Honest Review of Tutoring via Preply | 3 YEARS LATER

[@thelakhandamani]

It's really good to see that you shared your experience!

[@jnk740]

Aw thank you!

[@khatieboquila]

Liked and subscribed. I am a newbie tutor, no student yet. I am so inspired by your experience. I would like to ask about the lesson materials you are using during your class.

[@jnk740]

Hi Khatie, thank you for your comment. :-) I am using google drive tools and interactive white boards, for material i reviewed a couple of options --> my criteria were: certified and in alignment with TELC (a bit like the German TOEFL), sources that are widely available - so also my students in e.g. China could purchase it & finally sources that have a good online integration (some of the publishers for example set up online courses on moodle following the text book) // in addition to that I also have a couple of websites with exercises (to practise intonation --> for anything a book cannot really teach) Good luck on your teaching journey and hope this is helpful

[@nornironnomad]

I'm just preparing my application to preply, your video was helpful! Thank you, you have a new subscriber

[@jnk740]

hi thats good to hear.Happy it was helpful :-)

[@tyronneframpton8163]

I tutor on cambly at the moment the pay is very low. I didn't sign up to preply because I was worried that I would go through alot of students before being able to find one that would want to pay for a second lesson. How many people do you meet before you finaly get a second lesson with a paying student? Thanks for the video im considering moving to preply.

[@jnk740]

Hi Tyronne, i think the retainment from trial to first lesson is around 80-75%. So it's more often than not the case that students stay after the trial lesson. Mostly the reason the 25% don't stay is because of conflicts in schedule --> therefore make sure to discuss this with your student ideally before the lesson - so you both know if there is a regular time you can both meet. See it as much as an investment of your time as also their time.

[@THOMAS_MHDS]

I had a really bad experience on Preply - it's not worth it. The conversion rate from trial lessons is maybe 40%. There are so many time wasters on there. I earnt about $1.5 per hour because of this. I have been teaching for over 12 years. Ridiculous.

[@jnk740]

@@THOMAS_MHDS hi thomas, i think making this a general statement "its not worth it" is missing the point. In this channel i am trying to unpick a little bit more specifically what works and what doesnt, but always keep in mind what approach people take, so the outcome can vary greatly! its not a one-fits-all-model as it is made out to be. as a quick guide for improvement on retention rate stats; I suggest, reviewing your trial lesson content and also asking for feedback from students who did not book lessons after their trial, so you can understand what to do better. Also if students dont use their personal name or upload a profile pic (i normally ask them to do that before the first lesson) and dont respond to my filter inquiry until the morning of the first lesson, i give them a second chance and reschedule for a week later. If they still dont reply by then, i report the case.

[@dogwoodflowers6302]

​@@jnk740 No, he's right. You need to understand that English is a fundamentally different market. And it is a living HELL on Preply teaching ESL.

[@mikescarborough9196]

Preeplie! I love it. And an excellent video as well! Good info.

[@jnk740]

Good luck on your tutoring journey Mike!

[@LearnComputerWithAwais]

Very Helpful and Positive Video for someone intending to start Teaching on Preply and What I Learned from your video is Consistency is the Key to Success.I Would love to take further guidance from Your experience

[@jnk740]

Dear Awais, please let me know what topic you would like to hear more about and I can create some follow up videos. :-) I wish you all the success with starting out as a tutor.

[@LearnComputerWithAwais]

@@jnk740 you can make a video on demanding topics on preply as well as how much we can generate monthly from preply plus Other trustsble platform we can work for teaching

[@jnk740]

@@LearnComputerWithAwais hey there, I am currently working on new video content regarding your question. Stay posted.

[@english_with_will]

Hi! Thanks for sharing. I recently applied to be a tutor, however, I'm having a really hard time on the pricing. I'm not really sure what could be an ideal price to start with and then how to get the most of it.

[@jnk740]

Hi Will, thanks for reaching out. I am happy to break price calculation down in more detail in a follow up video. Currently working on it, so stay tuned.Good luck with your teaching journey in the meantime. How has it been so far for you?

[@dantutor62]

Hi JNK! Thanks for your opinions.

[@Morgan00111]

Thanks for sharing you experience with us 😊

[@jnk740]

Thanks for checking it out Morgan! Excited to see more of your videos. :-D

[@vincentnijkamp3785]

hey JNK thanks a lot, im starting in january and will use your link. Interested in hearing more and I also have some questions about extra languages!

[@jnk740]

Hi Vincent, I'd really appreciate if you could use my link. I was hoping people would see relevance in my advice and then go via my referral link to sign up, but I suppose I get more traction here from people who had already signed up for Preply profiles prior. Maybe I should add a buy-me-a-coffee link instead. :-D Anyhow... all the best for your fresh start with tutoring and shoot away if you have follow up questions. :-) Happy to help if i can.

