English Speaking Class

[lrumin94]

Hello, I was recently asked to help a kid practice his English conversational skill and I was wondering how much the pay should be. I have no idea about these sort of thing and am hoping that someone here knows the answer. I have yet to meet with the mother but she seems relatively pleased by my lack of Chinese skill (to my dismay, also in my defense, it's the accent), really assuring her that my English speaking skill is really good for a non-native speaker (although I'd say I'm practically a native speaker minus the passport).

 

Please help! I'm rather clueless. 

 

Other info:

12 year old kid

Shanghai

口语课

[ChTTay]

It doesn't sound like you're a teacher or have experience. Just suggest what you think is worth it for you to spend the time to do it.

 

At the very least 200rmb but they would probably not be surprised if you haggled. Just say 400-500 and see what they say. 

[lrumin94]

Is this gonna be per hour?

[DavyJonesLocker]

1 hour ago, ChTTay said:

It doesn't sound like you're a teacher or have experience. Just suggest what you think is worth it for you to spend the time to do it

 

Does it make any real difference though?

Seems like perception is the biggest thing in China. 

[ChTTay]

I think about it like this... 

 

if I wasn’t qualified or had no idea what I was doing I wouldnt feel that comfortable asking for 1000rmb an hour. 

 

Yeah, perception... so that means they can say that their tutor is a native speaker, a fully qualified teacher who works at “x” amazing international school. That’s when the big money comes in. At least here in Beijing. Then there are different levels of that depending how rich they are. As you might be alluding do, sometimes it just

boils down to country and race for some parents. 

[ChTTay]

11 hours ago, lrumin94 said:

Is this gonna be per hour?

 

Yeah, per hour

[DavyJonesLocker]

37 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

I think about it like this... 

 

if I wasn’t qualified or had no idea what I was doing I wouldnt feel that comfortable asking for 1000rmb an hour. 

 

Yeah, perception... so that means they can say that their tutor is a native speaker, a fully qualified teacher who works at “x” amazing international school. That’s when the big money comes in. At least here in Beijing. Then there are different levels of that depending how rich they are. As you might be alluding do, sometimes it just

boils down to country and race for some parents.

 

Yeah agree.

 

I get offered up to 1000 for an hour to teach English. I never do it as I'm not qualified in teaching English .

I just get offered high amounts because I have a good work CV and academic qualifications but nothing related to languages. Also I'm tall white native speaker. 

A guy I know did a master's in linguistic but would struggle to get even a job because he's not a native speaker and is not white.  Shame 

 

[abcdefg]

Why don't you just offer to do it for free?

[NinjaTurtle]

On 7/28/2018 at 6:45 AM, lrumin94 said:

I was wondering how much the pay should be.

 

Another thing to consider is how many months/years you would want to teach this student. For some parents they will want to to teach their student forever, or for as long as you are in that city. Something to consider. Even if you make 'enough' money at it, a couple of years from now you may not want to teach him/her any more. Perhaps say something like, "Let's try it for a year."?

[lrumin94]

11 hours ago, ChTTay said:

Yeah, perception... so that means they can say that their tutor is a native speaker, a fully qualified teacher who works at “x” amazing international school. That’s when the big money comes in. At least here in Beijing. Then there are different levels of that depending how rich they are. As you might be alluding do, sometimes it just

boils down to country and race for some parents. 

 

Perception is such a big thing in Shanghai as well. I've seen my friends getting rejected for ESL teaching jobs just because they don't look Caucasian. I've also had troubles because I'm Chinese born in another country, I look too local for them.

 

2 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Why don't you just offer to do it for free?

 

This did not even cross my mind. I live off of my parents' money and I'd like to use as little of it as possible. If I can find a source of income, it means I can feel less guilty using my parents' moolah. Hahaha, I do help some people for free, but I don't think I'd want to do this for free.

 

11 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

I get offered up to 1000 for an hour to teach English.

 

I would be over the moon if I got offered that much! I can't help but convert RMB to my country's currency and that whole hour is practically half of my monthly salary. That is insane!

 

36 minutes ago, NinjaTurtle said:

Another thing to consider is how many months/years you would want to teach this student. For some parents they will want to to teach their student forever, or for as long as you are in that city. Something to consider. Even if you make 'enough' money at it, a couple of years from now you may not want to teach him/her any more. Perhaps say something like, "Let's try it for a year."?

 

I'll be there in September up until January next year. A year is too long but, this is indeed important to consider. I just want to earn some extra cash for my living expense so I don't use my parents' money too much. Thanks!

[NinjaTurtle]

Irumin,

 

I do not teach English as a side-job, but I would not even consider anything less than 500 RMB an hour. (But, yes, I do benefit from being Caucasian.)

 

Would you have to walk to the student's house or take the subway or bus? Would he/she come to your apartment? All of this counts.

 

 

[lrumin94]

10 hours ago, NinjaTurtle said:

Would you have to walk to the student's house or take the subway or bus? Would he/she come to your apartment? All of this counts.

 

We're in the same district so I'll be going to their place. It is quite a bit of commute though. It's a good thing we're on the same line. 500 RMB sounds pretty neat but since I'm Asian it pains me to say that I MAY have to go lower. I'll definitely try to go for 500 RMB when I meet up with the mother. Since they wanted someone to speak English to the son, I told them my IELTS score and she was very pleased with it. I'm hoping this could give me leverage. 

[NinjaTurtle]

Irumin,

 

I want to give you lots of encouragement. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

 

53 minutes ago, lrumin94 said:

It is quite a bit of commute though.

 

Since it sounds like it is a 'long' commute, keep this in mind as you stick to your guns about 500 RMB. Remember you are getting 'paid' from the time you walk out the door of your apartment until you get back home. This justifies the 500 RMB an hour because you are 'on the job' more than just the one hour. (If the son was coming to your apartment that would make things a whole lot different.)

[lrumin94]

28 minutes ago, NinjaTurtle said:

 

I want to give you lots of encouragement. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

 

Thank you so much! Hopefully I'd have a bit of time coming back to this forum when I get back to Shanghai. I really wanted to continue posting here since September but realized that I tend to only come here whenever I'm back home. BUUUUT, thank you so much for the encouragement! Looking forward to new experiences!