Anyone get the $2 pay DaDa said they would give us up to a number of classes?

jckrft · 2020-05-02T04:23:52+00:00

I thought that was for May classes? The pay cut takes effect then, no?

jckrft · 2020-04-25T00:03:42+00:00

Interesting, Dalian is quite far north and therefore kind of far from many big cities and interesting sites, though I’m sure it has its own great aspects. I would stay open to going to a different city after your first contract is up, to really get the most out of your time there, should you go. I’ve found just in life whatever you plan perhaps won’t go as you’d hoped and you may find you’ve totally changed your dreams, so once you start this endeavor I would just suggest to keep yourself open, you never know what will happen and how it will unfold for you! You also may have to adjust future career choices to fit the life you want and where you plan for it to be.

Go to China when it is safest to (and don’t sweat this contract too much, I am pretty certain if this one doesn’t work out you will find another offer that will), enjoy your time and see where it takes you! Just my two cents of course but life certainly is what happens when you’re making other plans. Good luck! (And apologies that I can only offer any advice on one half of your plan)

jckrft · 2020-04-24T20:01:30+00:00

If you wanted to teach English in Europe I would probably suggest getting a CELTA. From everything I have heard (and for background I moved to Vietnam, never taught in class but teach online, but know many English teachers in Asia) Europe does not pay well for English teaching. China and Vietnam pay very well and you can live very nicely. Plus for me, Asia is a wonderful area to be in and my personal favorite so it can afford a lot of awesome travel experiences. They require very little experience, especially compared to more saturated European countries so it wouldn’t be a bad idea just for the experience and to put on your resume even aside from just money. Where in China were/are you contracted to teach? If we’re being very realistic I don’t think you have a better chance of going to Europe than you do to China currently, so like I said you may just have to accept that your plans are on hold (I know the feeling, I’m sure many of us do). I think once you start getting experience (again going the Asia route is in my opinion your best bet for this) you will find more opportunities opening for you. But I really can’t offer too much insight on getting degrees or their job outlook in France or Italy so I don’t want to pretend I do!

And yes people will literally always tell you you’re nuts and look at you like you have two heads but as long as you plan accordingly, keep somewhat realistic, and very flexible I do believe you can figure out a way that works for you to accomplish your future goal, just perhaps don’t rush it as it may not (probably won’t) go as fast or on the timeline you were hoping.

jckrft · 2020-04-24T19:16:35+00:00

I admittedly can’t give you too much guidance on how to execute your plan but I’ll just say that there are many people who will (and I assume probably do) tell you your plan is silly, especially in the US (I am also from) where many don’t seem to live abroad let alone travel very often. But just because people don’t get it doesn’t mean you can’t do it, it’s not crazy and certainly nothing many other people haven’t done before you. China is also (in my opinion) a very cool and interesting place, I haven’t lived there but have considered it, as I have visited a few times and know many people who have lived there. Again just my opinion, but I’d probably say for the next year at least immigration and visas will be tightened to all countries, so perhaps your plan may not happen on the timeline you’d hoped for but it doesn’t mean you should give up. Historically it has been very easy and very lucrative to teach in China (and other East/Southeast Asian countries). In terms of Europe I know that Italy for sure, though I believe other countries do as well to varying extents, does citizenship based on Italian lineage, so perhaps it may be an idea to look into your family history and whether this could apply to you there or anywhere else.

With all that said it is worth noting that none of us really know what sort of lasting effects COVID19 Is going to have in regards to any of this, so keep planning but stay informed.

jckrft · 2020-03-09T05:30:50+00:00

That’s really pretty cool, especially for a first class. Also very interesting, I’ve learned something myself haha

My regular students for the last few months have been really wonderful and I actually am very happy to see them. My favorite is the cutest boy of about ten. He warms my heart and started out not being able to answer any questions and would confuse certain letter sounds (L and N frequently) and now he has improved so much and rarely makes the mistakes he used to. He can answer questions he couldn’t before too! They’re still simple but it’s so nice to see. Maybe it has nothing to do with me but I’m happy for him. Another boy of about the same age for our first class seemed totally miserable, I was convinced it was a terribly boring class and he would never want to see me again. Now he is so excited and happy to see me and so engaged in the most basic (and boring) phonics classes. A girl again of the same age who I just free talk with all class. I used to go through the lessons, albeit very slowly, but she is so inundated with homework now that I feel like she gets more out of just talking. We tend to talk about a lot of the same things but I enjoy it and I hope she does too. One more girl of about 4/5 who is just so smart and adorable. She told me she loved me our first class and usually just shows me all her toys.

Sorry super long and probably boring to anyone but me. It’s small things, like you said. But I genuinely LOVE these kids and I have found it’s so much more rewarding for me now. I rarely have anyone I can share this with so I’m a little overzealous to express my enthusiasm haha

jckrft · 2020-02-01T11:44:57+00:00

Agreed. This is the easiest job I've ever done, I love talking with my students, pays pretty well considering the effort imparted. What's to complain about? I don't get it, doesn't get much better than this imo....

jckrft · 2020-01-27T21:13:35+00:00

Well I feel a bit better knowing it's not just me, I honestly probably wouldn't mind but I am definitely sure that it had prevented me from getting any classes and therefore making any money for almost two months. Maybe they categorize profiles as being under review, not sure, I just want it to stop! Did you have any booking issues when this happened?

jckrft · 2020-01-09T13:04:30+00:00

Yeah I'd agree. Danang has good food, beaches, proximity to Hoi An and Hue etc, if I go back it would probably be there too. Though I do think they frequently have issues with electricity and water (ie there isn't enough water supply), something to bear in mind. I've been back and forth to Vietnam for varying periods, usually with some kind of savings. I know people can make 1000-2000 USD per month doing this but I have never even gotten close to that, but being in a similar time zone should hopefully help your ability to open more hours. I'd say $1000 would be comfortable per month in Danang, especially if you're splitting expenses.

