Teaching English online to support yourself

[Cornfed]

Ok, minimalist living, but in the real world it is around 2k a month. And thats...

[IvanMNG]

Yea but the point of the argument or rather the question was whether native speakers should get into teaching online as a way of making money. And to that I say hell no because there are a million and one better ways for a native English speaker (i.e. first world) to make money. If someone's content with living a barely average standard in a 3rd world country then yes, I agree the person cannot complain about being paid a shitty wage. But that's what you're going to get as an online teacher.

[Winston]

Ok, minimalist living, but in the real world it is around 2k a month. And thats...

What's the real world? Most of the world makes about one dollar a day I heard. Half the people in the Philippines are unemployed and live on zero income. Yet they have food to eat and don't have to pay rent or mortgage. Outside the USA it's a lot easier to survive without money because people don't have to pay mortgage or debt. And they can live off the land and crops, which people will gladly share with each other. It's not like the US where if you don't have money you're screwed.

It depends on where you want to live though. It's all relative. There is no fixed amount you need. You are imagining things.

[Winston]

Yea but the point of the argument or rather the question was whether native speakers should get into teaching online as a way of making money. And to that I say hell no because there are a million and one better ways for a native English speaker (i.e. first world) to make money. If someone's content with living a barely average standard in a 3rd world country then yes, I agree the person cannot complain about being paid a shitty wage. But that's what you're going to get as an online teacher.

But most people cannot just find a job that easily overseas. It takes time. But it depends on where you are going to live. Some countries aren't worth it to work in. For example, no western expat will work for a Filipino company in the Philippines because it's like working for free. They will work for a western company in the Philippines, but that's not that easy to get.

What do you mean a million ways? That's a lot. Why don't you list all the ways an expat can make a living overseas then? If there are a million ways to make money, why don't you list the top 10?

Again, 10 dollars an hour is not a shitty wage. It's way above average in many countries, such as Philippines. You can live ok there for 400 USD a month. So you are wrong about that. That's what I'm contesting. Maybe your budgeting skills suck. I don't know. But you are incorrect sir.

In the early 1990's when I started working, 10 dollars an hour was considered a good wage in the US even, and many college students, including Asian students, envied me for making $9 an hour, which was a wage they dreamed of having. I quickly saved up a thousand dollars after a few weeks working there.

So no. It is not shitty. Not by the standards of most of the world.

[Winston]

You guys didnt answer my question. If you were employers, would you like it if everyone wanted you to pay them 30 dollars per hour, even if they dont have any special technical skills, just because they have high self esteem and were told by the self improvement industry that they deserve the very best? Lol. Why cant you put yourself in others shoes and answer honestly?

[Cornfed]

Ok, minimalist living, but in the real world it is around 2k a month. And thats...

What's the real world? Most of the world makes about one dollar a day I heard. Half the people in the Philippines are unemployed and live on zero income.

Well obviously we can't do that. That is the point.

[Cornfed]

You guys didnt answer my question. If you were employers, would you like it if everyone wanted you to pay them 30 dollars per hour

It may or may not be how much we are worth, but it is about how much we cost.

[fleetingparadise]

I teach online for a Chinese company. They pay me only $16 usd an hour, and they only give me 10 hours a week. If the student doesn't show up, I only get half pay. I have at least 1 or 2 students pull a no show every night I teach. It's not enough to sustain yourself even in Southeast Asia, unless you want to eat rice every day (which is a problem for diabetics too) and live in some shithole apartment with no air con. If girls see the way you live, you're probably going to lose them. Especially if you're older than 30. Maybe a young, good looking guy could pull it off.

I suppose if you have two online teaching jobs or get more hours, it'd be enough. But who wants to work 6-7 days a week? You won't be able to save any significant amount of money either. You don't get to choose your schedule. You have to work peak Beijing hours with is 6pm-9pm weekdays, or 9am - 6pm on Sat and Sun in China.

I used to work for 51talk as well. As Ghost pointed out, your student have to choose you, and it's very hard to get students initially. I didn't know they were trying to replace native speakers with Filipinos, however. That's bad news.

[Berg]

I live in Germany but I still am in NYC I have done some English courses from here and now I am teaching those people who come from the Asian side like Pakistan, Bangladesh and etc.
I personally think that some people who are not get educated about their financial situation it's our duty to teach them and support them to make their life better and in future, they support their families.

Thank You.