[@beautifulenglishteacherbkk]

Thank you for making this video and I can see you are a good English teacher ❤

[@jnk740]

I am actually a German teacher, but was hoping to keep the info general enough to apply it to tutors of various languages as well x

[@shafqatbashir1363]

very informative thank you for sharing your exp & advice

[@chijiokeokonkwo5238]

Please what is the specifications of laptop I need to teach effectively at preply?

[@jnk740]

Best is to have a laptop with stable internet connection 20 mbps upwards and access to google chrome! 🙂

[@lauramarcos4127]

Hi JNK! Thank you for this honest video. Does the platform have video call tools or provide teaching materials? I am a teacher myself and work online via Zoom with my own books. Do they allow this?

[@limitlesscircle]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Very informative 👍🏽

[@jnk740]

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed it.

[@NovitaSari-cc4gs]

Hi, can I use tablet for teaching the lesson in preply?

[@jnk740]

Yes that is possible. Most importantly run it via Chrome. Personally I also prefer browser over an app environment.

[@rissacampus]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@jnk740]

Thank you for your kind comment Rissa :-)

[@pierpig7058]

Great video, I'd like to apply for it, I speak Italian as native, Serbian and English as second language. Is it possible to apply for a tutor for different languages (like English to Italian, Italian to Serbisn), with different prices?

[@theartistelizabeth]

I saw English to Italian but you need a teaching certificate there is a list on the website

[@janinesuter3630]

Hi danke für das video Kannst du allf ein video machen wie du gestartet hast und die ersten kunden /Studenten anvisiert Zudem hast du einen "teaching background und wenn nicht wie hast du die didaktischen Methoden gelernt?

[@jnk740]

Hey Janine! Das sind super gute Fragen. Ich werde ein Follow Up Video machen.

[@janinesuter3630]

@@jnk740 cool danke viel mal :)

[@jnk740]

@@janinesuter3630 ich arbeite jetzt an follow up video content und hoffe damit auch deine Frage bald zu beantworten - stay tuned x

[@yasinkarakus9220]

Hi, kannst du Quellen für Unterrichtsmaterial empfehlen?

[@jnk740]

Hi Yasin, it depends a little bit on your customer target group. Are you talking about teaching materials for adult learners DE? Are you talking about Germany, Austria, Switzerland? What is the linguistic background of your customer group? I would differentiate between teaching resources depending whether your students first language is also based on the Roman alphabet, or not. Do you get me? This comes back to being very clear first who your target group is.

[@SarahElnahas185]

Hey love hope you see my comment and reply They still don't reply about about my request i application with them 16-2 but sill on review what what should I do

[@jnk740]

Could you try and get in touch with the customer support team of Preply? That might be the best way.

[@travelwithjeffrey]

Nice video and very educative JNK

[@jnk740]

Thank you!

[@hamsaekhlayel4064]

Hi, thanks for sharing. I was wondering if it would be ok teaching Arabic in English language on Reply?? I hope that you answer as quick as you can. Thank you so much

[@jnk740]

Hi sorry for the very late reply, i think with Arabic you would have less competition than say English ... and why not! Go for it. I am sure there are many students out there wanting to brush up on their Arabic. All the best for your tutoring journey. Send me an update on how it all goes. Lots of love.

[@panospapa-j3v]

Hi, can you please answer me a few questions? First of all, do you live in Germany? How do you pay taxes? If you are a tutor in Germany, you have to pay about 15% for health and nursing insurance (Kranken- & Pflegeversicherung) on your gross income, so also on Preply's commission! In addition, as a tutor, you are required to pay pension insurance (Rentenversicherung), extra 18% of your GROSS income! If you earn more than 22K per year, you also have to pay VAT etc. It looks like more than half of your income should go to taxes and insurance?! I need your help because I'm also a tutor, moving to Germany next year and I'm really worried about it! Can you please make a video about how to pay taxes? Or send me a message? Thank you so much in advance!

[@hadi__33]

Hi there. thanks for sharing these helpful information. i'm not a native english speaker and i'm not talking like natives. i'm planning to start teaching on preply. one of my friends suggested me to start teaching persian(FARSI), that is our native language. i'm confusing which one to choose! i'm thinking about starting to teach persian. it's my mother tongue and i studied dramatic literature and i'm good in this language. what's your opinion? THANK U 🌹

[@hadi__33]

BTW i don't think i have a chance to work and improve among so many english native speakers on preply! i will be happy to hear your opinion about this subject Thanks a lot 🌹

[@treegee9646]

Doing your link, I only see the option to be a student

[@denisewebster9585]

What is the commission rate that Preply takes?

