Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

I've started giving private classes once again. And although the pay is great, sitting on the bus for such a long time is a pain. I'd love to have classes at my place, but it's under construction. Though I'm thinking about opening a little school once the construction finishes.

Where do you give your private classes? Any positive, negatives to where you have the classes?

[Kootvela]

I'm renting a small place for mine. If you need more info, pm me or check out my blog (link in my profile).

[Guy Courchesne]

Private classes at my place would be cool, and I've done it in the past, but as of lately, I go to their place, usually a company.

[spiral78]

Library. Cafe. No one's home is the best.

[Glenski]

Give lessons at your home, and you immediately lose privacy, even if you set aside a portion only for teaching. If you live with someone, that cuts into their privacy, too. You will (should) always be thinking of how your place looks in the way of tidiness and cleanliness.

Also, location. People living cheaply don't usually live in the center of a city. So, is your location convenient for customers?

Go to the client's home or to some other place (cafe, community center, karaoke box, etc.), and you may have to suffer with noise, smoke, and definitely with travel. Budget your fees accordingly.

[MO39]

After over six months of traveling an hour each way to teach an hour and a half class, I've decided to offer private classes only in my apartment. It's small and tends to get a bit cluttered, so having class here gives me a good reason for tidying up on a regular basis. I'm in a central location, so I can always find students willing to come to me. And if I need a book I hadn't necessarily planned to use that day, I just reach over and get it out of my bookcase!

[mandalayroad]

Unless you're budgeting travel time into the fees, then the cafe down the block is probably your best bet until your home's refurbishment is done.

[Mike_2007]

All my lessons take place at the students' offices (and very occasionally at their homes). I only accept new students whose place of work is close to existing students' to cut down on travel time. Basically I try to spend each day in a particular area of town.

I also keep in contact with a few other teachers and we'll share leads. For example, one recently put me on to a student who was the opposite side of the city to him, but five minutes down the road from my place. If I get a request for lessons in an inconvenient area I'll make a note of it, and if I get another request in that area I'll then contact them again and see if I can put together enough hours to make it worth travelling to that neck of the woods.

My rule of thumb is that I want to be paid for a minimum of 66% of the time I spend in a particular location. At the moment I have about 30 hours a week on top of which I spend about 8 hours on the road. Considering the amount of time I know some of my students spend stuck in traffic in their cars in the mornings and evenings I'm satisfied with this!

In Turkey I used to teach only at home. I would offer a really low price but insist students came to me. It worked well and I had plenty of work. The negative aspects of this were that I spent too much time at home and most students came in the evenings and weekends. On the whole I would prefer to charge more and travel to the classes and keep my evenings and weekends free for social activities.

All the best,
Mike

[Marcoregano]

In HK neutral territory is the norm - Starbucks probably heads the list.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

I agree that neutral territory is the best. I have found a great, quite quiet cafe in the center of the city that lets me sit there for hours on a $4 cuppa (or two)

[saloc]

I only teach privately and do all classes from home. No travel time, and just very very convenient. Yes, I have to keep the place tidy but that's hardly a huge sacrifice. A bigger problem was making sure I had enough parking, but that's only an issue if you are going to have group lessons.

[MO39]

[naturegirl321]

I do live with sommeone, my husband. BUt I'm hoping it won't be a problem as I'm looking to teach in the mornings, so he'd be at work. And kids too. I'm a bit iffy about teaching adults in their home or mine. Had a close call once. I do teach a couple now, but it's a couple

[MO39]

[ecocks]

Our cafes (Kyiv) are pretty noisy due to TV's competing with the sound system plus coffee is paid for by the cup (nay, thimble). So much for that option.

I teach at a school half-time which is 45 minutes away from my apartment via metro and mini-bus. Presently, I teach 3 private, individual students 2-3 classes a week each (1 usually daytime, 2 usually evenings with 2-3 Sunday day classes and one Saturday early evening) in my home in the same way another poster described - reduced rates since they come to me. My wife's mother prepares a couple of pots of coffee a day and keeps a plate of cookies ready, then relaxes in our kitchen watching her soaps while I have possession of the living room. So, that works well for me. I also have two other clients, one I teach in their corporate office twice a week and the other in her home (2-3 times a week). Occasionally, the home-based one has me work with her 13 year-old for a double lesson. This mix works for me and comes to about 28-31 teaching hours a week (cancellations, business travel, vacations, we all know the drill). The home teaching makes it bearable.

Suggestions: Set up a specific area and make it the teaching zone. Make sure your place is big enough (I have a 3 room apt). This really works well if you have a decent location (I am not in center but only 150 meters from a metro). Offer a rate incentive - no travel is wonderful and the student should be rewarded for saving the wear and tear on your mind and body. Keep plenty of supplemental materials on hand for the students to read if you runover or have schedule glitches.

I love teaching in my apartment and am thinking about trying to gear up to a much higher percentage of home-based students for the coming season.