It’s finals week at our house, so we didn’t go on any adventurous hikes. But since last week’s post mentioned search engine optimization, or SEO, it made me take a closer look at the blog’s stats this week. (That may sound really boring, but just hear me out.)
When I blog, I try to adhere to some basic SEO recommendations, but I’m not aiming for the #1 spot on Google searches for any particular search. This blog isn’t going to make me rich, either. I dabbled in the Amazon Affiliate program early on, but I wasn’t good enough at it to keep my affiliate status after the initial probationary period.
After I hit “Publish,” I use Google Analytics to see how many people are reading in real-time throughout the rest of that first day. I don’t usually dive into analytics, even though there’s a wealth of information available to me. In fact, I freaked out my mother-in-law by texting her while she was reading my post. It included a screen shot of a dot right over her town. She called me Big Brother.
Even though the majority of our readers are subscribers (who are close friends and family), I do get some organic traffic through internet searches. I noticed that those readers find me through my Palfish post where I talk about teaching English as a second language (ESL) to Chinese children.
Then, this morning as I was about to disconnect from a 3 year old trial student, she blew me a kiss and my heart almost exploded. That’s when I thought, I’ve been teaching for a year and a half and I still enjoy it. I should give an update!
Over one year ago, I blogged about how I’d just started teaching English to Chinese kids. Looking for a way to make some extra travel money, I earned a TESOL certificate (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) and began a new chapter in our lives. And boy, was it a hot mess at first.
Starting out, there was no consistency to my schedule. Because of this, I didn’t wake up in time for a few of my classes. One time, I logged in a half hour early to familiarize myself with the lesson, only to find out that the child and his parents were doing the same thing. I panicked and taught the class anyway causing me to get fined since I wasn’t teaching at the scheduled time. Instead of giving up like I wanted to, I stuck it out. Over a thousand hours later, I’m still getting up before sunrise to teach English.
How Does It Work?
The company I teach for is called Palfish. When I started looking for an ESL opportunity, I researched a dozen or so companies and applied to about five. Palfish was the first to hire me, and a couple of things made them stand out from the others.
- Palfish doesn’t require a degree, just a TESOL or TEFL certificate that I obtained from Groupon for less than $20.
- They don’t require a contract like many others do.
- Teachers don’t have to wear a headset.
- You teach from a phone or tablet versus a desktop or laptop’s webcam.
That last one seemed a bit strange to me, until I realized that this attracts people with a nomadic lifestyle. As long as you have a reliable internet connection, you can teach from anywhere!
I’ve compiled some of the frequently asked questions I get.
What time do you have to wake up?
3:15 am. This is the #1 question I get. During the week, I teach from 4 to 6 am. My alarm goes off at 3:15 am. That gives me a good 20 minutes or so to hit snooze and really start to come around. Dennis gets up at the same time and starts a pot of coffee. I double fist a Tervis tumbler of coffee and a Diet Coke and head into the office to turn on my face-brightening ring light.
Then, I slap some concealer under my eyes, apply eyeliner and mascara as best I can, and finish off with bright red lipstick that won’t budge when I down my caffeinated beverages between classes. The eye makeup helps me look a bit more awake while the red lips draw attention to my mouth when enunciating.
On Saturdays, I also teach in the evening from 5 to 7 pm which is Sunday morning in China. Eight pm is bedtime, at the latest! During the week, I usually lie down around 7. Ear plugs and an eye mask help me sleep like a baby. In fact, earlier this week I apparently slept through the neighbor’s trampoline flying over the fence and into the side of the house. Dennis and Jack went out to help wrangle and disassemble it during a freezing cold windstorm, and I didn’t find out until the next morning. And it only happened at 8:30 at night!
I could wake up earlier during the week, and teach classes later on the weekends, but this schedule has worked well for me. And when Daylight Saving Time starts, I get to sleep in until 4:15!
How many hours do you Teach?
I usually teach about 15 to 20 hours a week. When China shut down for Coronavirus earlier this year, there were several weeks where I taught close to 30 hours a week. I could open more hours overnight if I wanted to, but 15-20 is definitely more manageable for me.
How Much Money do you Make?
Teachers earn points for each class taught, each trial package they sell, and other teachers they recruit. There are 5 different levels we can reach each month based on how many points we earn. The higher the level, the more money we make. The points then reset at the beginning of each month. The level I end the month at determines my pay for the next month.
For example, if you end on level 1, your pay is about $17 an hour. I usually end up at level 3 which is $20 an hour. I reached level 4 a couple of times during China’s shutdown where I was earning around $21.30 an hour. And while I came close to level 5 once (almost $23 an hour), I’ve never made level 5 and that’s okay with me! This job definitely won’t make you rich, but it’s an easy way to earn extra cash while working at home & keeping your days free!
How do you get paid?
Once a month, payment is placed into a Payoneer account and exchanged from Yuan to USD. Payoneer is a financial services company similar to PayPal. With Payoneer, you can either get a debit card to use directly from that account, or have it transferred into your own bank account, which is what I do. It only takes about a day for the transfer, and while Payoneer charges me a small transfer fee, my bank does not.
I’m considered an independent contractor which means that no taxes are withheld from my pay. I just have to report my earnings with when we file our income taxes for the year. Luckily, I can write off anything I’ve bought for the purposes of teaching, as well as a portion of our utilities, internet and cell phone bill.
Do you speak Chinese?
Not at all! Fortunately, knowing Chinese is not a requirement. In fact, these parents don’t want their kids’ English teachers speaking much, if any, Chinese. The children are usually enrolled in an English class in school and just need to practice their conversational English.
Then how in the world do you communicate with kids who don’t know English??
This is where the ESL certification comes in handy. The class teaches you to learn to use facial expressions, hand gestures, repetition, and props (e.g., stuffed animals and other toys), and how to encourage them to repeat after you and at least try saying the words. This is called TPR, or Total Physical Response. Using TPR, I don’t just use my words, but engage my whole body. For example, when I want them to repeat after me I may point to my mouth and say “Say… Hello!” as I wave excitedly. Then I put my hand up to my ear letting them know that I want to hear them say it.
Most kids are already enrolled in English at school, and/or their parents know some (if not perfect) English. So it’s really not as difficult to communicate as you’d think.
I could keep going, but I’ll leave you with a highlight reel of my year and a half of teaching. If this is something you’re interested in pursuing, let me know! I’m happy to help.
Here’s my referral link, or my referral code is 63963349.
