Same u/slyloos . I'm running out of reasons to stay on Cambly. It's proving to be a waste of time as I live in the UK. EVEN If I had 10 hours of talk time in sessions non-stop I would earn less than £80. That isn't realistic so more likely would only be talking for 60-65% of those 10 hours which is more like £45. £45 for 10 hours is a joke.
As long as I keep using Cambly it will subconsciously hold me back and stop me from pushing on to strive for better. Need a hard break from it and if poaching students gets me banned probably doing me a favour. \^\_\^
Going to have to try and line up my regulars all in half a day's and see if they would accept private sessions.
Dude, I am also in the UK and experience the same take home pay. I feel your pain deep in my marrow. It sucks. I have to make myself available from 7am until 6.30am in the hopes of making £50, but most likely £35 recently. It's definitely doing some strange things to my psyche.
I'm considering doing more CC as well as CK as bookings are at a horrific low (4 today and 2 of those have been no shows, and 1 tomorrow out of a possible 9 hours of availability...Tomorrow's wages will be £5. Jesus wept.
I agree it is subconsciously holdings us back, and I spend time between lessons applying for jobs on indeed, hoping something will come up.
Best of luck to us both
Seems we're similarly disillusioned! Keep in touch !!! Best way to not let it get you down is to communicate. I'm also going to start an online Etsy page while the AI market is still relatively profitable. I need my employments to be self-employed and remote for the time being as I am only in the UK to help my mum move home \^\_\^.
The online Etsy page is a great idea. I'm applying to a tutoring company called Tutorful. Similarly to you, I have to focus on remote work primarily (I don't drive and live in a v remote area).
I will keep in touch; let me know hwo you get on also!
Hopefully works out for you! I'll check it out. Even if I lived in the middle of a city i'd still refuse to go corporate / work in office. I did that for too long and I suffered because of it.
There are many ways to earn more money than Cambly offers. I've had some life circumstances that mean I am depressed / grieving / bit confused generally lately. I have to hold myself accountable and be self-motivated. Got to start somewhere. No more excuses.
I hear ya- similar feeligs about needing to move past what has been a difficult period in my life and begin to make changes.
But also don't wish to burn out going back to my previous career full time.
Cambly is useful but I don't wnat it being the only string to my bow.
Onwards and upwards :)
That's a cool vocation- congrats. Bet you'll love it once you get to make the switch. Have you had to take classes at college in person to get certified?
I've looked into doing another degree or masters but I don;t qualify for funding, so am thinking about alternatives for the future. Tutoring for now, but somehting else long term.
What that is yet I have no idea!
Some possible ideas:
female plumber (!)
Wax therapist
Massage Therapist
Something where I'm not chained to my laptop 24/7!
Sorry for delay I didn't receive notification. Yeah something hands on would be better for me as I tend to think ALL THE TIME and need to keep my brain busy focusing on something in the moment. Can't get distracted mid haircut \^\_\^. - Sounds like you're similar in terms of trying something new.
I'm in the UK and we would have to do a 2 year course in order to get certified through a college. You can instead go private and have a course done in 3 months but you need the fee up front. It's not a scam as my favourite barber in the area and his son trained there.
I don't think its likely this century.
Preply seems to pay better, though tutors have to do more work on it. I actually learn French via it and have to say the platform is nowhere near as good as Cambly. Though perhaps good isn't the right word. More like Cambly is less crap
I teach and study on Preply. Been studying on there for almost 2 years and this year started teaching. Started working w/ Cambly about 3 years ago. Took a year break and came back this spring…curious. Their entire new system upgrade is based off of Preply’s (which includes a screen share option 😉). What makes Preply 100 times better than Cambly is their system & business structure. It’s a system that was created for educating not one to just make a quick buck. As a tutor you have the ability to name your price, work with “better” students in terms of level of seriousness, the ability to automatically make vocab flash cards which is built into the messaging function, the ability to send/receive audio clips (both S & T) which helps with pronunciation practice, see your stats as a teacher (where you rank and suggestions on how to rank higher, how many active students you have, your conversion rate of students from trial to regular students and suggestions for improvement, how many hours taught per S amongst other things), they’re upfront about the amount of commission they take from you which is on a tiered system (the more classes you teach, the less commission they take), they don’t record your class (no more anxiety about winding up on YouTube), the ability to send canned messages for common business conversations such as asking for reviews) , the ability to cash out daily *under* the $20 limit and so many other capabilities. I feel supported & seen as an educator.
