Happy October, everyone! It’s already Fall, and I’m sitting here bundled up because Colorado goes straight from summer (which is more like a Missouri spring) to winter! That’s right, we have snow in the forecast for later this week.
I’m also trying to adjust to our new keyboard. Dennis found a lightning sale on Amazon for a gaming keyboard, which Ben has always wanted. I’m not a gamer, so I’m not sure why it works better for gaming than a regular keyboard. But I can tell you that my fingers are getting quite a workout, the keys make a very loud but satisfying, clacking sound, and, with every key you press, the whole keyboard lights up like Studio 54 in the 70s. Or how I imagine Studio 54 was in the 70s (or 80s or 90s). Anyway, I’m on sensory overload as I try to get used to it.
In the last post, I discussed a myriad of topics: The taekwondo camp that Jack was invited to, the possible foot-festish guy who found us on Instagram, making homemade soap, and teaching English as a second language. Our readers seemed most interested in teaching English (well, next to the foot fetish guy, but there’s not much else to say about him), and I’ve spent a lot of time doing it over the past few weeks, so this post will be dedicated to that.
Why the Side Job?
This year, Jack’s competitive sparring schedule has had him training with a number different coaches in Colorado, two of which are out of town requiring an hour drive each way. Sometimes these are pricey private lessons, but there have also been camps and seminars. Also pricey. Some weeks had him working out every day. On top of all that training, he has competed in about ten tournaments. While a few were in Colorado, he also fought in New Mexico, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Since this was technically more of a training year for him, we even turned down additional tournaments in Las Vegas and Minneapolis.
Next year he’ll be even more focused on competitions and ranking both nationally and internationally, which means he’ll be traveling even more. Since he is not yet funded, and not on a team, the cost falls on us. So I’ve been trying to find ways to raise funds for him as an individual athlete, and looking at ways to earn some extra travel money by working from home.
Teaching English Online
I kept coming across articles about people who teach English online to students in China. Probably the most well-known company is VIP Kids. This seemed to be a popular way for stay-at-home-moms, like myself, to make some extra money, so I decided to apply.
Being the most popular online English-teaching company, VIP Kids can afford to be picky. I applied, but they didn’t care about my background in corporate training. They would rather hire folks with experience teaching in brick-and-mortar schools, and especially those with ESL (English as a Second Language) experience.
After digging a bit more, I found that there are many other similar companies, such as QKids, GoGo Kids, DaDa/ABC, AL07, and PalFish. So I applied to all of them, with the exception of GoGo Kids. All the interview slots were full, and I never checked back.
PalFish hired me first, and afterwards, I also received offers from DaDa and AL07. However, while some people work for multiple online ESL companies at once, I was too afraid of becoming overwhelmed. Especially since I was just starting out. Plus, PalFish did things a bit differently than the other companies that I actually preferred.
PalFish Pros
1. Hiring Process
Many online ESL companies require a bachelor’s degree. It doesn’t always have to be a degree in education, but they also require some teaching experience.
PalFish does not require a degree, but rather an ESL certification. I have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, but didn’t have an ESL certificate. This was easily remedied by purchasing an online TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) course through Groupon for less than $20.
PalFish is also lenient on what they consider teaching experience. I included my corporate training background (which, if I’m being honest was mostly in management versus in the classroom), but I also included my volunteer work at the kids’ schools, and teaching taekwondo classes.
There was no real interviewing process. I taught and recorded a mock class with no one on the other end. Some companies will interview you, then pretend to be a young child learning English while you teach a class to them. I interviewed this way a few times, and it was… weird.
Soon after my mock trial class, PalFish hired me!
I took some required self-paced training, and was directed to additional training in the app that could be taken at any time. The next step was to open some slots on my schedule so that the admins could started assigning me classes to teach.
2. One-on-One Teaching Environment
With all of these companies, they provide the curriculum, which is taught over a Skype-like environment. The first thing I preferred about PalFish, is that the teaching is one-on-one. With some of the other companies, you can be teaching more than one student. Since I was just starting out, I preferred teaching just one child at a time.
3. Phone/Tablet vs PC with Webcam
The biggest reason I liked PalFish over other companies is that, instead of teaching over your computer’s webcam, you use your phone or a tablet. You actually can’t teach using a PC. Why did I prefer this setup? Their app mirrors your video. I’ll explain.
When teaching ESL, one of the most important tools you use is called TPR, or Total Physical Response. Basically, lots of hand gestures and props. For instance, if you want the student to repeat after you, you may point to your mouth when enunciating, then cup your ear to let them know you want to hear them say it. And, since they are children and you’re not there in person, you want to keep them engaged. So you’re constantly using your hands and other props.
Sounds easy enough, but...
