In an earlier post, I mentioned the low student enrollment at our colleges right now. I don't have the figures in front of me, although the English chair at my college did share them with me recently. I think, overall, we're down 33% we were last year. But if we drill that number down and look at simply the ESL enrollment at my community college, we're down 77%. Oi! As disheartening as these statistics are, they aren't surprising to me. (Again, I explain in another post why I think ESL students aren't enrolling for college right now.) The fact of the matter is, there simply isn't a lot of opportunity for teaching at the college. Not for part-time folks like me and especially if I want a class of ESL students. Thankfully, my backup gig is seeing us through! I work for an online tutoring company (Upswing), which serves over 60 different colleges across the USA. I've previously talked about Upswing and my love for coaching writing with them, so I won't go too much into that in this post. Let's instead talk about ESL cravings. It may sound strange to someone outside my field, but it's a thing! I've talked to other TESOL instructors, many of whom have had to straddle various jobs, either tutoring writing or teaching freshman comp, for example, and they've expressed the same cravings or wants. They're often coupled with travel cravings, so if you've ever had the traveling bug, you know what I'm talking about! I'm very happy with my main sources of income (at the college and at Upswing), but there are times when I wish I worked with more ESL students. Yes, I see them sometimes at Upswing, but not often enough... About two weeks ago, I started looking into additional tutoring gigs, not because I need something more during the semester but because I wanted to connect with ESL students! A friend of mine suggested VIP kids and Magic Ears, both of which have pretty flexible schedules and decent pay. He really likes it and encouraged me to apply. I didn't end up doing that, mostly because I'm not fond of waking up at 4am, but also because I'm not that great with kids. Not yet anyway. Maybe someday I'll be better at it. But for now, I'd like to stick with adults. That was about the time I remembered Cambly. Another friend of mine, who also teaches at the community college, told me she really likes tutoring with them, so I looked into it. They pay dirt (only about $10 an hour), but that doesn't bother me! I already have two good paying jobs. Besides, I think the learners pay out of their pocket, and I'd prefer it to be cheap so they can connect more easily.
Two things I like about Cambly: 1. It's centered around natural, free-flowing conversation! Not only is it fun to talk to people around the world, but it's just what these students need. Practice, practice, practice, right? It's a pretty brilliant concept, and I'm glad I found it, not only to satisfy my ESL cravings, but also to help students around the world. 2. It isn't tied to a semester! People always say to teachers, "You're so lucky you get winter break and summers off!" Sometimes it is a relief to get major holidays off. But sometimes, it's not. What some people don't know is that a lot of teachers aren't paid during their breaks. Money can be especially tight in the summer if you can't find a teaching gig. Covid has created a boost in summer tutoring, but even tutoring (in normal times) can be a dud. College students, too, (as you can imagine) want to take time off from their students. So, having something that isn't tied to a specific semester schedule is kind of nice! Cambly learners aren't always students. Sometimes they're people trying to keep up with their English (so they don't lose it) or want to improve their English because they want better job opportunities. It's kind of a crazy world right now! But I will say this: I'm glad I have a degree and passion for teaching that allows me to look into all kinds of job opportunities.
NOTE: Cambly doesn't require a TESOL certificate or even Bachelor's, so if you're a native speaker of English (or have exceptionally good English) and need some extra cash (or just want to connect with people around the world!) you might want to look into tutoring ESL online.
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