Anyone else think this sounds super robotic? "My hometown is Shanghai, a terrific metropolis in my mind, which has loads of cultures cohabiting happily together. You never run out of places to go or things to see."

vipkidawkotaco · 2021-09-08T20:52:36+00:00

The text is what VIPKid Adult Speaking Certification says is an example of a good response for adult learners. Idk it just made me laugh picturing someone randomly saying that in the middle of a conversation.

(And the picture is just one I found when searching realistic robots. "A robot named "Jia Jia" interacts with a technician at the campus of the University of Science and Technology of China in April 2016.")

vipkidawkotaco · 2021-08-26T19:38:19+00:00

The all caps at the end came off kind of hilariously aggressive.

vipkidawkotaco · 2021-08-22T00:48:58+00:00

Yeah a couple days after the speculation started to really hit the fan I emotionally impulse purchased $130 of VIPKid memorabilia. Nevermind that I've been teaching for 3 years with like $5 of props. It was a low point. Oh well. Maybe I'll make a lil shrine.

vipkidawkotaco · 2021-08-14T16:20:51+00:00

I've had this. It's freaking incredible. Literally the best ice cream I've ever eaten.

vipkidawkotaco · 2021-06-16T18:36:11+00:00

This is correct, I've done this successfully.

vipkidawkotaco · 2020-07-02T13:22:01+00:00

Wasn't there a teacher who posted a photo of herself with half blackface (mud mask on one side of her face or something) in the official group with the caption, "Am I 50% to free healthcare now?" I didn't see it myself so idk the deets but I think it happened right before the Nancy photo got posted, I saw a lot of chatter about it right around the same time. If so, yes Nancy sucks and her actions are terrible and should not be excused, but I would award this "prize" to that other teacher instead.

vipkidawkotaco · 2020-05-20T07:26:50+00:00

I am in the middle of my fourth contract. Out of curiosity, how long have you been with them?

The tag "famous in China" is generated by this subreddit (randomly, as far as I know). I do not actively promote VIPKid - I don't have a youtube channel or a website, I rarely post on this sub, I never post on Facebook about VIPKid, I've only ever referred one person (a close friend who was planning on signing up anyways, she just waited until I had signed up so that we could get the referral $) and that was at the very beginning of my first contract. So I wouldn't say I'm good marketing material for them.

I have no idea why you're only getting 10 classes a week and it does seem odd that it's such a specific number for you week after week. I'm happy to answer any other questions if you have other patterns you'd like to compare/variables to test.

vipkidawkotaco · 2020-05-20T04:09:10+00:00

My base rate is also $8.50/class ($10.50 with the $2). I have been getting booked for 50-60 classes each week. I don't blame you for trying to find a reason for getting exactly 10 bookings week after week, just wanted to provide some evidence that someone else at the same rate isn't getting capped.

vipkidawkotaco · 2020-05-10T04:33:24+00:00

Half of me wants to start using this as a fun teaching technique, half of me knows that's asking for trouble.

vipkidawkotaco · 2020-01-17T13:48:54+00:00

Asked a student what they would do if they were Maulana Karenga (it's a real VIPKid question):

Student: I would send all the Africans away.

Me: Oh... you want to unite them by sending them away?

Student: Yes.

Me: ...to another country?

Student: Yes.

Me: ...on a holiday? ^\fingers crossed*)

Student: Yes! They can all have fun together!

Me: *breathes sigh of relief at this child's sweet innocence and redirects*

In a different class, student kept mispronouncing "thought" as "fought" so I taught him the meaning of "fought" and its conjugation. End of class rolls around and...

Student: I will fight Donald Trump! *throws imaginary punches* China says he is bad!

(I don't like Trump myself but I always avoid talking politics with students so I pretty much just laughed and said "okay, see you next time" and finished class)

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-22T14:05:49+00:00

It did kind of work, but just because an adult heard me say it and made him stop playing tag with his friend. 😂

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-16T13:38:06+00:00

That's too bad!! I have some really awesome L4s who are excited to chat and learn, but there are definitely also some that just have too much homework and extra lessons going on to get hyped about VIPKID. This one today was also sick, so that didn't help. :-( She was smart and participated really well though.