When I interviewed and performed mock training classes with the other companies, I could not, for the life of me, figure out which hand was doing what. I’d lift my hand to my left ear only to have it show up on the right on the video, and most times it would be off-screen. I kept knocking my headset off (headsets are a requirement for most companies). Or I’d try to hold up a prop or point to something on the white board behind me, and it wouldn’t be on screen and I’d just end up confusing them more.
Also, I never knew where to look! I’m supposed to make it seem that I’m making eye contact with the student, but I found myself looking all over the place as I try to look into the camera, or look at my screen to see the content and the student, or look at the keyboard and mouse… And there may be a simple solution to this, but I just ended up being frustrated by it.
It’s so much easier to look into the camera of my phone versus a webcam. And while I started out using my phone, which worked great, but it’s small and was hard to see at times. Then I realized we had a tablet that no one was using. Once I switched to it, everything became so much easier.
Teaching with a mobile device also allows you to teach while traveling. PalFish even encourages this, as long as you have a good internet connection. They only require their logo to be displayed in the background. Obviously they don’t want you to teach while walking around, driving, eating, or while lounging in bed. But what a great way to keep earning money while you travel!
4. No headset required!
I love not having to wear a headset! Maybe headsets trigger me from working at call centers for so many years? But it also feels more personal. Like the student and I are in the same room instead of across the world from each other.
5. Support
The app also includes any support you may need. You’re in group chats with other teachers who can answer questions or offer advice. But the chats also include mentors and admins. All of the training, frequently asked questions, my schedule, students, feedback, salary information and more are included in the easy-to-use app. It even includes a social media-type feed that teachers can post “moments” to in order to make your face, name and personality known to other teachers as well as students and parents.
6. The Classes
There are actually two parts to PalFish: Teaching 25 minute long classes to children (another pro, because some companies teach hour-long classes) and a program called Free Talk. Free Talk is where you make yourself available for phone calls through the app. You’ll get calls from people of all ages who just want to practice their conversational English with a native speaker for a half an hour. Currently, I’m only teaching children. I plan to venture into Free Talk once I become more comfortable with ESL.
With all those Pros, I still wasn't off to a great start...
When starting out, you’re teaching trial classes. These are families who are considering purchasing a teaching package but want to try it out first. I was hired in July and was assigned four classes. Two were no-shows (common with trial classes), and I taught two. But because August was such a busy month for us with travel and school starting back, I made myself unavailable for any classes to be assigned.
My month-long absence seemed to affect the number of classes I was assigned. Once I made myself available again towards the end of August, I wasn’t getting any classes. That is until one September morning, I woke up at 6 am to find that I’d been unknowingly assigned a class overnight and it was supposed to start at 6! Obviously I missed it (you get two minutes to sign in, otherwise the class is immediately assigned to someone else), which gave me a no-show. You are deducted pay for no-shows, so I started out September with a negative balance.
I had also been assigned a class for the following morning, which I had to cancel due to a conflict that I hadn’t adjusted my schedule for. That last-minute cancellation also resulted in a fine.
...And I almost gave up
My no-show and cancellation also kept me from having classes assigned. It was over a week later that I received my next assignment. This class was also assigned overnight, but I woke up early enough to see the notification and to prepare myself for the class. However, I still wasn’t sure this was something I wanted to commit to. I sat in bed thinking of every reason to just delete the app. I even Googled “People who have quite online ESL jobs” so I could find other reasons not to keep going. With 30 minutes before the class was supposed to start, I decided, “Fine, I’ll give it one more try.”
I logged in to see what class I was teaching (there are several, depending on the child’s age and ability). But when I logged in, the child and his dad were already there! The class wasn’t supposed to start for another half an hour, so they must have been familiarizing themselves with the app.
I panicked, greeted them and just started teaching.
After I finished teaching the 30 minute class, I realized that starting the class early was not the correct way to handle this situation. Because I finished teaching before the official start time of the class, it was considered a no-show! Now my September consisted of a last minute cancellation and two no-shows (even though I taught one of them), all of which resulted in fines deducted from my September salary of zero.
That was it, I thought. I gave it a try, but it was obviously not working out. But then, I received a notification from the app: I’d sold my first teaching package! The student I started early with, which was considered by PalFish to be a no-show, actually bought a package from me! That earned me a bonus and my first regular student. Even with the sales bonus, my account was still negative for the month. But I finally felt like I could actually do this!
A screenshot from a class with my first regular student!
The best part is, I really enjoy it! The kids are great. The ages I’ve taught have ranged from 3 to 11 years old, and most of them want to be there. Even the ones who don’t, (usually the shy 3 year olds) they’ll sometimes come around enough to show me their favorite toys by the end of the half-hour lesson. As a parent of shy kids myself (at least when they were that young), I knew that was a huge win.
The majority of the parents speak perfect English, so I try to include them, too. After all, they’re the ones making the decisions on whether or not to purchase the packages. At the end of September, I was assigned 28 classes but only taught 12 due to no-shows (both mine and the students). You earn either half or full pay for no-shows, depending on the situation.