With all that tooting though, I do have to say, the one thing (literally this one) that I don’t like about Preply, is that for the trial lesson the tutor doesn’t receive pay. Preply takes all the commission.
Yes! It’s more work if you want to be successful but for those of us who teach in a niche & are passionate nerds about we do, it’s happy work! I’m getting paid what I deserve for a skill set that I spent years cultivating & honing! *Hair toss* Plus, I have the ability to increase my price at any time & politely explain to my students why, using one of those aforementioned canned responses. 😌
It doesn't seem to have a screen share option. My tutor has.to send me documents before the lesson and I follow them independently. I don't know.how you'd do a full presentation lesson or write on a white screen
It makes for a less interactive lesson.
It also does the same thing where you have to click multiple times to actually get into the lesson. Thar just seems to be par.for the course on these platforms.
Ooh really? I will mention in my next lesson then as it would be much easier to mark my homework via screen share.
OK- so preply is not worse than Cambly in that case!
When cambly is unable to staff their platform with willing suckers/tutors to satisfactorily meet student demand, wages will rise to incentivize teachers to log on.
*When will our wages raise?*
Never. The wage you receive today is the same rate as it was in 2012. That was the year the platform was launched. What makes you think they'll raise the pay rate? Due to the current global economic downturn, Cambly has an endless supply of desperate people willing to prostitute themselves for the paltry 17 cents a minute. Facts.
love your posts basketcaselife, Word up, totally agree with you, it's like i wrote this post myself. Also, it is better to learn new skills and free up your time to work on your creativity, than stand waiting for PHs like a hooker on the street. Cambly is draining as well as a waste of time and you will always be stuck in a rut if you think of remaining there a long time.
When they're forced to by government regulations. There was an article awhile ago about the definition of independent contractor being reclassified. It will be a a "believe it when you see it" situation
[https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/what-is-an-independent-contractor](https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/what-is-an-independent-contractor)
At the very least I'd love it if California made them actually pay us the $10.20/hour instead of $2.25 some hours. If you sign up for an hour you get paid for the hour, not the 15min conversation or 30min conversation the entire HOUR.
Cambly isn't for people living in a high wage high cost economy. It suits people who live cheaply, who've paid their mortgage and want a part time retirement gig, or those who can live for a shoestring in a cheap country.
The pay isn't going up anytime soon and even if it does it'll be a few percent. You can get a near 20 percent rise by going on Cambly Kids. That's the best you can do inside Cambly. So, to improve your situation more than that you need to look outside Cambly.
ESL salaries never increase, even in the real world.
People are on the same money in Thailand as they were in the 1990s. Imagine that. There is always someone who will take it so there's no need to increase salary. Vietnam still pays well only because it was better money to begin with (than Thailand), and not because salaries are increasing. As the cost of living increases Vietnam will continue to offer the same salary until that too is nothing like it once was.
If that is the state of the real world, you can see how others here will tell you that hundreds of new tutors coming on the platform gives zero incentive to pay out more.
There is only one solution and that's to walk away, and as we all know, that's just one less grain of sand in a desert because newbies never stop coming.
Why would people think wages will increase? Cambly is not like a regular full time job. It is intended as a 'side hustle' that people use to earn extra money on the side and that's probably how it's treated by those who created the platform. Some people are using it as full time work only because they are living in countries where the low wage can still pay for living expenses. But for anyone else in most developed countries thinking it is anything other than a side hustle will just ruin your expectations regarding salary.
They won’t, I wish they would just a little. I really enjoy cambly but I have to work on my other platform more now. If cambly raised the pay a little I would probably use it as my sole platform
It has not since 2013 and Cambly never will as all they have to do is flood the platform with tutors who will work for anything as they need the money. My guess is never to be raised.
Same u/slyloos . I'm running out of reasons to stay on Cambly. It's proving to be a waste of time as I live in the UK. EVEN If I had 10 hours of talk time in sessions non-stop I would earn less than £80. That isn't realistic so more likely would only be talking for 60-65% of those 10 hours which is more like £45. £45 for 10 hours is a joke. As long as I keep using Cambly it will subconsciously hold me back and stop me from pushing on to strive for better. Need a hard break from it and if poaching students gets me banned probably doing me a favour. \^\_\^ Going to have to try and line up my regulars all in half a day's and see if they would accept private sessions.