[@jnk740]

Dear Denise, you can find all explanations on Preply's commission model here: help.preply.com/en/articles/4171383-preply-commission-model - when you set your price take into account the commission percentage that will be deducted from your income. I set my price in the way that I treat the commission percentage as a cost occured and do not calculate it as my net income.

[@АйгеримСейтжан-ь3ж]

thank you so much! such a lovely experience sharing❤

[@jnk740]

Aww thank you. Your kind words are well appreciated!

[@rafaelaennes3419]

Thanks you for this useful video

[@gobshite]

I have no idea what you said around the 2:08 mark. What amount of commission do they take and what's the other thing you say?

[@jnk740]

Thanks for pointing that out. You can find out about the Preply commission model here: help.preply.com/en/articles/4171348-when-and-how-will-i-get-paid-for-lessons - most certainly I said to make sure that your price calculation is such that the commission is charged ON TOP of what you would usually charge for an hour of teaching. Preply has an interest in keeping prices low and hence invites tutors to engage in a price competition with each other. Based on any economic research, price competition means all teachers will face a smaller revenue margin. Hence don't be afraid to differentiate by your teaching style and approach rather than thinking the lowest price will attract the biggest number of students. Online teaching is a great new way of learning so you WILL find students, no matter what price you charge, as long as you have engaging content that holds relevance to your target audience.

[@yummyfoods219]

How to connect zoom with preply?

[@jnk740]

Its not necessary Preply has a built in learning environment now. Hope this helps. Let me know how you get on x

[@mjsmith8427]

Thank you. what price do you suggest for naive new tutors?

[@jnk740]

Hi @mjsmith8427 there really isnt a clear guideline to follow. It depends a lot on availability, teaching niche and loads of other factors. Recently Preply introduced automated pricing which means that if your rate is set lower than the demand, they automatically up it. I would heavily encourage any tutor to take advantage of this tool. Other than that look at tutors offering a similar service to you for price reference. But i dare you to go higher if you are confident in what you are doing and you have the skills and credibility. One main motivation for making this video was because i saw too many tutors underselling.

[@mutant54817]

How can I apply for this please

[@jnk740]

Best is to go via my referral link: preply.com/?pref=MTMwMTQzNg%3D%3D&id=1663104138.765325 and sign up here.

[@lrealestateagent77]

Teach for 3 years? The same student....how is that possible? That student learn English for 3 years ?

[@ructionradius2888]

You find it difficult to understand why someone would continue to learn English for 3 years? What are you trying to say? By the way you mean "That student has been learning English for 3 years?"

[@mandy18573]

nope she mentioned many times SHES TEACHING GERMAN..yes you need many years even if you wanna learn any other language properly. how else???

[@Heladeriamocajerico]

Good video 👍

[@Kprof]

Sehr gut.danke

[@Lime-limee]

Hi, when is the best times to teach?

[@jnk740]

Dear Lime, that depends very much on your target group. Try to think in the way your target group structures their day and language learning as part of it and where they are predominantly based (timezone wise) ... that will be the times you want to be aiming for. (Example: a lot of adults with regular work hours and children might prefer an early weekend slot to learn) However I recommend opening up your schedule widely first to understand if there are other target groups that you perhaps hadn't considered and then after a while the patterns start to build so you get a bit more insight. Hope that makes sense to you. Good luck :-)

[@robertai6509]

What would you recommend to find in a tutor, should they also be fluent in other languages?

[@jnk740]

Hi Robert, genuinely i think it good if your tutor has a basic grasp of your mother tongue so they can cater towards your specific needs and explain grammar better referencing differences and similarities between two languages. That being said, you might also bond with a tutor who understands your learning style, or simply has hobbies in common with you. As long as there is something in the tuteee-tutor relationship that motivates you to come to class every week .. thats the golden nugget to select a tutor by. let me know how you get on x

[@robertai6509]

@@jnk740hi there 👋, I think my tutor and I bonded over a language as the tutor is learning a language that is my mother tongue :)

[@treegee9646]

Thanks should we use our birth name or nick name ? Can you make money brining on more tutors ?

[@msrita]

Does preply only push out new profiles ? Or does it not matter ?

[@jnk740]

Hi Rita, what do you mean with "push out new profiles?"

[@msrita]

@jnk740 so like you know when you first sign up and join the platform as a tutor, preply showcases//advertises//puts your your profile infront of new students, the longer you're on preply does preply not advertise your profile to new students ? Because I used to get alot more messages from potential students when I first started compared to 3 /4 months of being on the platform

[@jnk740]

@@msrita in my experience of having been on the platform for 4 years, there is no such thing as adertising new tutors over older ones. If you check your stats and your profile position is quite low i would check for factors that could influence that, such as retainment rate, profile score, how quickly you reply to messages, how many classes you cancelled in the last 90 days, or simply your availability in terms of time slots, all this is going to impact your position.

