I think the best thing, is to get experience and start your own thing. I'm approaching 5 years of having my own tutoring business. It's been the best thing ever. You will get to set your own rate, choose your own hours and truly own your own life and time! I would recommend this to anyone who's serious and passionate about teaching. I'm currently based in England, however I have students mainly from Europe and a few from China. I think everyone's experience is different. Teaching English Online has been the best thing ever!
That’s really good to hear that you started your own business. And like I said my overall experience was not super bad but these were the things that happened along the way.
Do you need experience?I am able to speak & write English well plus am dedicated ,been looking into this and this is how I got to be here.Any info or assistance ?
Girl!! I have so much to say about this. EVERYTHING you said is spot on. I’ll be dropping a video soon to share my experience as well. I saw someone in comments saying they started their own business and as someone who really loves teaching online, that’s the route that I’ve decided to take as well, and so far so good! It’s the only way! 😊
I really enjoyed it too but so many of these instances were happening so it made me just want to pause it for a bit. Please let me know how your own business works out because it sounds really interesting. I had private clients outside of the website but scheduling was a bit hard.
You were spitting facts after fact..Thank you for sharing what most of us are going through.. it's so sad that in order to get students your rate has to be the lowest of the lowest..yhoooo
Eek I feel very lucky never to have experienced those inappropriate things! I've been teaching for 4 years this year, and it's never happened. But yeah the delays in payment are annoying for sure!
@ithanasaige3758 I made a playlist please check that out it’s called how to teach English Online: ru-vid.com/group/PLVMD5T1XRENWAKyKPDJJcoKseQq48eM4y&si=EOFbIY3WY32NObve
The fact that youre so honest has me. The creepy men 😮. One guy literally played with himself in secret !i was so traumatized and reported him for harrassment. Scary scary world we live in
This is sort of scary and so great for you to be honest. It confirms for me as a professional teacher looking for side hustle income, I won’t teach at a low ball rate. Don’t mind the early hours though. I will keep watching your channel for more ideas on how to improve my chances. Enjoyed the video. ❤
Hi Bradley ❤thanks for the insight and transparency, it puts a lot into perspective. I mean, predators and just mean people will always be there especially when working with people, I used to work in a clothing store for many years in management and you can imagine the threats and abuse and all nastiness i had to deal with to even an extent a person tells you you're uneducated and stupid and yet you have to still be professional and not lose your cool, so i completely understand how you felt❤ super happy that you are able to walk away from that and go on to better things now
Truthfully I would have stopped a long time ago if I got a better job but I didn’t for a while so it meant suffering through it until I could stop. To be fair my overall experience was good because I met such amazing people which I’m so happy about. But yeah you just need to be more cautious, it’s unfortunate.
Hi Auri I am a native English speaker living in Austria. Been tutoring kids, and an adult conversation group. Was thinking of teaching online, and your experience was a big eye opener ! Thank you so much for sharing. I wish you all the best From Austria 🇦🇹
This is a very informative video. I'm sorry about the weirdos you had to put up with, it's shocking how those kinds of people manage to find victims in just about every way possible. I'd never have assumed people would log onto a teaching website and be willing to pay to flash their privates to teachers, it would've been such a surprise for me. Like, go to the websites meant for that stuff?? Perverts. I hope Japan treats you well and you flourish.
I started teaching online in 2017 and the flashback omg!!! lol I had a creepy dude who would change his location and create new profiles but i could tell by his voice it was him! He always 'had a problem' with his camera and i would actually block but he'd just create a new profile. Some guys can start masturbating in the lesson, smoking, removing shirts and saying they feel too hot, the student talking on phone or eating/burping, the ones that book and cancel last minute and repeat and the whole lot i've also experienced! I laughed about hair not looking like not profile picture🤣🤣some students can even go on 20mins just talking about this!! Yes, many students from specific countries hate being corrected and can be super rude about it, it used to get me before. Luckily the platforms i've worked with have been supportive, but i do know of one which really doesn't support and teachers often receive racial slurs and there is no option to block these students. I'm still teaching online, i'm more of an introvert so it's okay, fortunately i haven't had any of these horrible encounters since 2019. I appreciate you sharing these experiences with people because it is crucial to know how it's not all sunshine!
