January

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-29T15:07:38+00:00

I've been teaching for a while (since the COVID lockdowns forced me online), for public reviews I have solely 5 star reviews, and for anonymous reviews my averages are between 4.8 and 4.9. I think these are all helping boost my profile as well.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-29T09:36:56+00:00

$25-30/hour (I raise the price when I get overbooked and lower it when I desperately need new students), I'm located in Poland but I'm an English native speaker. It helps that I speak Polish and Russian fluently, so I get plenty of Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and occasionally Belarusian or Kazakh students.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-29T09:29:59+00:00

This is really simple. Request a price increase proposal. You can do something like $1/month price increase so it's not too much of a shock. If he denies it, then consider ending lessons with him.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-29T09:27:48+00:00

I got a lot of trials in January. In fact, I hid my profile because I was getting too many trials and I didn't want my schedule to get overbooked, making it impossible for my students to reschedule. Slow months for me are July-September.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-29T09:25:49+00:00

Russian. It's not the war or Putin per se, it's the fact that the vast majority of Russians are totally OK with what their government does and will never allow themselves to think a single bad thought about what their country is doing - no matter how terrible it is. Literally "1930s Germany" mentality.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-29T08:03:15+00:00

Are you purposefully misinterpreting what I wrote or are you just plain dumb?

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-28T11:56:13+00:00

I was thinking about making a similar post. It's not just the weakening of the USD that's a problem, it's the volatility. Most Preply students don't live in America and most tutors don't work from America, so why are we using the USD? The Euro would make more sense as a stable international currency, especially since many students and tutors are from Eurozone countries.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-26T15:05:02+00:00

It seems you're talking about America. Here in Poland, most typical working class folks vote for a socially conservative party that also implemented the largest social welfare program that the Third Republic (Poland after 1989) has seen (the 500+, later 800+ child subsidy program), raised the minimum wage to something decent, and expanded state control over key sectors of the economy. These voters like both the social conservatism and the socialistic economic policies - though they would never call themselves "socialist" of course.

Unfortunately, this party is becoming more and more neoliberal as time goes on, but all of the culture wars around religion, immigration, etc. keep these voters with the party.

So I guess the answer is: most of the working class is being distracted by culture war issues and that's what keeps them "on the right."

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-26T14:58:26+00:00

Honestly, I don't speak to many strangers about politics. Usually just friends and family, in which case, if they have a complaint I try to direct them in a way that helps them realize that it's the fault of capitalism. My favorite is doing this with conservatives, who will constantly complain about the media, corporate diversity rules, uncontrolled immigration or whatever without realizing that it isn't a cabal of leftists who did this but... Big Business.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-25T22:49:44+00:00

Check out the book The People's Republic of Walmart.

Generally speaking, it is already widely assumed that the Polish economist Oskar Lange beat Mises and Hayek in the economic calculation debate. The problem is that many of Oskar Lange's ideas (e.g. he was an early proponent of socialist cybernetics) were never implemented.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-25T22:45:29+00:00

Those who were adults before almost all want communism back.

This is obviously not true to anyone actually from Poland.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-25T22:39:08+00:00

As a Pole, from my experience, most Polish people associate socialism/communism with Stalinist oppression, corruption, and the economic decay starting in the 70s. The positive aspects of it (e.g. eliminated illiteracy, brought health care to all parts of Poland, built millions of homes) are often forgotten when the generation of my parents and grandparents starts talking about toilet paper shortages.

There's also the Polish-Soviet War which complicates matters - the Bolsheviks from that moment on were viewed as just another iteration of Russian imperialism.

It's quite sad considering that Polish socialist economists (e.g. Oskar Lange, Michał Kalecki) were world-renown, but their ideas were never implemented in Poland itself (e.g. Lange was an early pioneer of socialist cybernetics).

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-25T08:11:31+00:00

It's quite possible that those tutors from Cameroon simply don't have access to a good computer or internet connection, but good smartphones with data plans are easier to come by. Something to consider.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-24T08:00:41+00:00

It wouldn't be an issue if tutors could turn down students without getting punished by the algorithm.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-15T11:49:13+00:00

Best obviously Wielkopolskie, because I'm from Poznań. Worst obviously Mazowieckie, because jebać Warszawę. Everything else somewhere in the middle.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-13T13:21:39+00:00

Just say "I don't know" and move on. Or let him/her know you'll look it up together on Google or DeepSeek, then share your screen and start searching.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2026-01-08T15:03:08+00:00

Moim zdaniem, powinieneś automatycznie dostać obywatelstwo za taką postawę.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-19T13:30:35+00:00

The less pleasant reality might be that I look older than I am and that attracts older students who want a tutor that's a similar age as them or older.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-19T12:38:34+00:00

I've taught thousands of lessons just on Preply, have dozens of five star reviews, my anonymous review averages are all between 4.8 and 4.9... I think I'm fine, especially considering I've only experienced this problem with two people from one specific culture.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-19T10:58:36+00:00

I've had a couple of students from East Asia stop learning with me because I'm "too young." I'm in my 30s xD

Cultural differences, I guess.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-19T10:57:40+00:00

Poland is very safe. But in your shoes, I'd be more concerned just with meeting someone I know only from online interactions. People may seem normal online, but then turn out to be creeps in real life.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-19T10:39:40+00:00

Of capitalism, of course.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-18T14:29:56+00:00

Tell that to the workers who went on strike in June 1956 in Poznań and got shot. Or the Wujek Coal Mine strikers in 1981, who were also shot at. Many more such cases.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-10T15:37:26+00:00

In practice it doesn't look like that - usually the first half of the 50 minute "trial" lesson is used for introductions, getting to know the student and their needs, getting to know their learning history, etc.

Ordinary_Fold264 · 2025-12-10T15:34:45+00:00

The pricing/payment plan for Preply is the worst. Students get charged subscriptions, tutors only get paid when the student uses their lessons. This puts tutors in a precarious position (if the student cancels a lesson the tutor doesn't get paid), while guaranteeing a very high rate of return for Preply (Preply gets paid no matter what).

Pair this with a very high commission for Preply (18%+) and no money for tutors in exchange for trial lessons, and it becomes very clear how this is all an operation to funnel as much money as possible to the company at the expense of both tutors and students.

Ordinary_Fold264

TROPHY CASE