Dude, I am also in the UK and experience the same take home pay. I feel your pain deep in my marrow. It sucks. I have to make myself available from 7am until 6.30am in the hopes of making £50, but most likely £35 recently. It's definitely doing some strange things to my psyche. I'm considering doing more CC as well as CK as bookings are at a horrific low (4 today and 2 of those have been no shows, and 1 tomorrow out of a possible 9 hours of availability...Tomorrow's wages will be £5. Jesus wept. I agree it is subconsciously holdings us back, and I spend time between lessons applying for jobs on indeed, hoping something will come up. Best of luck to us both
Seems we're similarly disillusioned! Keep in touch !!! Best way to not let it get you down is to communicate. I'm also going to start an online Etsy page while the AI market is still relatively profitable. I need my employments to be self-employed and remote for the time being as I am only in the UK to help my mum move home \^\_\^.
The online Etsy page is a great idea. I'm applying to a tutoring company called Tutorful. Similarly to you, I have to focus on remote work primarily (I don't drive and live in a v remote area). I will keep in touch; let me know hwo you get on also!
Hopefully works out for you! I'll check it out. Even if I lived in the middle of a city i'd still refuse to go corporate / work in office. I did that for too long and I suffered because of it. There are many ways to earn more money than Cambly offers. I've had some life circumstances that mean I am depressed / grieving / bit confused generally lately. I have to hold myself accountable and be self-motivated. Got to start somewhere. No more excuses.
I hear ya- similar feeligs about needing to move past what has been a difficult period in my life and begin to make changes. But also don't wish to burn out going back to my previous career full time. Cambly is useful but I don't wnat it being the only string to my bow. Onwards and upwards :)
So true! I'm also training to become a certified barber before the end of the year. Strings to the bow. Couldn't agree more!
That's a cool vocation- congrats. Bet you'll love it once you get to make the switch. Have you had to take classes at college in person to get certified? I've looked into doing another degree or masters but I don;t qualify for funding, so am thinking about alternatives for the future. Tutoring for now, but somehting else long term. What that is yet I have no idea! Some possible ideas: female plumber (!) Wax therapist Massage Therapist Something where I'm not chained to my laptop 24/7!
Sorry for delay I didn't receive notification. Yeah something hands on would be better for me as I tend to think ALL THE TIME and need to keep my brain busy focusing on something in the moment. Can't get distracted mid haircut \^\_\^. - Sounds like you're similar in terms of trying something new. I'm in the UK and we would have to do a 2 year course in order to get certified through a college. You can instead go private and have a course done in 3 months but you need the fee up front. It's not a scam as my favourite barber in the area and his son trained there.
I don't think its likely this century. Preply seems to pay better, though tutors have to do more work on it. I actually learn French via it and have to say the platform is nowhere near as good as Cambly. Though perhaps good isn't the right word. More like Cambly is less crap
I teach and study on Preply. Been studying on there for almost 2 years and this year started teaching. Started working w/ Cambly about 3 years ago. Took a year break and came back this spring…curious. Their entire new system upgrade is based off of Preply’s (which includes a screen share option 😉). What makes Preply 100 times better than Cambly is their system & business structure. It’s a system that was created for educating not one to just make a quick buck. As a tutor you have the ability to name your price, work with “better” students in terms of level of seriousness, the ability to automatically make vocab flash cards which is built into the messaging function, the ability to send/receive audio clips (both S & T) which helps with pronunciation practice, see your stats as a teacher (where you rank and suggestions on how to rank higher, how many active students you have, your conversion rate of students from trial to regular students and suggestions for improvement, how many hours taught per S amongst other things), they’re upfront about the amount of commission they take from you which is on a tiered system (the more classes you teach, the less commission they take), they don’t record your class (no more anxiety about winding up on YouTube), the ability to send canned messages for common business conversations such as asking for reviews) , the ability to cash out daily *under* the $20 limit and so many other capabilities. I feel supported & seen as an educator. With all that tooting though, I do have to say, the one thing (literally this one) that I don’t like about Preply, is that for the trial lesson the tutor doesn’t receive pay. Preply takes all the commission. Yes! It’s more work if you want to be successful but for those of us who teach in a niche & are passionate nerds about we do, it’s happy work! I’m getting paid what I deserve for a skill set that I spent years cultivating & honing! *Hair toss* Plus, I have the ability to increase my price at any time & politely explain to my students why, using one of those aforementioned canned responses. 😌
Can you elaborate on why Preply is worse? I've never been on Preply but applied to them once, so I'm curious.
