Giving Private TEFL Lessons

Bored with your head of department?

Fed up of being forced to teach around an out of date curriculum? Why not consider freelance teaching? As a private teacher working from home it's possible to make a better than living than you would working for a language school.

Established language schools tend to have very large overheads and as teacher working from home you should be able to comfortably undercut their prices and still make more money than you would working for a language institute. Teaching privately also offers you the opportunity to set your own hours and since you are likely to be teaching a very broad range of people it may help you to make friends and integrate with the local culture.

Of course it is possible to work for a school and take on some freelance teaching on the side. Make sure you discuss this with your employer first as they may not be comfortable with it, or it may not be allowed as part of your contract. In most cases employers will allow you to teach privately, as long as you don't start stealing students and other potential clients from under their noses. Also be aware that teaching freelance can be time consuming and your employers will not approve if it starts interfering with your school teaching commitments.

The first thing you will have to do as a freelance teacher is find a client base. Private classes are popular amongst learners that prefer individual attention, flexible hours and the lower prices. A popular advertising technique is to post small bilingual notices around the town or city in which you are based. Target notice boards in schools, universities, libraries and other popular public places. In some countries you may even be able to get an advertisement in a local paper. Some teachers have found success in persuading companies to hire them in order to run English classes during the lunch hour. These methods should bring you enough pupils to get started. After an initial advertising drive the quality of your teaching will hopefully be enough to deliver you plenty of new clients through word of mouth.

Unfortunately freelance teaching does have its downsides. You miss out on all the benefits of working for a school: access to equipment, resources, additional paid training, social security and holiday pay. Cancellations are also a major problem for the freelancer. It is possible to lose a lot of revenue through cancellations as you will miss out on not only the money you would have received for the lesson, but also the opportunity to take on a client you may not have been able to fit in otherwise. Try to have a firm policy that insists on a minimum of 24 hours notice of a cancellation. Also be aware that you are likely to spend a considerable amount of time travelling between clients, for which you will obviously not be paid. Private teaching can also be a very lonely occupation if you spend too many hours teaching, be sure to give yourself a break and socialise from time to time.

Private tuition isn't for everybody, but for those motivated and dynamic enough to start their own teaching business it can be very rewarding.