Basics:
Open English enlists freelancers to teach English to students in Latin America
Expected pay: $7 to $13 per hour
Husl$core: $$$
Commissions & fees: NA
Where: Nationwide/ worldwide (remote)
Requirements: 10 hours of availability a week; bachelor’s degree, teaching experience or TFL or TESOL training; computer with a webcam and microphone; Spanish of Portuguese language skills are a plus
What is Open English?
Open English is an English-language tutoring platform that enlists teachers to help a classroom of kids at a time.
How it works
Open English has two options for potential teachers/tutors. You can teach adults; or you can teach kids.
So the first question you’re going to answer when trying to sign up is which do you prefer — teaching for Open English; or teaching for Open English Junior?
The site will then lead you through a mini-primer about what they’re looking for — primarily people with experience or certificates in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) or Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). You will also need a working microphone and a high-speed Internet connection.
You’ll also need to be at least age 18; and, if you’re not a U.S. citizen or resident, the site is likely to route you to a partner firm that deals with international applicants. From there, you’ll upload a resume; provide your teaching experience; etc.
Open English review (from the tutor’s standpoint)
Unlike some of the other English-tutoring platforms, Open English has its part-time teachers assist a classroom full of students. Teachers say that the students can be at all different levels, which makes instruction more difficult.
In addition, the site uses five different communication platforms, which leads to technological glitches — like believing teachers are offline, when they’re in the middle of teaching a class. And pay is nothing to brag about.
Students come primarily from Latin America, so being able to speak Spanish or Portuguese is a plus.
What we like
On the bright side, the curriculum is set. So you don’t need to spend time preparing. The site does have training videos for those who want instruction, however.
Additionally, the site is open to digital nomads, who may want to teach while they travel. And the pay, while poor by U.S. standards, affords a decent living in many other countries.
Requirements
Open English is primarily looking for people with English as a Foreign Language teaching experience or certifications. However, the EFL or ESL certificates are not required if you have a bachelor’s degree and/or teaching experience.
Other than that, all you need is high-speed Internet, a computer with a camera and microphone and at least 10 hours a week to devote to the platform.
Pay
Teachers are paid once a month through Wise (formerly Transferwise) or via ACH deposit, if you’re a U.S. citizen.
Recommendations
You can sign up with Open English here. However, we still think you can do better with many other teaching and tutoring platforms. For some better options, check out:
Native English-speaker? You’re hired!
What their users say (from Indeed)
We are hired as independent contractors and are expected to fulfill required criteria in order to be in good status. This includes doing reports, training (something unusual for an IC position according IRS), no benefits, no paid leave or holidays, does not meet minimum wage. We get paid hourly, $8 US base wage we have to comply with THEIR method of teaching. Material is repetitive and recycled. Some from 2012-2014. Material repeats every 2 months.
Low pay (no base pay advancements) Management does not COMMUNICATE back to you, or it’s often unhelpful/unclear.-Disorganized (the use of 5 different platforms).-Outdated system which leads to multiple glitches. The system reports you are offline when you are actually online.-Class sizes are getting larger and harder to handle alone (1:15 ratio) with multiple students being at different levels. This made teaching very unenjoyable.
Platform Glitches
When I first started the company, I enjoyed it because of the flexibility. After about a month, I saw all the weaknesses and mistakes. Their platform is ancient has many mistakes. It shows you as offline when you’re really online and teaching. The company then sends you a warning then takes it back. The pay is horrible. It is actually the lowest in the industry. They also charge students the highest. From what I see, most teachers are not qualified and the students can tell. They leave multiple complaints because teachers just go off the PDFs than actually teaching. Management doesn’t exist here. There’s no coaching, no meetings. Nothing. This is a horrible company to work for.
Good side hustle. The pay is enough if you are a frugal person. The pay raise scheme is interesting. You get a raise of 1$ per hour after a certain # of hours and good performance. It feels like they are making us work towards this raise and be rewarded with the amount they intended to pay initially. However, by rewarding us with 1$ extra per hour we feel happy, it’s pretty smart if you think about it..
As a stay at home mother, this is a good job to have. You don’t earn a lot but you can earn a little while being at home. The work is not very challenging and you get to meet a lot of interesting people from South America.
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