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| How is your success teaching English independently (privately)? |
| Excellent-lots of clients and a higher income |
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18% |
[ 2 ] |
| Great-lots of clients with livable income |
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27% |
[ 3 ] |
| Good experience-few clients so teach with a school on the side |
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27% |
[ 3 ] |
| Have not taught independently |
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27% |
[ 3 ] |
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| Total Votes : 11 |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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 Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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Tretyakovskii,
I wish this was the type of forum where we could give points, I'd given you one for your excellent articulation in your previous post.
I think there are two extremes of English teachers working in the universities of Mexico. There are those who think it's a shame but want the job. And then there are those who are trying to do the best with what they've got. Most are somewhere in the middle or swing back and forth over the course of their careers.
And mejms, if you read carefully, you will see that students paying as a group, 1,000 pesos an hour would be the gross income. Language schools and other institutions have other expenses. Rent, utilities, materials, cleaning and administration staff. All that money does not go to the teacher--in fact very little of it does. |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Tret,
| Quote: |
| Here, I've charged 50 pesos per hour per student, with groups of up to 25, but I don't consider that generally duplicable. It's not been easy to get any institution or business to agree to 1,000 pesos per hour, here, in my experience. I suspect you're doing pretty good if you can consistently get 500, or more. |
When you wrote the above, you weren't talking about working for a language institute or university. Looks like you're talking about forming your own groups independently, where you do have full control over class size. I have no idea why you and MotherF went on to speak about schools and unis. It's irrelevant.
My question was twofold:
1) Were you really making $1,250 pesos per hour (50 pesos x 25 students)? If so, how long did that work out for?
2) Why would you decide to form such a large university-size group when you have full control? Like you said, a teacher will do it when he/she has to. But you chose to. |
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Professor
Joined: 22 May 2009
Posts: 449
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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I can't get ANY private students these days and so far I can't get any schools to call me back. Surviving only on my savings now. I'll probably have to go back to the States and live with one of my sisters in a month or two if things don't pick up.
It's just impossible to live here if I have to spend most of my day just traveling to Sante Fe for example and only make 170 pesos if I'm lucky. Just can't seem to make it here teaching English. And I don't even pay rent.
Can't explain it.  |
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Professor
Joined: 22 May 2009
Posts: 449
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Perhaps I need to move on to another company to see if that works. The place where I'm at just doesn't have people who care enough or just don't need English. Very sad. |
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Phil_K
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2041
Location: A World of my Own
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I can't get ANY private students these days |
What are you doing to find them? |
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Tretyakovskii
Joined: 14 Aug 2009
Posts: 462
Location: Cancun, Mexico
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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It�s easy to misunderstand what people may be speaking of, and I�ll see what I can do to clarify, without going into more detail than I care to, mejms.
The 50 pesos/hour/student was the formula I suggested to a unit of the Mexican Federal Government who wanted me to teach two groups of 25 students each, for two months. They decided course content, how many groups they wanted, how big they would be, and how many hours of instruction would be provided. It was a ESP course.
I considered it an honor to be chosen, enjoyed the process and the students very much, and was paid for doing it. (My comment about it not being "duplicable" simply meant that opportunities like this don't often drop from the sky on me.)
When I spoke earlier about forming private groups, I mentioned my class limit of ten, which I found about right for me, working alone, when I was not under contract.
Since August I have been working as a full time university professor of English: the hours are long and the pay not so much per hour but the rewards are great in terms of working with young minds. |
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Professor
Joined: 22 May 2009
Posts: 449
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Phil_K wrote: |
What are you doing to find them? |
Not enough obviously. I'm mainly at one company these days but the majority of the people there just don't seem interested in English at all. Word of mouth there but people either have no time for English classes or just don't care to learn it.
I'm basically giving up on this company which means I will have to try and find people elsewhere. How I go about doing that I have no idea except to hop on the metrobus and make my way down Insurgentes and just go into some companies.
I don't really know people here and when I did for a short time in the past, it didn't seem to help me get new clients. Networking has never worked for ME in Mexico.
