Teaching online

[JGV]

I would welcome any comments about teaching on line using Skype

Interested in finding companies offering this work and experiences of those with skype and Internet quality

JGV

[wanderingstray]

I have been teaching online to Russian students for 6 years. Is there anything in particular you want to know ?

[zyphodb]

If you live outside of a city your internet connection will probably lag too much for a company to entertain you, at least this has been my experience...

[wanderingstray]

A few of my internet teaching years were done in Mexico. Happy if I got 3mb but usually around 2.75mb. I just didn't use video, just lots of texting.

[bangmai]

This Japanese Company is hiring...54 THB for a 25 minute lesson. https://okpanda.interviewed.com/jobs/voice-teacher

[aarontendo]

Be still my heart, I can buy that Hot Wheels car I've always wanted.

[NaRangsit]

I teach on italki. Well worth signing up for. You set the rate and hours so that is a massive plus

[BKKSnowBird]

What is the pay for teaching online?

[nellyp]

Not enough

[attrayant]

I've heard quotes from $12 to $15 per hour. Those with the least chewy accents probably get the higher end. I've not contracted any of the companies yet because I'm still employed at a local school, but thinking of making the jump to online teaching at the end of this SY. With that in mind, I'm posting mainly to subscribe to the thread and drop in a few questions as they occur to me.

Q1: Are you given a lesson plan to follow, or is it unstructured i.e. just 20 minutes of idle conversation?

[wanderingstray]

Attrayant:

I started teaching online and initially made up my own lesson plans, mostly taken from "Interchange" from Cambridge Press but then I found that because most of my students were high intermediate to conversation and 90% professionals (Drs, Lawyers etc) or upper management, I scoured the news and Google for articles, pertaining to their position, online and taught from that. Mostly reading to help with inflections etc.

Being an RN in my day I also did some proof reading for a Doctor who sent in articles to be published in the AJM. I was getting $22 US/hr for teaching with bonus lessons based on how many lessons they paid for. For proof reading I charged $5 US per page.

I looked into other online opportunities and found that a couple of Korean companies have their own lesson plans that they require you to follow. I prefer to do my own thing. It must be working as 2 of my students have been with me for about 7 years.

My question to you is: Why can't you teach at a bricks and mortar school as well as online. That way you can ease yourself out of one and into the other.

[bigt3116]

OP - For you, this would break both labour and Immigration law. You would be working without a work permit and also working on a "retirement" visa.

2015-07-23 17:04:51

Hi

I have 1 year retirement visa - fancy a couple of weeks in Cambodia

What visa do I need so I don't cancel 1 year visa

JGV

[wanderingstray]

To big3116

How would it break the law ? Students are in another country and you are paid from that other country in US dollars. Therefore not taking $$ away from TH, in fact spending it here. You are contracting with a company therefore in your own business. Can't farangs employed in TH have their own business too ? Same with those on retirement visa

[ldiablo]

OP - For you, this would break both labour and Immigration law. You would be working without a work permit and also working on a "retirement" visa.

2015-07-23 17:04:51

Hi

I have 1 year retirement visa - fancy a couple of weeks in Cambodia

What visa do I need so I don't cancel 1 year visa

JGV

Who cares...

[attrayant]

This keeps coming up in the visa/work permit forum and the consensus is that, yes it technically breaks the letter of the law, however the law predates the internet business model and needs to be updated to take into account those people who may be travelling here on extended vacations but still need to manage their businesses back home.

Immigration/labor have issued statements several times saying that they're not interested in such "digital nomads" provided your customer is abroad and you're not receiving any income or support (such as office space or computers) from a Thai business or person.

It really doesn't make sense for them to go after the online teachers. They are bringing money into the country. It's 100% positive cash flow for Thailand.

[Johnniey]

This Japanese Company is hiring...54 THB for a 25 minute lesson. https://okpanda.interviewed.com/jobs/voice-teacher

No sane teacher would work for that.

[Johnniey]

I've heard quotes from $12 to $15 per hour. Those with the least chewy accents probably get the higher end. I've not contracted any of the companies yet because I'm still employed at a local school, but thinking of making the jump to online teaching at the end of this SY. With that in mind, I'm posting mainly to subscribe to the thread and drop in a few questions as they occur to me.

Q1: Are you given a lesson plan to follow, or is it unstructured i.e. just 20 minutes of idle conversation?

I have friends working for $25 an 45 min class. Not using Skype though.

[bigt3116]

This keeps coming up in the visa/work permit forum and the consensus is that, yes it technically breaks the letter of the law, however the law predates the internet business model and needs to be updated to take into account those people who may be travelling here on extended vacations but still need to manage their businesses back home.