I made $3000 $189 in one month, and so can you!
The classes are a minimum of 25 minutes long, so I basically worked for six hours. Even with the first two weeks of the month being a complete bust, which started my balance for September as negative, I ended up earning $189 for the month. I know that’s not a lot, but that’s for working only six hours at something I realized I enjoy doing! I also sold three packages, which contributed to my earnings. Then, after hearing that parents rarely leave feedback for teachers, I received one that I thought was great! It made me feel even better to hear that comments such as this are rare.
I realize there’s so much more I could be doing in order to increase my pay. The click-baity headlines you see online proclaiming, “I made $3000 a month teaching English online!” are not lying, but they are marketing the heck out of themselves. They have YouTube channels dedicated to helping others get started. Recruiting other teachers earns bonuses as well. They post recordings of themselves reading children’s books on the app. Or perform live readings, which children can sign up to attend. They make themselves available for Free Talk, sometimes even creating custom lesson plans for the adults.
That probably won’t be me any time soon. I haven’t had a typical month yet, and October won’t be typical either. China National Day is celebrated the entire first week of October (also known as Golden Week), so there are no classes that week. But I’m excited to see how the rest of October fares!
Want to know more?
If you’re curious and want to know more about online ESL jobs, feel free to reach out to me! For example, how early do I wake up to teach? Not as early as you’d think. What’s a TEFL/TESOL certificate and how can I get one? (It’s easy and inexpensive through Groupon!) It can be very overwhelming at first, and as I mentioned, I interviewed with several of them. So I’m sure I can help make it easier for you. But if you’re thinking of applying to PalFish, please use my referral link and I’ll help you get started! If you’re hesitant or just looking for more info, here is the non-referral link, too.
teaching english online teaching english online teaching english online
I think you are going to LOVE teaching. The kids are SO CUTE! And once summer comes around again you can help me decide if I should do it too!
I loved watching your teaching video. So awesome! Potatoes! Watermelon! Corn!
I do love it! And I’m sure I’ll be able to talk you into it over the summer 😉
I love reading your posts, Tracy! I’m on the train heading from Amsterdam to London and keep thinking to myself how easy you make all this blogging seem but I feel like my ideas are all over the place. You’ve organized and presented in a fashion that is interesting and often humorous storytelling. It’s a gift, I’m certain! After four days of travel, I have plenty of pictures but I struggle with just coming up with a comment or description when posting on social media…maybe photography should be my focus and keep the storytelling to those that are good at it 😉
BTW, I’ve always imagined we would live abroad if Rob got a great job offer and when I’m not exploring I would teach English as a second language so your part- time job sounds so intriguing. Thanks for sharing!
You do take some amazing photos! I’ve found that organizing my thoughts gets easier the more I write. The good thing is, even after you hit “publish,” you can always keep tweaking. In fact, if you read this post last night, it will look much different today! Hopefully an improvement! 🙂
I’ve heard from many Palfish teachers who are either constantly traveling or living abroad. So something like this would be ideal for you!
Love the fun keyboard and what a great story about the classes- something that could have been upsetting turned out very rewarding!! So glad it worked out and it does not surprise me that you got great comments 💕
I’m glad I made the decision to teach that class! And the keyboard is growing on me 🙂
I think the teaching English thing is going to be great, you’ll definitely succeed at that! We blog visitors concur that you’re very nice, very patient and we love you!! 🙂 Go for it Lady!!
Aw, thanks! Love my fan club!! 😉
OMG, I love reading your stories. You are such a positive person and always make the best of every situation. I hope you realize how you make me laugh. Your never give up spirit keeps me going. I always think WWTD, (what would Tracy do)? I know you would find a way to smile through it. Thanks for the stories.
Squish, you crack me up! I’m not sure what got me out of bed that morning, but I’m so glad I did. I’ve taught him four times at this point, and I love seeing him progress! ❤
I should find a gig teaching math online!
Hey, I taught a little addition today when I was teaching a student to count in the teens. That’s math I can do!
This is so awesome!! I’m so excited for you. I’ve heard about those online esl teaching jobs and wondered if they were legit or not. Hmmmm, something to think about!
Love the light up keyboard too! Fun!!
Definitely legit, and I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it. You never know until you dive in!
Tracy I am so impressed and so proud of all the ideas you come up with.Those students are going to be so lucky working with you.You should let Cloris know what you are doing so Happy to see all your possitive comments.
Thanks! It’s still just the one comment, but I hear that any comments are rare, so I’ll happy to have just the one. I didn’t think about that, I should let her know!
I also felt like Stephanie was reading along with me.😀
I think about her, too. She would have been my #1 fan. I know we talked about me doing this and she loved the idea.