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Lately I have received several calls from people who were
interested in English lessons. They wanted to know if they
could buy a part of the lesson to see how it goes and then
decide if they want it. I told them I do not have time for
this circus. What has gotten into the people lately?
Today I got rid of one of my students. Though it may sound not
the wisest thing to do being a freelancer, but it finally pissed
me off.
One of my students sent me an sms this morning telling she
cannot make it to the class today. I said it was okay but
she still should pay for it because I am prepared for the
lesson. She said she won’t and asked to place that lesson
to another day. I refused. I have to eat and pay my bills.
After exchanging a few more sms, she said she’d go to
another teacher. I wished her good luck.
It propably runs in Lithuanian blood not tor espect other
people’s time and effort. Freelancing is still viewed upon
as if being a sort of disease in the society, or a humanitarian
aid. I say it’s high time we stopped that.
First snow today.
Boy that was a good trip. I am in love with Oslo. I hope to return there again (when I make money hand over fist, preferably).
I have read some of my posts and notices several misprints but forgive me for leaving them as they are and moving on.
First, I want to thank all people who reacted to my postings. I thought this place was dead like Heaven on Friday night but I am happy there are people around who show their interst in my stuff.
So, in more or less chronological order:
1) I have added a link on my blog to the freelancer teachers Yahoo! group that I created to form a group (for support, tee hee hee) that could share experience, ideas and advice. Here is the link once again http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreelanceTeachers/ and bless the person who asked for it. *smile*
2) maria regina dulay- I’d love to send you my questionnaire but I need your email. Thanks!
3) Kenneth Perrett, thank you for your supportive reply to word of mouth advertising.
4) T. Mann, thank you for showing interest and asking questions. Here is what I can say to them:
How I got started is this: I quit my job, rented a small place (6 chairs, a whiteboard, a wardrobe, a desk, 2 cupboards and me), started advertising on the Internet and public transport stops. I am planning to give an ad to a newspaper as well. I have my own books for myself and make copies of the handouts for the students or they can buy their own books.
Charge depends on place/type of class/amount of people/smth else. I charge more if I go to them (public tranport fare+ duration/distance). Some schools don’t pay their teachers for travelling because they don’t charge their students in companies for that in order not to lose clients but I am strictly against this policy. 1:1 class is more expensive than 1:2 or groups of 4-6. So far I have a few pairs to teach and mainly individual students come to me for tutoring. I guess Lithuania has a culture of 1:1 tutoring, nobody wants to be a group member 
General English lessons are cheaper than Business English. Something else: mixed course (general+business).Administration was one of the things that influenced my leaving the old job. All is about client-satisfaction (sounds a bit pervert!) and the teacher is always at fault if suddenly beginner students decide they need more grammar or vocabulary and go to the administration to complain. The fish starts rotting from the head.
I am sorry if I missed any other names and comments, please write again.
