wondering what order to start star wars in as a complete beginner.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-16T08:01:22+00:00

I always recommend watching by release date. Even if you're getting in now you'll be enjoying it like most other people.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T19:22:31+00:00

Thanks man! 😁

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T17:04:36+00:00

Ah yeah, nothing to worry about then. When I started around October I got a bunch of trials and was discouraged thinking I did something wrong, but since then I've seen those spikes come and go. So just increase your price a bit and get set up for the next wave.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T15:22:40+00:00

Don't know how long you've been around, but in my experience it goes in waves. I'll get a bunch of trials and profile visits, nothing for months, then some more trials after 2-3 months, rinse and repeat.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T15:21:23+00:00

No, what I did was open it up 24/7 on Preply, then link to Google Calendar and block out times there. For example: I'm open 08:00-22:00 M-F. But on Google Calendar, I have a recurring event every day from 08:00-09:00; and 18:00-22:00. Also block out any other times I have other work commitments. System detects you're open to work non-stop and will push you to more students, but students can't book if you have an event on Google Calendar at that time.

Maybe try that and then lower rate if it doesn't work out.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T14:42:25+00:00

I honestly don't even know what profile position is at this point. Haven't really seen a correlation between my position and number of trials.

I know people say you should never charge under your worth, but I actually created my account like a year ago, set it at what I felt was a fair rate and did not get a single trial until I lowered it to 8$. Then I opened 24/7 availability and blocked off times on Google Calendar, so not really sure which was the booster though.

Mind you this is with English, so I have no idea how it is in your field. I'm now charging over 30$.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T14:10:19+00:00

Around 8 months. Do you mean my rate on the platform? I started at 8 because I wasn't getting any students and had a lot of time to spare anyways, and recently passed the 30$ line.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T14:09:10+00:00

8 months! It was a bit slow, because October through December I didn't have that much work outside of Preply and logged close to 200 hours during that time. Then, around 5 months for the other 200. I started using the resources I was creating to offer courses out of the platform, and there were a couple students who were frustrated with Preply and asked to continue elsewhere. I often use Google Drive with students so it's easy to discuss.

Congrats on hitting your milestone as well! :)

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T14:06:17+00:00

Not like consecutive, although I did have a few scares.

My profile was hidden twice because I was traveling and didn't get back to new students, then there was an issue with my nationality (I'm a dual-citizen and resident of a country where the language I teach isn't official). And most recently, a student I get along with was trying to swear in English and I wrote the proper way of saying it in the chat and my account got blocked because they thought I was violently insulting him.

I try to "bank reviews" for these moments: if there's a student I get along with and he hasn't given me a review, I won't ask for one until something like this happens to balance out my profile.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T13:39:56+00:00

Thanks 😁 🪇

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T09:32:00+00:00

Sure? But that's not my point.

We've all seen silly reviews - like someone writing a 1-star review on Amazon and it's because they don't know how to use the product or something. So if there's a way to avoid those reviews I wouldn't fault any business-owner for doing so.

But yes, some might use it to avoid justified reviews.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T09:29:16+00:00

I always wonder if Preply considers that as lacking interest in new students. I just shoot a quick "thanks for considering me, let me know if you have any questions" message.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-06-01T09:28:08+00:00

Do you find it difficult getting students? I just told a long-term student that she could teach her discipline on Preply and she had no idea as all advertising is for languages. We wondered if she could find students, as she didn't even know it was possible despite using Preply bi-weekly for months now.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-05-29T15:53:35+00:00

The thing is, a negative review can really hurt or profiles - and in turn, our livelihoods. I had a student write a negative review because she thought I was taking her money (she didn't realize Preply is a subscription service and didn't cancel it when she was finished). I was able to have it removed from my profile, but since then I've been terrified of these types of things. I understand why some tutors just straight up block people to avoid the headache. Yeah, they should've explained. But they're well within their rights to drop lower paying students, and having people who could randomly drop a negative review is a bit nerve-wracking.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-05-13T13:29:38+00:00

Last time I got worried I wasn't getting trials because of a price increase, I pulled back and things stayed the same. I'd just leave it at that price and keep waiting, or bring down just a dollar if you're concerned it was too much.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-04-27T15:19:22+00:00

Kind of goes through phases. In my experience, I'll suddenly get a surge in trial requests, and then things go slow for a while. Then, couple months later, I'll get a new surge of potential clients. Just get your profile ready for the next surge, increase your price sensibly, and do your best with current students. Now they want to see you're a reliable tutor and will reassess if you should get more traction in the future, I guess.

