A little bit of everything
First of all, I would like to talk about why I decided to
leave a secure teaching position and start arisky job of
a freelancer. To begin with, working conditions for teachers
in private companies are far from being the best. Companies
offer slimy work contracts that include only an hourly pay
but not sick leave compensation or holiday pay. In this way,
a company pays only their part of taxes and the teacher is
left without social guarantees. Also, working hours tend to
stretch for too long, involving split shifts, and during the
meantime you cannot do anything proper because soon you
have to run to another in- company lesson. And the pay itself
leaves a lot to be desired. That’s why I decided to go freelancing:
I pay for my own social security, I work according to my preferences,
I have some free time and I am my own boss. As for the business
itself, it is the very beginning and I don’t have as many students
as I wish. People call or email but my rates probably scare
them off. But I cannot afford to work for less because I have
qualifications and experience. It is high time people stopped looking
at teaching as if it were a kind of charity! With more free time,
I can concentrate on writing my articles. I am a scholarly type of
a person. Currently I am working on a piece called ”Using Translation
in a Foreign Language Lesson”. I need teachers to answer a
questionnaire because it’s a kind of a research. Please contact
me if interested. I also created an Internet group at Yahoo! for
freelance teachers. Please join it and let’s share our experience.
October 25th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
I am a freelance teacher, too. I would like to take part in your research. Would you please send me your questionnaire, I would be glad to answer it.
best,
eliana
October 31st, 2007 at 8:56 am
hi.i have been a freelance ESL teacher for years and i have been looking forward to join a group of freelance teachers.pls. consider me.thank you
October 31st, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Hi,
I used to teach English in a school in southern India. That was before I realised I could use my skills as a writer to earn more in the advertising field. I’ve been working for the last 10 years in advertising as a copywriter and now I have my own adagency in Dubai. My experience: The money is 100 times better, but when it comes to work satisfaction, teaching wins any day.
Kishore Dharmarajan
Author of EIGHTSTORM: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers (www.amazon.com)
November 1st, 2007 at 12:48 am
Hi, fellow TEFL.net blogger! Good luck with your blog and your yahoo group. Might I suggest putting a link to the yahoo group on your blog somewhere?
TEFLtastic blog- www.tefl.net/alexcase
November 1st, 2007 at 5:53 am
I’m a freelance teacher. I’m quite new in this field-teaching about 5 years now. I , too, need to have some freelance teachers. How do I contact them?
November 1st, 2007 at 6:56 am
hello! I am teaching English and italian through Romanian.
I am happy to join in.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Hello
I have been living and teaching English in Montpellier as a frelance teacher for about 5 months now. I took the TEFL course and at the moment have 3 private students. The rate is quite low here and I do need to get more students to make a difference. However, I am enjoying this new life. I could do with a few tips from a long standing teacher!!
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:15 am
I am just beginning as a freelance writer. I would love some tips on how you got started, how much to charge, do you have classes or just teach individuals, that sort of thing. I have taught for several years at the university level and jut got tired of the administration (made up of people who know nothing about education) telling me how and what to teach. So I am going to try something different. Waiting to hear from you.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:32 am
Hi, I have been teaching ESL for three years and would be glad to participate in your survey.