Reading English Stories to Children

[Eteachernumber1]

I was recently offered a gig reading English stories to children 1-1, and for the money it seems to good to be true,. Has anybody else ever done anything like this in China?

[Lu]

I haven't, but things that seem too good to be true usually are. Is there a chance (/danger) the father/mother/other family member of this child is interested in more than just your reading? Will you be alone in their house? Or is it just a matter of sky-high expectations with a salary to match?

[Eteachernumber1]

They are a colleague of mine at the school I work for. She briefly introduced herself to me in-front of my girlfriend (also a colleague) and made me the offer. She has offered to drive me to her house after school where I will read stories in English, books provided. Seems very nice, middle aged. Judgement call?

[ChTTay]

Just do it. If it’s literally just reading stories then it’s an easy gig. 

[Eteachernumber1]

Well there's no contract so if it's anything other than what I've been told I can just quit anyway.

[Lu]

1 minute ago, ChTTay said:

If it’s literally just reading stories then it’s an easy gig.

And if it's literally anything else you're in an unknown location without your own transportation.

 

Yah, judgment call, this might be paranoid of me. Also I don't know what 'too good to be true' means for you, for all I know you're underestimating the value of a good English reader and it's perfectly reasonable. Make sure you have all the information though: address (and then look up bus or metro lines to and from there), number of children, number of hours to be worked, full name of the colleague who hired you... No need to make it a second-degree interrogation, but make sure you have all this, and the means to bail, even if the worst that happens is that the kid is total brat.

 

Good luck, let us know how it went!

[ChTTay]

Definitely way too paranoid! 

 

The person works with the OP and offered a ride there. 

 

If theyre all colleages, take your gf too the first time. 

[Eteachernumber1]

I think it works out to be 150RMB per half an hour session and I'll deliver 4 consecutive sessions. You're right to be cautious, even if you've freaked me out a little bit!

ChTTay, I was thinking to do that exact thing.

[Shelley]

The only thing I would say that if it doesn't work out or its "something else?" how would it be having to go back to your day job and have to have them as a work colleague?

 

Might be a bit awkward, maybe?

[889]

By nature I'd be cautious here: the offer was structured so that he couldn't practically say no.

[imron]

1 hour ago, Eteachernumber1 said:

Seems very nice, middle aged. Judgement call?

Seems like well-off parents wanting to give their child a leg-up in English.

 

Personally, if you have the time I'd take her up on the offer with the caveat that it's reading stories only, not helping the child with homework or essay writing, that the time is fixed (2 hours per session, no over or under), that you will not be expected to do preparation or provide stories, and that you want to try it once before committing to do it long term (and then if that works out, say you'll do it for a trial period of 2 weeks or a month or whatever before coming to a permanent decision).

 

This sort of thing happened to me all the time, and the biggest thing you'll have to take care of is setting (and enforcing) limits - otherwise all your time will get taken doing this because demand for your services will likely exceed supply.  I valued my time more than the money, so I turned almost all offers down.  15 years later (and long after I stopped teaching English), I'm still in semi-regular contact with one of the families that I did accept and their now grown up child, so it can be a good way to get to know and make local friends.

[imron]

20 minutes ago, 889 said:

so that he couldn't practically say no.

That's the perfect opportunity to practice the Chinese 'no' - where you provide a non-committal assurance to think it over, and keep providing non-committal responses until the person making the request gets the hint.

[roddy]

51 minutes ago, Eteachernumber1 said:

I'll deliver 4 consecutive sessions

That sounds a bit like they're getting the neighbourhood parents to send their kids over. I'd not be overly cautious, it sounds like it might be a nice easy gig, but what I would be wary of is perceived obligations. Maybe they assume you'll do this indefinitely, make promises accordingly, and then put pressure on you when you try and quit in a couple of months, etc. Which is fine in a simple employer-employee relationship, you just say no and walk, but if it's friends and co-workers...

 

I'd manage expectations - be clear if you're trying it out once, or if you're willing to do this until Spring Festival, or.... etc. 

[ChTTay]

Yeah, as Imron, I got a lot of these offers over the years. One was literally just to hang out with their student and speak English. I did that one and we just ended up messing around with video games, throwing a ball about etc for a couple of hours a week. They were a middle school student with pretty decent English anyway. 

 

As above, set some limits and it’ll be fine. 

 

For the awkwardness with colleagues, the fact is most tutoring work people end up getting is through contacts (colleagues, your students parents, your friends of friends) so this is always a risk. If you didn’t take it you wouldn’t end up with work though. 

[imron]

1 hour ago, roddy said:

That sounds a bit like they're getting the neighbourhood parents to send their kids over

If this is the case, I imagine they're probably charging the other parents 200 RMB per session.  This mean you are teaching their child plus 3 others, and the 50 RMB difference between what they charge the other parents and what they pay you conveniently covers the 150 RMB cost of their own child's session