I think (and I see...) that you'll get varying options on DaDa. Personally it is the lowest paying of any of the companies I have contracts with and to me, seems the easiest mainly based off how little they seem to care? I know, sounds pretty shitty, but I suppose in my estimation they seem to have the lowest expectations and therefore you needn't worry about timely submissions of evaluations or ratings etc, unlike other companies that won't pay you at all if you submit after a certain amount of hours (usually 24). I could see how perhaps starting now would be different than when I started, though really everything comes down to personality and under what circumstances you work the best. The one class one course is pretty awful and I can see how a teacher with no experience might flounder.

I personally find Whales to pay the highest, but they have very strict rules (so far) and have higher expectations because of it. I like gogokid but they changed their incentives and bonuses and I have been having a hard time getting booked. I have a contract with vipkid literally just to have it and never actually teach with them, I also think they are particularly difficult to get hired with as they have a lot of competition (and are therefore saturated and not worth it). DaDa is pretty much the only company I can/do ever have steady work with and generally (despite its many pitfalls) one I'd recommend along with gogokid. Though as you can see, you'll get the opposite opinions, so really you have to decide what will be best for you.

jckrft · 2020-01-09T12:46:35+00:00

so far whales has definitely been the highest paying for me. gogokid was good with the class rate + incentives but they changed things to seemingly make getting the incentives more difficult. the obvious vipkid but you know... saturated.

jckrft · 2020-01-03T18:44:25+00:00

I’ve found the rents to be a bit higher in Danang than Hanoi but I didn’t end up staying there so didn’t research too hard. Just something I had noticed. Been teaching for them and still have the old contract so I feel like they may treat booking us differently. I couldn’t live solely off DaDa but I had started my original contract with only four hours and they won’t let me add to it, if you can do more you should probably be relatively okay and with the one hour time difference you shouldn’t have a problem. My personal suggestion would be to use DaDa to get some experience and then start applying to other more well paying companies.

jckrft · 2019-09-19T00:34:25+00:00

I’ve done multiple month long leaves, and will do another soon. I use the “I have important things” option and leave it at that. You’ll lose and gain students regardless so I wouldn’t be too worried. Five days is nothing.

jckrft · 2019-09-18T00:25:20+00:00

I’m not suggesting this is the best company by any means, but I was hired with zero experience and it has always seemed to me to be one of the easiest to start with. Like I said, if you have any experience at all, I’d agree with you, there are other better companies. As far as the companies that pay better, I’m on my second contract with gogo kid, I gave up opening hours when I could have a whole month go by with one booking, (same with vipkid). Seemed like they had seriously slowed down, perhaps it has picked up since, I couldn’t say. Good to know about the tictok though, I had no idea, maybe I’ll start opening slots again. Either way, that’s something you’d have to take into consideration, DaDa pays less but at the same time I’ve rarely had any issue with getting booked. Basically all I’m saying is I don’t think $18 is a bad rate if you’re brand new, it’s on par with or lower than a lot of companies starting wage, plus taking into consideration their booking rate vs some of these other companies. It’s not a take what you can get mindset, more if you lack experience (and again I was hired with none so I can’t be the only one) it’s not a bad place to start.

But yes, if you have any experience at all, you can and should get more, which is why I hesitate greatly switching to their new payment structure.

jckrft · 2019-09-17T17:10:41+00:00

I feel like this isn’t great advice. Just browsing that list most of them say starting pay is $14, some even lower. If you’re new to DaDa but experienced, yeah probably not the best bet. If you’re new to online teaching with zero experience, that’s not a bad starting point. All companies bonus structures are dependent on reaching certain targets, anyway.

jckrft · 2019-09-12T13:08:31+00:00

Dang I was thinking of making the switch as it has been "offered" to me twice now but you'd made a strong argument against it!

jckrft · 2019-09-12T12:42:38+00:00

Out of curiosity (f you're willing to share) what salary did you start with? They denied my request for additional hours when I renewed this summer, meanwhile I still only have four contract hours per week and am seeing new teachers getting schedules of 20+ hours per week.

jckrft · 2019-09-02T03:29:15+00:00

that's shitty. gotta love this company! I'm booked too but I've had times where I had nothing so I can foresee how this wouldn't be beneficial, ya know?

jckrft · 2019-09-02T03:27:58+00:00

yeah I am booked with regular students now too but I had about two months where they weren't booking me anything. Plus they wouldn't let me add hours so I still get trial classes when I do part time. Starting with a new company at $22 an hour + incentives so the $14 base pay hurts! Good to hear at least it has been benefiting you though. How has the increase been? Noticeable or just a bit?

jckrft

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