About Preply
Preply is an education portal based online. It helps in connecting students with teachers via a 1 on 1 video chat. It was founded in Ukraine in 2012, but has moved its base to the US. The instructors available on the platform offer teaching services in numerous languages and a wide range of subjects. You can view it as a marketplace where teachers offer their services and students can buy them. It is very easy to land on a tutor that suits one best, by viewing their demo lectures and also factoring their prices and reviews. It is different from other platforms where you are assigned an hourly rate, with Preply you can choose your own rate! Popular tutors on Preply earn $550 per week. Preply allows you to teach any language as well.
There are numerous language learning tools available nowadays, however, most come with one problem. Users often complain that they don’t gain any proficiency, and often face issues in getting adequate spoken knowledge of the language. Being able to read or write at one’s own pace and having a speaking proficiency in a language are extremely different concepts.
However, it is necessary to brush up one’s basics to advance in any language. For this, one has to find an instructor suiting one’s learning strategy and budget constraints. This can prove to be a tedious and time-consuming process. Preply is one such online platform that seeks to remedy this problem. This Preply review provide a complete guide about the platform along with the good and the bad.
Preply for teachers
Requirements
There are no requirements to teach for Preply. We do, however, recommend that you add all the skills, degrees, certificates and experience you have on your profile. Have a look below to get more information about the requirements.
Teaching requirements
- You do not need to be a native speaker to teach a language on Preply, but it will make your more attractive than non-native speakers.
- No bachelor or master degree required. However, having a degree can help you get more students and earn higher rates.
- You don’t need TEFL, but if you want to teach English this can help you stand out from the crowd.
- No work experience required – again, if you have work experience it will work in your favor, because you can add it to your profile.
- You don’t need to teach English, you can teach anything.
- No minimum or maximum hours
Technical requirements
- Computer or tablet
- Stable internet connection
- a webcam
It is also recommended to be in a quiet area, with a clear, neutral and clutter free background.
Preply Pay
As mentioned before, preply is more like a marketplace between buyers and sellers. The buyers being the students and the sellers being the teachers. As a result you can set your own prices and your own hours.
The Pay
The amount of money you will earn depends on the following factors:
- Your rate – are your services cheap or expensive? How skilled are you? Do your skills and qualifications match your rate? The average rate is $15-$20 USD / hour. Popular tutors make around $550 per week.
- Number of bookings and hours booked – The number of bookings will depend on the following:
- Is your profile attractive? Is your skill in demand?
- Do you have good reviews?
- Your availability – how many hours can you teach per week?
- Do you reply to messages promptly?
- Rank on the search page – This will depend on the hours you teach and your reviews. More than 50% of all requests received by tutors on the first 3 pages on the platform. Some tutors in the top results were able to double their rates due to high demand.
- Preply commission fees – Preply takes a commission per hour you teach. below you will find a breakdown of the commission structure. The commission decreases when you teach more hours. Encouraging you to teach more.
Preply Commission Breakdown:
- Exception – Trial class – student’s first class = 100% commission (students get a money back guarantee if for their trials class). Don’t worry the students can book more hours with you, if they are happy with the trial class.
- 0–20 hours taught = 33% commission deducted from hourly rate
- 21–50 hours taught = 28% commission deducted from hourly rate
- 51–200 hours taught = 25% commission deducted from hourly rate
- 201–400 hours taught = 22% commission deducted from hourly rate
- 400+ hours taught = 18% commission deducted from hourly rate
Payment system
Funds build up on your account (within the preply platform) and they need to be withdrawed by you in one of the following ways under the “Withdrawals” section”:
- Payoneer direct transfer
- Paypal
- Skrill
Penalties
Inappropriate behavior on video or trying to bypass the package system can result in penalties.
Preply application process
The application process is quite easy, however, it might take some time for them to get back to you. You can start by clicking here or on the above box.
Create a tutor’s profile
Your profile is very important, because it is the equivalent of your storefront. Make your profile stand out, because Preply is like a marketplace and students can compare you to other teachers.
Firstly, you’ll have to provide basic info such as your name, nationality, languages you speak and subjects you can teach, your hourly rate (which you can change anytime). You’ll also be asked to provide a profile picture. Make sure you look at the camera and smile. Besides that, the ideal picture will be similar to a passport photo.
Thirdly, you’ll be asked provide a profile description with information about your qualifications (degrees, certifications,etc.), teaching experience and other experience. Preply also advises you to add some of your interests, that way they can discuss them during class. Encourage students to book you by using the following tips.
- Write an interesting headline such as “Native English teacher with TEFL certification and 10 years experience – specialized in IELTS test preparation” instead of “ESL teacher”.
- Describe your teaching methods
- Use approachable language (welcome, patient, help, etc.)
- Call to action at the end such as “Don’t put you dreams/ambitions on hold, book now to…”
After, you’ll be asked to upload a short video introduction. Make sure follow the following guidelines:
- Make sure the video is the equivalent of a passport photo (fully visible, good lighting, etc.)
- Less than 2 minutes long
- Smile, use a friendly calm voice and wording
- Encourage students to book with you.
- Tell them your name, nationality, what you teach, what languages you speak and any interests.
- Tell them about your experience, skills, education, teaching style and specialties.
- Be positive during the entire video
Finally you’ll be asked to mark your availability in a calendar.
Approval of tutor’s profile
Preply states that within up to 5 business days after submitting your application, you will receive an email to update you on your application status. Things to avoid putting contact details or misleading information, you will be asked to remove them and this will slow down the approval process.
