ratio of 2).

The best teachers that I've taken lessons with had a ratio much higher than 5, sometimes as high as 10. Pretty crazy if you think about it, because to reach a ratio of 10, it means there were lots of students who took 20-30 lessons with that teacher. And indeed, these teachers had many of the qualities that you mentioned: life experience (at least college-educated, traveled to a lot of countries, a lot of different hobbies), great at explaining complex concepts and providing examples, and charisma (smiling a lot, being non-judgmental, finding indirect and smooth ways to say no or to point out your mistakes).

On the charisma aspect, for example, one of my teachers never told me that I made a mistake in spelling or speaking; instead, she always pretended that she didn't clearly hear what I said and asked me to repeat it. I found out pretty quickly that every time she "didn't hear what I just said", I made a mistake and I need to switch the gender of the noun or conjugate the verb differently.

Another teacher, instead of saying "No, I cannot do a lesson on Monday", would say something like: "Of course we can chat on Monday, I am always happy to talk to you! I have 5 lessons that day and I also need to run to the post office to fill out some paperwork, so Tuesday is easier for you to find a time slot." It's a "no", but it's just such a smooth way to say it.

@Joe I love your answer.. Especially when you mentioned that it is based on your experience.. 😁❤️ Now, I only reply to people whom I like to reply to. Thanks for your contribution..

Like skip ad, I also skip comments.. #Peacemattersmorebecausecollagenisexpensive

@Joe the things is most students here are not long term students unless they really need it. I had students in another platform who studied with me for 3 years despite the fact that there are 10,000 teachers there. I met a lot here who stop after 10 lessons and resume after 6 months.

Some students cannot afford as well. The currency here is USD and some Asians and even Europeans find it expensive. 😁😁😁😁

Also Joe, I have met students here who study in other platforms.. Very few would stick to one platform. I know that as a teacher for 7 years because my students even tell me what other platforms they use. 😁