Recently, I've started using:

http://www.japonin.com/

Good Points:
1. It's cheap - from $5-$10 for a 50 minute lesson
2. You can pick whatever class you want to take given their schedule
3. They have JLPT-type classes if you want to review/practice grammar, reading, or vocabulary
4. If you get lucky, like I did tonight, there were no other students and you get a one-on-one lesson on the cheap
5. You can try a pack of 3 lessons for less than $10 to see if it works for you
6. Good for practicing pronunciation - especially when you hear other foreigners speak more fluently than you

Bad Points:
1. From Tokyo, I lose audio about 5% of the time (they can't hear me, but I can hear them)
2. Besides the teacher, only one other person can talk at a time

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For those who want the flexibility of self-study, but the encouragement of a classroom environment, this service might be useful. After trying a couple lessons, I just bought a 50 lesson flexpack.

I like self-study, but I like the classroom interaction to drive me forward (all input all the time drives me a little nuts).

I considered them at one point, but didn't think it'd be worth the money somehow. I see you've done a couple lessons... Can you describe what they were like? I'd also like to hear what you think of it after a month or so. I know I've been gungho about things and turned out I didn't think so much after a month of them.

Thanks

Interesting, and thanks for the info. Do the individual teachers make up the lesson content or are they teaching out of a book? Also, do the teachers generally try to engage students in dialogue or is it more of the listen-and-repeat style?

To tag along with wccrawford's comment, I'd also be interested in seeing how you feel about it in a month or so. IMO, the price is quite good if you get even fair results.

I tried about 25 of those lessons last year, it sounded really good, but in the end I stopped doing them.

Because there is no placement test i.e. anyone can join any lesson they want, you end up with people of all different levels in the class (or that`s what I found anyway). I was taking JLPT 2 classes, but there were people in there who couldn`t read basic kanji/know basic vocab, and would slow the class right down.

I must admit, if you get a lesson where your the only one in it (happened to me once), it`s really fun and I enjoyed practicing my speaking with the teacher, however a usual class consists of a short vocab quiz, reading a few sentences with the lessons grammar points, and making up a sentence or two. The thing that stood out to me also, was that if someone was speaking and got something wrong, they wern`t corrected! In short, there was nothing there that I couldn`t of done myself out of a textbook. (They follow the Kanzen Master books). Oh, and I had numerous other issues with Firefox/lag/sound etc...

I don`t mean to rant, but I do think it`s better for anyone to try a few lessons first, and see if it`s worth the money to them or not.

deathspi is right - it really depends on what your needs are - if you are a hard-core into self-study, then maybe this kind of service isn't as useful.

My personal problems with self-study are:

1. I don't get feedback from a native speaker
2. Keeping up the motivation consistently
3. I get too cocky thinking I know something - in contrast, after a lesson, I realize how much I >still< don't know and it really encourages me to study harder

For JLPT, they use the Kanzen Master books for grammar, the Unicom books for vocabulary, and some other standard texts. During the lesson, the teacher uses material from the books, but also has other related material which is very useful. I think, for correction, they may have tightened up on the teachers - my reading mistakes were all corrected. But if the teacher had to correct all my conversational errors, the lesson would not move along, so I think it's a good compromise.

deathspi is also right about not having requirements for the classes: it's a double-edged sword. I also feel the price is good for the quality of instruction, the flexibility, and the level of technology. A live group lesson in Tokyo costs 3-4 times as much. If you look at it from the company's perspective, they may be losing money on classes where only one or two students attend (I don't think you can pay a certified teacher $8 for 50 minutes of instruction and the time it takes to prepare a lesson).

But if you are interested, just try their 3 classes pack.

It's definitely not for everyone, but for me, it gives me what I want from classroom learning without being forced into a rigid schedule.

I'll periodically post my experiences here in case people are interested.