It works for others and that's great but it doesn't work for me and it doesn't solve my money problems I'm having. Another problem with the company I now used to go to was that the clients just did not like the idea of paying for a month in advance.
I would just turn them away if they didn't want to pay in advance because when I used to let them pay as they go, it was very convenient for THEM but not for ME. They could cancel whenever they wanted or if they were just too tired to go to class.
It's never a good deal for the teacher to have private clients that pay as you go. I guess tomorrow I'll head down Insurgentes to try and find new companies but it's looking like I'll have to leave Mexico in a month or two since things don't seem to be picking up for me here...at all. |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| The 50 pesos/hour/student was the formula I suggested to a unit of the Mexican Federal Government who wanted me to teach two groups of 25 students each, for two months. They decided course content, how many groups they wanted, how big they would be, and how many hours of instruction would be provided. It was a ESP course. |
That gives more context, but probably wasn't the most practical feedback to give to a poster wondering what he should expect to make as an independent teacher over time.
Professor, I'd have to say that networking and references are the only way to really advance. If you get one good student and you're a good teacher, he or she will probably attract more good students and that's how one grows over time. If you haven't been able to get that initial one good student, you might need to get back to basics and walk into a language school that has students. You can try making cold calls to companies, but in my experience companies would prefer a no-name school over a no-name teacher. Often you can't just make something happen. Cut your expenses and get something steady. There's lots of work out there, albeit no very attractive for long-timers here. Start low, work hard, and see what happens. |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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Another problem with the company I now used to go to was that the clients just did not like the idea of paying for a month in advance.
I would just turn them away if they didn't want to pay in advance because when I used to let them pay as they go, it was very convenient for THEM but not for ME. They could cancel whenever they wanted or if they were just too tired to go to class. |
Why not try a new system?
I have never had students pay in advance and have never had problems getting paid. I apply a 24-hour rule in that if they want to cancel it must be done within 24 hours or they pay. With that in place, I would say I had about a 10% cancellation rate any given week...a hit to the income yes but expected. |
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Professor
Joined: 22 May 2009
Posts: 449
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
Why not try a new system?
I have never had students pay in advance and have never had problems getting paid. I apply a 24-hour rule in that if they want to cancel it must be done within 24 hours or they pay. With that in place, I would say I had about a 10% cancellation rate any given week...a hit to the income yes but expected. |
I tried but I think the people there just don't have the time and/or the motivation to learn. I'll try with more companies. I did have one good student who got me other clients but after about a year of conversation classes they felt they were where they needed to be so they cancelled the class and there were no other newbies after them.
Hit a dry spell. No idea what to do except hit the pavement. |
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Cool Teacher
Joined: 18 May 2009
Posts: 930
Location: Here, There and Everywhere! :D
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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I'm happy!  |
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Dragonlady
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 720
Location: Chillinfernow, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 1:54 am Post subject: |
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deleted
Last edited by Dragonlady on Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Professor
Joined: 22 May 2009
Posts: 449
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Dragonlady wrote: |
They say a change is as good as a rest. What's your connection to DF that keeps you glued like a fly to paper... just the free rent?
Mexico's a big country.
I'd say it's time to leave DF and make your own luck.
And don't look back
Regards,
Dragonlady |
Didn't know I was glued to DF like a fly to paper. Actually, I'm NOT glued to the DF. I have plans.  |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Didn't know I was glued to DF like a fly to paper. Actually, I'm NOT glued to the DF. I have plans. |
One day up, one day down. It�s great that now you�ve got plans. Hope it works out. |
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climber89
Joined: 03 Oct 2010
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:47 am Post subject: |
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WOW!!!
I check the forum a few days later and see A LOT of feedback and related conversations. AWESOME
Anyways, thank you everyone for all the information being shared here. From what I have read, it seems as though word of mouth from your first couple of students is a better way to attract more students.
Has anyone tried going into factories looking for students? If so, what was the success rate and how much income potential is there?
I'm sure that the workers do not earn a lot but maybe group classes could benefit the teacher? |
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