[@bradley7118]

hello which one is better? Comply or Preply? I heard Preply pay more. Is that true?

[@jnk740]

Hi Bradley personally I have only taught on Preply. There are other tutors who apparently work on several platforms - but personally i prefer to stick to one as it helps me have more clarity on my schedule and to avoid double bookings. No experience with Comply but hope you test it out and tell us about it :-)

[@bradley7118]

@@jnk740 Hey thanks for replying g back. Do you have to have a background of being an English teacher? I don’t have any experience. The only thing I have is speaking English haha.

[@bradley7118]

@@jnk740 Just LMK when you can reply please. Thank you.

[@jnk740]

@@bradley7118 Hi Bradley, I don't think you necessarily need teaching experience when you start out. I treated it as "learning on the job" just make sure you read and research a lot. About 4 months in after I had started with the teaching I actually enrolled in a course for online tutors and teachers which was quite helpful.

[@merryel3683]

Did you pay taxes for money earned? I've been teaching for almost a year now and I need to know how I should prepare myself for tax season.

[@jnk740]

Hey @merryel3683 thats a super valid question. thank you for asking. i will make sure to find time to make a specific video based on it. in essence first step would be to figure out how much income you can earn as self employed tax free in your country. then trial lessons and your time investment for three month in teaching. after that have an evaluation if you want to stay under the tax free income bracket or if you would actually make a profit going above. In my case i have made more money than the tax free bracket every year and once i knew that i had approximately 1k of taxes to return, i upped my prices to reflect that. I would also strongly advise you to work with an accountant if you go fulltime to make sure you can claim back any business expenses. I have always done lots of extra tutor training courses for example and certificates as that was something that benefitted my career but was also something that i could deduct taxes from.

[@merryel3683]

This was very helpful. Thank you.

[@wynetteturner2999]

Very helpful

[@shafqatbashir1363]

very nice

[@ThePsteja]

I feel there should be harsher punishment for tutors who cancel the class just 5 minutes before class, as students loose money other way around.(I've clocked 50+ hours in preply as student)

[@jnk740]

Congrats to your perseverance as a student Teja! Sounds like you must have come far with your learning. I agree with you on the fact that teachers need to take responsibility also. I think that healthy price setting plays a crucial role here on both sides. If a tutor tries to be too competitive and sets their price knowingly below their own reservation price - they will and cannot be happily committed to teaching. When you are truly happy with the price you get paid per hour as tutor - I am sure you will 100% show up. Same goes for student commitments. In a way the price you pay reflects quality and commitment i would say.

[@NadPad92]

I have students that reschedule classes 5min before class and one that does this every week!

[@jnk740]

@@NadPad92 hi Nad, this can be a very disappointing experience. I think it is important to be clear and firm about expectations and to agree with every student on your personal cancellation policy during the first trial lesson. For example, you could set 10 min aside at the end, to go through all policies and legal stuff to make sure you are on the same page. Preply has some protection for tutors around this issue here: help.preply.com/en/articles/4178953-cancellation-policy

[@treegee9646]

Do you have to work 8 hours a day or any amount of hours ?

[@jnk740]

you can set your own hours!

[@LucieGm]

Hey, Kannst du mir verraten wie es mit den Steuern bei Preply funktioniert? Ich habe keine Infos dazu gefunden, außer, dass man schon Steuern zahlt, aber muss man die selber zahlen? Machst du eine Steuererklärung? Liebe Grüße und danke für das gute umfangreiche Video ❤

[@LucieGm]

Wenn du ein paar Seiten mit gutem Material und Leitfäden für den Deutschunterricht teilen könntest, würde ich mich sehr freuen, es fällt mir ein bisschen schwer, gutes Material zu finden.. Danke!

[@chrisdekeyser549]

Do you have to speak two fluent languages to become a tutor?

[@mandy18573]

nope she said to teach english they only take citizen of english speaking countries..even me with a tefl/tesol certificate they would deny.

[@jeboshifru]

You mispronounced Preply several times :D. It would be Preplie in German ;) Though, I'm loving your video.

[@samusvikerness661]

If it pays worse than Mcdonalds, I seriously don't understand why I should pursue this.

[@jnk740]

Hi samus, perhaps it does not fit your circumstances. That is okay. But everyone has different circumstances. If its not for you then lets move on. 🙂

[@nickandjessica]

Can you please do a video on how to implement teaching regarding the usage of toilets and associated activities especially in the work place and with friends in pairs or in threes, rarely in fours but that would be great.