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Finding private students if you are teaching English

Tips on how to get students.

Timing: when to look for a job

First, your timing is important. In December for example, it is very hard to find private students English. Everybody is on holiday, and the ones that are not prefer to spend their money on presents. The best time to look is end of January, beginning of February. You should concentrate your marketing efforts there, as this is when you can get many students.

Ads in the newspapers

The best way for me to get private students were not notices in the universities (I guess they couldn't pay me), but simple ads in the major newspapers. It seems people look there for private teachers.

Students are erratic

The important thing to remember about private students in Colombia is that they are very erratic. They may not show up, or may want to change the date, or may forget, all without much apologies. Do you better organise things well.

5 to 10 US$ an hour

You can charge from 5 to 10 US $ an hour. It's best to do 2 hour sessions, once or twice a week. Some students want intensive classes every day but expect to learn English in a month. Try to make them see that's not realistic. Giving them a reduction if they pay a month ahead gives you some piece of mind.

Make them come to your place

The easiest is to have them come to your place (if you have a place). If not, count on 60 to 90 minutes of transportation every class. You should charge extra for that. Remember, a class may only take 2 hours, but add half an hour of preparation and 1 1/2 hour of transport, and that's 4 hours already!

Keep the good ones.

After a while, you should get rid of the private students that aren't worth the trouble (cancel often, pay late, don't study). This will give you a chance to look for new ones, while keeping the really good ones (give them a free class if they are out of money once in a while!). Like this, you'll end up with a lot of quality students, and that's what you want.

And that's it! Good luck!

By Peter (Moderator) on Nov 11, 2000, 13:31 in Friendly Talkzone.

tracyg73 says on Jan 7, 2004, 21:08:

teaching english do you need a formal qualification to teach english in Colombia? I am interested in living in Cali and would like to know how to raise additional cash.

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masterclub5000 says on Nov 12, 2005, 13:16:

Hi guys, I`m Alexander and I teach English and Spanish as well. If you need some help or just want to talk to someone give me a haler. Take care and best regards.

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mariasman says on Nov 18, 2005, 22:37:

Where are you located. Hello, I would love to take Spanish lessons. Where are you located?How much are classes? I will be moving to Cali in Febuary and need to fluent myself quickly as I will be living there forever. P.S. I am living in Los Angeles.

mariasman

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Paul Anthony says on Dec 2, 2005, 08:07:

Learning Spanish & Teaching English Hi Alexander

I’m a Brit living in Bogotá and I’m desperate to build a future for myself here. I’m about to start looking for work teaching English. I’ve tried to make a start, by doing the CELTA course with the British Council in July, which I really enjoyed. So I suppose technically speaking I’m a trained English teacher but since I haven’t had any experience other than on the course I’m not sure whether I can really call myself an English teacher yet. I’ve also begun learning Spanish and can now speak enough to just about get by on my own but I’ve really got improve it very fast.

I don’t have many friends here, so getting help and advice is proving a bit difficult. I see that you teach English and Spanish, so I’d like to know a bit more about the Spanish teaching part because I definitely need more tutoring. I’d also like to talk to you about teaching English; perhaps you could give me a few tips about either getting private students or teaching at an institution.
If you live in Bogotá it would be really helpful for me if we could get together for a chat about Spanish lessons and any suggestions about teaching English.

I hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,
Paul.

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Heidisch says on Apr 19, 2006, 08:35:

How much to charge for english classes Hi,
My name is Heidi and I'm from california, I've been teaching in Colombia for 9 years and i only teach private classes i recomend charging about $40.000 pesos which is about 20 dollars per hour. Don't charge less than that if your a native speaker!

Best of luck!

Heidi

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Juan Carlos says on Jun 17, 2006, 18:17:

I am from Colombia {I dont speak english very well), guy's there is no way to live in colombia of teaching english, the rich people send there kids to schools that teach english and poor people dont have 20 dolors.
I think the best way is going to big companies and try to teach there people, they always have problems with international bussines any one know a word of english,hotels, airports etc.

Colombia is a poor country but it is really fun, and remember stay up north.

ok para los que hablen espanol, yo camine por todo colombia soy colombiano vivi tada mi vida alla, y hay muchos sitios a los que no iria especialmente el sur hay mucha gerrilla bogota es seguro cali, medellin, cartagena, barranquilla. pero para el sur e pone peligroso si van a ir a colombia no vallan a putumayo huila tolima llanos. espero ser de ayuda. cuidense bye

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Alex123 says on Aug 12, 2006, 12:31:

I'm going to Colombia Como estas, yo soy de Miami,Fl y voy a ir a Bogota, como esta ese lugar ahora? es peligroso? yo se ingles pero cres que me ayudaria a buscar trabajo o seria dificil? sabes de un website que pueda averiguar de trabajo con companias americanas... bueno, gracias cuidate

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dhanur says on Aug 16, 2006, 12:42:

Wow! thats news i could use .. Hey Heidi,

Would you happen to know anyone who needs private lessons? Apart from those you´re currently teaching of course :)

Do let me know, you can mail me on dhanurg(at)gmail(dot)com

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chester says on Dec 23, 2006, 15:09:

20 bucks an hour? few can or will pay that amount.

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UppercaseNIC says on Jun 6, 2007, 06:14:

Teaching in Colombia My name is Nicholas and I am interested in teaching english in Colombia....hopefully in Barranquilla. Hablo un poquito de espanol y conozco a Colombia. I am a college graduate and I am in the process of obtaining my TEFL certification. Any feedback you can give me about working in Colombia would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Nicholas

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The king of Latvia says on Feb 29, 2008, 06:15:

Hello

I am a native, qualified English teacher with experience currently working in Barranquilla. I am looking for private students. Does anyone have any information or contacts?

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curramberochris says on Mar 1, 2008, 05:53:

Charging 40,000 an hour won't get you many studetns........It doesn't matter if you are an amazing teacher, most people won't `pay that for an english class. The peopel who can pay that sort of money probably are fluent in English already.....

Obviously it depends on the city(Botogà pays more than B`quilla) and the type of clients you are targeting but unless you go for exectutives in companies.......40k is a bit steep in my opinion!

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curramberochris says on Mar 1, 2008, 05:53:

Why so many people coming to Barranquilla?

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