I had responded but seems to have just disappeared! Anyway, I've used italki, Palfish, Preply, and Engoo. Since covid and the Chinese regulations many things have changed with online teaching, but it really depends on the reasons you're choosing esl. I'd recommend Engoo and Palfish as a startup, i just haven't been active on Palfish since 2020..heard it's slower now but you can still try. Engoo will require 'slave labour' if you want to make a 'decent' amount as the salary is $1.55 per 25mins..so $3.10 'per hour' so to speak. Italki you set own rate but they take a high commission, i still think it's a great platform and you can withdraw whenever you like as long as you have at least $30 in your account. The other 2 pay on time on payday. I have a profile on Preply but have only taught 1 class..i don't really like the idea of the first class being free..risky but i've kept my profile. My engoo was deactivated cos i wasn't active for a while, it can really drain you but if you need some money and are willing to put in the time then go for it! However, you don't get to choose who you want to teach or the type of lesson which can be frustrating. SkyEng is currently hiring for their talks which are 15minutes and they pay $1.60 for those 15mins. There are many sites for esl and you can try them out..just be careful as some are known to use and not pay or become difficult to pay, and others in this day and age don't believe that 'africans or black people speak English' which they may include in the rejection email....they'll tell you that the kids on their platform aren't 'ready' to see a 'non western face'🙄🙄🤨. Such companies exist but most don't care as long as you meet their requirements. Best of luck in your search!🤗@@preciouskennedy6370
Thank you so much for this. I'm an introvert and I don't mind being alone. I am so stressed about the lack of support for teaching materials, advice like in this video and feeling like the student could just watch a RU-vid video which makes me feel so useless. Also, increasing the price, is a unique preblem[not a typing error] on a certain prepform! It's a nightmare! Will italki ever open up for English tutors!😭😭😭
I'm introverted, I don't mind working alone but it's the creepiness that stresses me out. Can you set the rules on who gets the lesson for example, I want to only teach kids but not older than 16?
Hi Zuri, I think you should mention this specific company so that we don't apply to this specific dodgy company you are referring to. I have been teaching online for many years but I have never experienced most of the things you mentioned here ( well the assault, payment delay and creep students) I am so sorry for this bad experience man, it's really disheartening to hear such. Regarding the lowballing part, I experienced this but khange ndibanike chance- I'm not here to play.
The fact that some of things happened to me doesn’t necessarily mean they will happen to you but I’ve only worked for one company and it’s the only company I’ve ever spoken about. And yet again it’s not to say I had a horrible experience overall like I said my experience was good but these were the things that happened too.
@lisatom5746, if I may ask,which company are you working for?, I am busy with my TEFL course, it would be nice to choose a company that i hopefully not experience some of the things Zuri went through
Im glad italki and preply students never liked me and i ventured elsewhere where i never experienced pevs, never experienced delayed payments, just cancelation from the school that im at but im very grateful where I am now the time difference is just one hour. I dont open odd hours and I dont have to work weekends
ma'am kuningi. i made a face as i was watching this because wtf! and this is not me invalidating you, this is just me being genuilyshocked that this happens. What kind of companies are you guys working for, paying for being on a platform??!! paying for your money to be sent to you?! and just dealing with rude and perverted people. WHAAT I can agree 100% on the unstable income, the loneliness, rude people, people showing up late and not even apologizing part. I've had a guy start calling me the N word then he stopped himself before getting the "g" part and said "black people" instead and some other minor stuff compared to what you've experienced. Either than that I've been blessed. but it truly sucks to have had experienced that.
I’ve had some students from Asia call me the N word and I was so confused and I asked them then they said it’s a word they use in their country to say another word 🙂I was like mmm right 🤔 But yeah sucks sometimes
Same I want the funds for my application and I recently got hired but the salary is sooo low, it depends on the students rating, if they rate you 4 or less you get paid R25 for that lesson.
For the could should would situation, it sounds like you should have used the IPA to help the client instead of just repeating the words over so i understand why she got mad. She could have been polite about it though. Her taking her frustrations out on you was not the right thing to do.
Haibo 😮, can you look like the way you look on your profile,haibo.. I’m busy with my TEFL course,looking to finish in December so I can start teaching atleast in Jan/Feb. Thanks for the heads up hons💞 By the way,I was inspired by you to do this🥹
I'm on Preply and I'm not getting any students even though I've chatted to a few students on the platform. I've recently updated my profile and try really hard to sell myself as a great teacher but nothing works and I don't know what to do anymore.
The pervs good Lord!! The worst!! And the platforms hardly help you. And you mentioning the Americans who booked and did such, kinda makes me feel validated. It was the same with me. And not just once. Bese the platform says I should have recorded. Uhm, I'm traumatised ngapha I must record? 😮 Kanjani? I'm sorry about your experience mama. Kuzolunga 🤗.
I work online for a reputable company, they book students for you and I teach adults and have not had a single bad experience but of course the pay is not stable but I was able to do a PGCE that costs R96000 (I still owe R19 000) I live alone and pay rent in a nice room with a bathroom in the Township life is fine for me but it could get better. I a saying all this so you know its not always this bad.
I think we have had the same American Guy. If he’s a black dude from Atlanta or something, then it’s him! He did really ugly things and he quickly got blocked. 😡
Yeah you see I think we had the same guy and he smokes 🍃? Always late? Yup that’s him. But how is he still allowed to create a profile? After he has been reported so many times but many other teachers? 😕
@@ZuriAfrica I had him early this year around Jan/Feb. I’m not sure if he’s still on there. But with me he did try to use two different user accounts😳. He’s so nasty 🤮
Zuri I have been following you for along time concerning teaching English as native language you made me to live it I passed my Tefl now because it the holidays I wanted to do some videos so Dat I can send to get a job, so I listened carefully to your video then I have second thoughts, my mentor has quited then what's going to happen to me when I enter😢
I am not Zuri but I work online and have been doing so since 2020 I have an inverter and battery and so load shedding doesn't affect me I also have 2 wifi companies which are fiber so my network is not affected.