Classes and Booking system
Students signing up to preply have all ages, they range from children signed up by their parents to adults.
Students prepay classes, they can book 5, 10, 15 or 20 hours of classes. The more hours a student books the bigger the discount they get.
Whenever the student books with you, it will be done through the calendar section of the platform. After the lesson is finished the student will be asked to confirm within 72 hours (there is an auto-confirmation option). The funds from the lesson will be transferred to your tutor platform account. They can then be transferred to your personal account (paypal, payoneer or skrill).
The platform
The platform is browser based and all on the website, no need to download any software. Use Google Chrome as a browser.
Features and platform layout
- My requests: Here you’ll see a list of student requests
- My lessons: You can see your classes here (and join them) and enter the classroom.
- Learning plans: The platform doesn’t contain comprehensive lesson plans, however you can find some here.
- Calendar: You can join your calendar and lessons here. You can connect this with your Google calendar.
- Availability: You can select when you are available.
- Statistics
- My profile: you can view edit or add any profile information here. Keep your profile up to date.
- Find students section: Here you can look for students and contact them.
- pre-lesson features: test video/audio
- In-lesson features: minimise screen, (un)mute, disable/enable video and floating video. On top of that, there is the chat function, lesson summary board and learning plans which you can edit during the lesson. You can also share files (pdf, ppt, Gdocs, word docs, youtube videos, photos, etc.) in the chat. You will hear a bell and see a notification when the student joins.
- What you can’t do in the lesson:
- Sound sharing
- record lessons (you can via an external software, but not with Preply)
- use the preply app to teach, only a computer can be used. Students can use the app.
- Preply help center, Preply tutors community (facebook) and support.
Additional information
- Lessons completions are automatically confirmed 15 minutes after they end. This guarantees the payment to your platform account.
- Students have 72 hrs to confirm confirm the lesson before it starts, if the lesson is not confirmed you might need to send screenshots as proof to the support team.
- Students can share their screen and see the lesson summary board (these are notes made by the teachers)
The below Facebook video goes through everything you need to know about Preply.
Preply review: Pros and Cons
As per online opinions and other people’s Preply review, there has been a view that preply takes sizeable commissions from the teachers, especially new ones. Teachers get paid only when a user decides to buy a package from them. There is no payment for trial lessons.
For inexperienced and new teachers, a commission of 33% is taken from their hourly rate. As the teacher becomes more experience, this commission gradually decreases.
However, a lot of teachers on preply are appreciative of the fact that they get a vast mass of students. Moreover, they can teach them from any location. Further, being able to set price mark-ups and hours on one’s own volition is a big advantage, as well.
Pros
- The quality of service is exceptionally nice as the platform boasts of experienced individuals with proficiency in their subjects.
- The platform has a simple user interface and is quite easy to use.
- The price ranges and schedule options are very flexible and hence, one can choose a package that suits them.
- The number of instructors is great, with a lot of them being extremely low on the price ladder.
- There are over 20 language options available, and some of the most popular languages such as French, German, Spanish, etc. are available.
- There is a basic chat feature which is extremely functional and nice for the teaching process.
- One can question the instructors on any doubts outside the class hours if need be.
Cons
- The tutors are left unpaid for trial lectures. Some students might have never intended to go beyond the trial lesson.
- Apart from being able to monitor one’s study habits, there are not a lot of free extras.
- The initial commission is quite high
Preply FAQ
What if I have an issue with the lesson or platform?
It can occur that you have som technical issues, you are late or you or your student missed it entirely. We recommend that you report the issuein the following way: 1) go to “My lessons”, 2) find the student and the lesson or select other if it is not lesson related. Write detais in the comments section.
How do I get my profile approved quickly?
Often profiles don’t get approved on the first try. This is the case when the profile photo, video or description don’t meet Preply’s requirements. Make sure to use a recent photo and record a nice video. Follow the guidelines in the application process.
How do I get students?
Your profile will appear in the search results, similar to how google works. Where you rank in the search results will depend on your reviews, hours taught, your profile and your availability. You can also find students under the “Find students” section of the platform.
How do I get reviews?
After classes students will be notified to leave a review in their “My Request” section and via email. If they forget to do it, you can remind them.
Can I use Skype or Zoom to conduct lessons?
Only as a backup, normally everything is done on the platform.
Is it free to be listed on Preply?
Yes, it is free. Preply only charges a commission on lessons taught.
What happens in the case of a no show?
Preply tutors are expected to attend all scheduled classes. In cases of multiple reports of teacher no shows, their profile can be hidden. To avoid being hidden from the Preply platform, let your students know in advance and attempt to reschedule the classes. You will also not get paid.
In the case of a student no show you’ll still get paid.
Parting Thoughts
The process of looking for a private teacher might be one of the best approaches to figure out how to communicate in a language. It assists where a great deal of other language learning tools miss the mark — talking practice with an actual, experienced person.
This Preply review has discussed the platform’s offerings including an individual’s capacity to pose inquiries to a local speaker continuously and getting quick inputs are very significant. All things considered, Preply can be utilized for a private study strategy where one can advance at one’s own pace.
For those looking for an online language guide, Preply will certainly convey. Guidance is accessible in 27 languages, and sufficient mentors are utilizing the portal that one will most certainly have the option to discover an instructor that accommodates one’s financial plan and learning goals. On the off chance that one needs a resource that is increasingly extensive and offers extra highlights, one might need to look for other tools, as Preply’s additional features are essentially not present. Regardless, Preply merits a chance.
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