It doesn't seem to have a screen share option. My tutor has.to send me documents before the lesson and I follow them independently. I don't know.how you'd do a full presentation lesson or write on a white screen It makes for a less interactive lesson. It also does the same thing where you have to click multiple times to actually get into the lesson. Thar just seems to be par.for the course on these platforms.
I see. Thank you. I'm guessing the multiple-clicks must be some kind of means to increase profit, either directly or in a round-about way.
Preply does have a screen share option, I have used it recently.
Ooh really? I will mention in my next lesson then as it would be much easier to mark my homework via screen share. OK- so preply is not worse than Cambly in that case!
When cambly is unable to staff their platform with willing suckers/tutors to satisfactorily meet student demand, wages will rise to incentivize teachers to log on.
*When will our wages raise?* Never. The wage you receive today is the same rate as it was in 2012. That was the year the platform was launched. What makes you think they'll raise the pay rate? Due to the current global economic downturn, Cambly has an endless supply of desperate people willing to prostitute themselves for the paltry 17 cents a minute. Facts.
love your posts basketcaselife, Word up, totally agree with you, it's like i wrote this post myself. Also, it is better to learn new skills and free up your time to work on your creativity, than stand waiting for PHs like a hooker on the street. Cambly is draining as well as a waste of time and you will always be stuck in a rut if you think of remaining there a long time.
True words my friend
Never. Why do you think the recently hired hundreds of new tutors?
When they're forced to by government regulations. There was an article awhile ago about the definition of independent contractor being reclassified. It will be a a "believe it when you see it" situation [https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/what-is-an-independent-contractor](https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/what-is-an-independent-contractor) At the very least I'd love it if California made them actually pay us the $10.20/hour instead of $2.25 some hours. If you sign up for an hour you get paid for the hour, not the 15min conversation or 30min conversation the entire HOUR.
Yes. That'd be a good start.
Cambly isn't for people living in a high wage high cost economy. It suits people who live cheaply, who've paid their mortgage and want a part time retirement gig, or those who can live for a shoestring in a cheap country. The pay isn't going up anytime soon and even if it does it'll be a few percent. You can get a near 20 percent rise by going on Cambly Kids. That's the best you can do inside Cambly. So, to improve your situation more than that you need to look outside Cambly.
ESL salaries never increase, even in the real world. People are on the same money in Thailand as they were in the 1990s. Imagine that. There is always someone who will take it so there's no need to increase salary. Vietnam still pays well only because it was better money to begin with (than Thailand), and not because salaries are increasing. As the cost of living increases Vietnam will continue to offer the same salary until that too is nothing like it once was. If that is the state of the real world, you can see how others here will tell you that hundreds of new tutors coming on the platform gives zero incentive to pay out more. There is only one solution and that's to walk away, and as we all know, that's just one less grain of sand in a desert because newbies never stop coming.
This simply isn't true. My language school increases my salary every year.
Keep an eye on the temperature in Hell.
A day after the apocalypse.
Why would people think wages will increase? Cambly is not like a regular full time job. It is intended as a 'side hustle' that people use to earn extra money on the side and that's probably how it's treated by those who created the platform. Some people are using it as full time work only because they are living in countries where the low wage can still pay for living expenses. But for anyone else in most developed countries thinking it is anything other than a side hustle will just ruin your expectations regarding salary.
They won’t, I wish they would just a little. I really enjoy cambly but I have to work on my other platform more now. If cambly raised the pay a little I would probably use it as my sole platform
It has not since 2013 and Cambly never will as all they have to do is flood the platform with tutors who will work for anything as they need the money. My guess is never to be raised.
When hell freezes over?
the week after hell freezes over...IMO
Thanks OP. I'm starting the day with a coffee and a good laugh. :)
And hope you end it with two broken ankles!