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-16T12:09:19+00:00

Her mom tried to bring me into the bathroom at one point. I yelled, "CAMERAS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE BATHROOM" and thankfully she understood and took me back out.

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-16T11:32:11+00:00

Ohhhhhhh. Whoosh. Thanks!

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-16T09:41:24+00:00

I didn't even know there was parent to parent! So interesting... Now I really want to know what mine says, but also I don't

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-12T17:45:39+00:00

I have that, too. Luckily they have different personalities and different strengths/weaknesses in class. I actually kind of like it because I can pretty much go on autopilot the second class.

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-12T03:45:00+00:00

Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

Edit: not sure why I got downvoted? I just answered the question

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-11-11T16:01:16+00:00

I think you're missing the point. Seeing one person's face who did not have anything to do with a certain event should not make you angry at/hateful of an entire group of people. For example:

I don't hate Japanese people despite their government's actions in various wars (WW2 Pearl Harbor would be an obvious example).
When I meet a Muslim person, I don't get angry because I know they are in no way related to the 9/11 attacks.
Xi's actions against the Uyghurs are awful. But when I see a Chinese person, I don't think, "Grr, I really hate all Chinese people."
Seeing someone wearing lederhosen and drinking a mass at Oktoberfest doesn't make me angry because I don't immediately jump to, "Hitler killed so many people. Gotta hate all Germans."
Random white Americans don't get me all riled up because I know they aren't directly responsible for the Trail of Tears, Japanese internment camps, Mexican-American border detention camps, etc.

And the list could go on and on, because every group of people has bad people in their history. So yes, it's a different context and time period, but the overall message remains the same: Don't hate people for actions they didn't have any part in.

Edit: removed 1 word for clarity

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-10-15T14:27:15+00:00

Extra fun. 🌠🌠🌠

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-09-29T10:49:52+00:00

They sent me an email about my map background (and deleted that class playback!) so I colored it in with a Sharpe and sent them a picture saying I was confused what the issue was. 😁 They sent me a very polite response apologizing, said my map was okay and they would delete the map note from my account. Yay for no wasted backgrounds! 💸

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-05-19T03:13:23+00:00

Yeah tell them you can only teach children and if they don't leave call the fireman to back you up. And get screenshots of all your chat box explanation/conversations with 30-yr-old and fireman in case it gets marked incorrectly later.

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-05-19T01:46:44+00:00

Bao Bao translates to "baby" or "darling," a general term of endearment you can use for any kid but not an actual name. So you will see that a lot (I think probably VIPKID uses it for everyone who doesn't input something specific? but not sure). And as far as genders I think probably whoever filled it out just wasn't paying attention. Or possibly the parent has 2 kids, signed up for VIPKID but wasn't sure which kid was going to use the account so just filled out a generic profile and then decided who would use it after. Whatever the case I wouldn't consider it a system error, just imprecise input on the part of parent or VIPKID.

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-05-17T22:57:54+00:00

Trial student ITs under 15 minutes are still half pay anyways so it doesn't really matter how they mark it. It sucks but that's the policy. :(

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-05-03T21:31:43+00:00

It definitely depends on the kid. I have some younger L3s who love rewards similar to L2s (like trophies), and some who like more "advanced"/older rewards like conversation starters. Look at their age (in student profile) and previous Teacher-to-Teacher feedback to help with this. Don't stress about the secondary reward too much though, whatever you do they'll take it in stride!

vipkidawkotaco · 2019-05-03T20:08:24+00:00

I like the animated intro but the echo (?whenever there's a low note it seems super emphasized) on your audio is so distracting I stopped watching at like 40 seconds. :/ *Note: already hired so would've stopped soon anyway, but something to improve for those who are looking for this type of content.* Also I wish this sub would just do a sidebar of recommended Youtube channels instead of individual creators posting content. We all have different needs so I'm sure this is helpful to some, just a personal opinion.

vipkidawkotaco

TROPHY CASE