Private teaching going rate?

[chicfille]

I think I might have found a student to help improve my children's written English, but I have no idea what I should offer to pay her. Does anyone know what a reasonable rate for a one-hour lesson for two primary age children might be?

[Teamedup]

30 euros in my neck of the woods.

[Tourangelle]

wow TU that's expensive. 30 euros through a company if you are going to declare it on your taxes, otherwise 15-20 rounds here!

[chicfille]

Blimey, 30 euros/hour is what a friend earns as a vacataire teaching English at the university! As my student is as yet unqualified, my children will be her first ever pupils, and it'll be cash in hand, I think I'll offer 15 for starters and she how it goes... 

Thanks for your help.

[Teamedup]

I only know of one person doing this and that is the rate that was suggested that they charge and that is what they do charge and get.

[SaligoBay]

and it'll be cash in hand

ooooohhhhhhh chicfille, you are brave saying that!   You will be accused of dishonouring your hosts by encouraging illegal work, you know.   

 

[Elsie2]

30 euros sounds far too much for a student. I don't think you can compare a student and a fully qualified teacher (who may get 30 euros an hour).

[KathyC]

Hi

Is this a French student or English? What is she a student of? Why would she be better able to help with your children's written English  than you would? Could you not find a retired (English) teacher of English locally? Sorry for all the questions but I'm a bit puzzled. (I also don't mean to be nosy!)

Best wishes

[KathyC]

PS

In case you haven't guessed, my husband and I are ex teachers of English (amongst other things),moving to 24 next year. Does anyone think that there would be a demand for this type of teaching - I would love to think that either of us could earn this sort of money (at your lower,cash in hand,rate). Thanks.

[Tourangelle]

I guess you are moving to the country then, if you think there might be a mass of retired English teachers available for lessons! Round here there most certainly aren't, but then who retires to the city! I don't think you can get 30 euros for 1 to 1 tutoring unless you have something really special. I think 15-20 euros is going to be a maximum, for one child. If you get 2 or 3 then it could be 10 euros each, for example. A French parent wanting English lessons for their child is not necessary going to want an English person. They may well prefer somebody who has been through the French system and understands it thoroughly. Obviously this is not necessarily the case for English parents living in France.

[Teamedup]

Tourangelle, who retires to the city, well, me. I am sick to the back teeth of the sticks, I can drive out to the sticks, I can holiday in the sticks, but since the kids have left I can't think of anywhere I would rather less be on a daily basis in spite of the fact that the views I have are stunning, they just aren't enough.

I need a town or city and if you think I am alone, my dentist in France is retiring soon and has plans to buy an appt in a local city instead of staying in the house he has in a village.

I only know one person giving lessons at the moment and they weren't sure what to charge, they asked around and that seemed to be the going rate which the people pay, apparently quite happily.

[KathyC]

Tourangelle

We're moving to a small town (Mussidan) so you're half right. I hadn't expected to get any teaching work, perhaps only to be able to swap English conversation for French. I was just surprised to find that an English person was prepared to pay a French(?) student a minimum of 15 euros per hour for private teaching. As nobody expressed much surprise over this, I wondered if that might indicate a more general demand from English parents. At that rate it would be cost effective to travel a reasonable distance rather than just within the local town. I didn't particularly expect to find that there was a demand, but would be grateful for feedback.

[Tourangelle]

I take your point TU, but I think it is an English city that you are going to retire to? Lots of retired people near where I live, but they are all French, the British person retiring to France from what I read on here seems to opt for the country. I have a couple of friends here who are doing rather drawn out studies à la francaise, in English, you know how some of them go on forever and ever, total mystery to me, they end up with DEA in all sorts and then go and get the Capes which they could have done about 3 years previously, however I digress, they only get between 15-20 euros an hour!

KathyC I looked up your town, it's tiny! I really have no experience of finding teaching work in small places like that!

[chicfille]

KathyC - the student I have spoken to is actually American, here studying to become a teacher of EFL, I believe. I am looking for someone because I'm no teacher myself and I think my children need a small amount of formal-but-fun learning in English to ensure they can express themselves and write it correctly. The student would come for an hour, once a week, and work on things such as writing letters and stories. Obviously the children are willing or I wouldn't be bothering!

I think 15 euros is a fair offer to start off with, I wonder if she will agree?!

[Russethouse]

I'm sure your kids will have fun but there are significant differences in spelling and also some in punctuation - they weren't joking when they said 'divided by a common language'

Try googling 'the differences between the American and English language' at least you would know what to be aware of.

[Deby]

I paid 15 Euros per hour cash - that is what worked round our parts.

Another important tip - can your children go to the teacher's place as that really helps put children in the right frame of mind too and less distractions.

Good luck!

Deby

[KathyC]

Hi Chicfille

I'm sorry that I seem to be having another disagreement with you about education, but that's teachers for you!

I would agree with Russethouse and add that there are also grammatical differences between British and American English. As well as this there is a very different slant between EFL teaching and English for native speakers. Finally, what is her own standard of written English like? Having worked with British  university students fairly recently I found many of them to be the ones who needed help with their English, rather than being able to teach anyone else. I'm sure it won't do any harm, but you might be wasting your money. It depends whether it's the help with creative writing that's important to you ( I think that's the thread where we met before) or improving your children's standard of written English.

All the best

[SaligoBay]

15 euros sounds about right to me.  Maybe 20 if she's offering something extra special.

 

 

[chicfille]

[quote]Hi Chicfille I'm sorry that I seem to be having another disagreement with you about education, but that's teachers for you! I would agree with Russethouse and add that there are also grammatical dif...[/quote]

The general idea was to do both - to improve their written English and to get their imaginations going again.

I would prefer a British teacher for obvious reasons, but this student contacted me first so we talked about what I was after. I emphasised that I want them to learn British spelling and grammar, and although she agreed she might have to look up some of the differences (will find a website, Gay, and point the teacher in its direction), she seems to be pretty clued up and willing to do it. What swayed me in her favour was her enthusiasm and ideas. The lesson has to be fun for my children to enjoy it - and if they don't there's no point - and she seemed to have the necessary charisma to motivate and interest them far better than I could. I'll be keeping a discreet eye on both the teacher's and my children's work for standards and americanisms!

In any case, no one is committing themselves to anything. If it doesn't work out we will part company and I'll rethink.

Deby - unfortunately it's not practical for the children to go to her (shared) flat, so a quiet room at home will have to do...

Thanks to all for the help with what to pay her.

 

[Eskenazi]

What you need to do is to compare what you pay for other things! As a teacher myself, it never ceases to amaze me that we charge so little; 15 Euros an hour, even for a student, is appallingly low to teach two children! I pay our babysitter around that, and most of the time all she has to do is sit and watch TV!

In my opinion, any fully qualified teacher of English should be paid a minimum of £30 or E45 an hour. Please consider that for each hour of teaching, an equivalent hour of preparation and marking is needed, so you need to halve your sum to see what the teacher gets. Then there is the payment to any agency, which the teacher has to make, plus tax...

How much do you pay your plumber to fix your leaky sink? More than E30, I'll bet - and not for an hour, more like 10 minutes!

[Teamedup]

Well I have said that my friend charges 30 euros an hour and wouldn't dream of working for less.

[Emp]

Hi,

I charge 35 euros per hour to teach French or English. I am qualified to degree level, travel to people's homes and often 'read' official documents, make phone calls etc for them. I am fully registered here, which means I pay quite a high percentage in charges. I don't know how people can afford to charge only 10 or 15 euros per hour.