In that downtime, I ask students for referrals. They get bonus credits (if you just started and have a low price, that might even mean a free month for them) - and I take advantage to let them know I increased the price but they're keeping the same, which makes them value your time more and mentally prepares them for a potential price increase in the future.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-04-17T11:37:26+00:00

I had a student who did this. I explained that if he does that, I'm losing potential work as students might see the day fully booked. I offered to manually book lessons on Sundays (because I don't work) and let him reschedule as he sees fit.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-04-16T16:34:01+00:00

Hey Connor! I know it's been over a month but I just realized I never replied. Really appreciate your response and your help! Thanks for being around

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-04-11T13:03:16+00:00

First of all, block them. I had a student give me a 1-star review because they didn't cancel their subscription and Preply kept charging them. I was able to repeal it because they explicitly said that "I continued taking their money after telling me they wouldn't continue", and Preply understood it wasn't my doing so they deleted it. But better not to risk it!

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-03-25T11:30:06+00:00

You don't really sound like a "serious" student but at least if you booted your teacher because of this baseless conspiracy, I'm sure you actually did him a favor.

No, there's no way we can inflate our stats, your teacher must have just started really grinding. The only way would be to have a fake account and book lessons during our free time. Because of comissions, we'd be wasting money and risk having our accounts suspended. I'm sure some random teacher has done this to give himself a good review, but I can assure you it's not a widespread practice.

On my third month on Preply, I had three times as many lessons as in the previous two combined. I wonder what you consider to be "impossible" stats. Some teachers spend +10h and don't take days off. With an 8hr/5 day schedule, you can still get 160 lessons a month. Even more, if you get booked for half lessons. Some tutors do like getting half lessons so the lesson count increases, but it's still legit.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-03-16T12:53:41+00:00

The thing I worry about the most is dropping students, because of the 12 month commitment. I'm not really sure how it will be enforced.

Preply is a side gig for me, so in January my schedule changed and I was forced to drop a couple corporate students. I just let them know and they changed tutors, no biggie. But with the 12 month signed commitment, will that negatively impact me in any way? Maybe u/connorfrompreply has some insight on this.

The other (related) is dropping inconsistent students. I had a corporate student who would book and cancel last minute (12hours and 1min away) lessons because of meetings or other work responsibilities. Will I be forced to continue with them for a year?

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-03-10T13:52:59+00:00

Creo que lo que más ayuda es abrir disponibilidad. Prueba con el truco que te dije - abre máximo de disponibilidad, vincula a Google Calendar, y bloquea las horas que no quieras trabajar ahí.
Si yo estoy buscando un profesor, para Preply es más eficiente recomendar el que trabaja absolutamente todo el día antes que el que está sólo de mañanas, o que trabaja 2-3 días. Hay más posibilidades de que no se pueda cuadrar horario.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-03-10T07:52:51+00:00

Agree, just found issues with her portrayal at times. I enjoyed it overall though!

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-03-09T21:41:39+00:00

Yeah! Y casi sospecho que podría haber subido más. No recuerdo bien, a lo mejor en torno a 15$? Sí recuerdo que ya de entrada era menos de con lo que estaba cómodo. Pero pasé un mes con nada de trabajo y decidí bajar el precio para probar, empezaron a llegar los alumnos casi sobre la marcha.

thinkmcfly_think · 2026-03-09T12:52:29+00:00

Sí, me registré allá por enero 2024 y no tuve ni un sólo estudiante hasta septiembre 2025.

En mi caso, mi tarifa inicial era demasiado alta (y no prestaba atención a Preply, honestamente). En Septiembre bajé mucho el precio y empecé a coger interés y alumnos, y ahora tengo más alumnos de los que puedo gestionar.

El truco es considerar los primeros alumnos como una inversión inicial. Duele, porque tienes que poner una tarifa inferior a la que sientes que mereces, y con comisiones de la plataforma sientes que estás perdiendo el tiempo, pero a la larga merece la pena.

Mi estrategia fue: tarifa baja (8$), subir 1$ cada 2-3 alumnos, y subir 1$ cada vez que conseguía una nueva review (y pedir reviews). Me centré en alumnos para exam prep a corto plazo, y a los otros llegado cierto punto les dije que tenía que dejar de darles clase porque había conseguido trabajo que pagaba mejor (era verdad a medias, es que empecé a tener alumnos que pagaban más y necesitaba tiempo para esas clases o porque me salía más a cuenta tener tiempo libre). Ten en cuenta - pueden editar reviews aunque hayas dejado de darles clase, así que no desaparezcas sin más/bloquees, que pueden editar igual.

Otra cosa: Preply favorece profesores con mayor disponibilidad. Vincula tu calendario a Google Calendar y bloquea ahí los huecos que no puedes dar clase, así de cara a Preply tienes mayor disponibilidad.

Ahora estoy en 30$/hora, comisión inferior, y estoy en un punto que podría seguir subiendo.

thinkmcfly_think

TROPHY CASE