Immigration/labor have issued statements several times saying that they're not interested in such "digital nomads" provided your customer is abroad and you're not receiving any income or support (such as office space or computers) from a Thai business or person.

It really doesn't make sense for them to go after the online teachers. They are bringing money into the country. It's 100% positive cash flow for Thailand.

Do you have any links to these ? The only quote I can find was issued by a Chamber of Commerce, who really are not in any position to state what is acceptable and what is not.

[Johnniey]

This keeps coming up in the visa/work permit forum and the consensus is that, yes it technically breaks the letter of the law, however the law predates the internet business model and needs to be updated to take into account those people who may be travelling here on extended vacations but still need to manage their businesses back home.

Immigration/labor have issued statements several times saying that they're not interested in such "digital nomads" provided your customer is abroad and you're not receiving any income or support (such as office space or computers) from a Thai business or person.

It really doesn't make sense for them to go after the online teachers. They are bringing money into the country. It's 100% positive cash flow for Thailand.

Do you have any links to these ? The only quote I can find was issued by a Chamber of Commerce, who really are not in any position to state what is acceptable and what is not.

They could say you are using Thai internet service to do it.

I was a pro poker player a few years ago and check it all out and it was totally legal as the bets were not being made in Thailand.

[gk10002000]

you should look into that recent raid and crackdown I think was in chaing mai, might have been Udon Thani. People were teaching english online to Chinese and other countries. Work permits were not in order, the company was not in order, the people were paid rock bottom prices, This was clearly viewed as Much more than a digital nomad that did his own thing. They were deemed to be clearly working in Thailand.

[attrayant]

Do you have any links to these ? The only quote I can find was issued by a Chamber of Commerce, who really are not in any position to state what is acceptable and what is not.

Is this the thread you saw?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/753621-digital-nomad-online-workers-permission/

The Chamber of Commerce is mentioned as the event coordinator, but the 'digital nomad' statement clearly came from an immigration official:

Pol. Col. Rutphong Sanwanangkun, Superintendent of Chiang Mai Immigration, addressed those present along with two of his colleagues. The immigration officers answered questions, including some that CityNews asked readers to submit.

What if I want to work in Thailand?

If you are working for a Thai company, you will need a non-immigrant visa and then a work permit in order to work legally. If you are a 'digital nomad' running your own business on the internet, the immigration office says you can do this on a tourist visa.

The thread goes on for 25 pages so some sort of caveat might have popped up, but just before the thread gets put to sleep, a forum admin chimes in with this statement:

There is a new article just out by the Chiang Mai Mail that may be clearer with the below statement - http://www.thaivisa....-in-chiang-mai/

"He noted that online work for overseas companies that pay overseas is not prohibited but that the person will need to get a visa to stay longer, currently there is no new visa for these kinds of people."

So in other words, go ahead and do your digital nomad thing but it's on you to figure out how you're going to legally maintain your permission to stay while you do it.

WRT the immigration raid in Chiang Mai, police probably acted based on what they saw or what was reported to them - a bunch of foreigners apparently sitting in an office (i.e. WORKING) without work permits. Local police probably didn't (and still don't) have a clue what a digital nomad is and probably don't much care, which is why there's always a recommendation to do this sort of thing discretely if you're going to do it at all.

Edited October 18, 2015 by attrayant

[SheungWan]

Used video-conferencing software years ago to support an overseas franchise. For classes it was hard work and a bit like wading through treacle compared to holding a class in person. Where it did help more was in Q+A sessions as students were in the process of completing coursework.

[gk10002000]

Used video-conferencing software years ago to support an overseas franchise. For classes it was hard work and a bit like wading through treacle compared to holding a class in person. Where it did help more was in Q+A sessions as students were in the process of completing coursework.

Yes. having taught here in the USA, taken some online classes, and having continued some online course training both giving and receiving as part of my work, I think the video online is poor for teaching. But it can be wonderful for Q&A and some specific discussions or demonstrations. The old "picture is worth a thousand words" thing.

[casualbiker]

Most online companies have online whiteboards where the content is shown and a messaging section is included. You can also write and draw on the whiteboard like you would in real life.

[JGV]

Thanks

Need more contact referrals please

I contacted a Japanese company and they said the Internet connection here just not good enough

So any other companies that will take on teachers

JGV

[attrayant]

That's nuts. 6 Mbps is more than fast enough to have a two-way video call. I've done it on a 768 Kbps edge data connection (using apple's facetime thingy).