Want to teach without leaving the comfort of your own home? Maybe in your slippers, your favorite brand of coffee in hand? Good! Some mornings are made for sitting at your computer and looking at the faces of smiling students ready to learn English – which is what SayABC allows native English speakers to do! Let’s settle in and check out this remote English learning opportunity.
Job overview
When you teach with SayABC, you get the rewarding experience of working with 4 Chinese students at a time (students are now located in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and parts of the Middle East) in small, energetic 40-minute classes. . Most regular classes include teaching new vocabulary and language structures through a beautiful and playful proprietary learning interface. You don’t have to worry about designing a class yourself, either – SayABC has partnered with National Geographic Learning to use their “Our World” resources, which means they’ve put together lesson plans and materials in an incredible way. Most teachers take about 15 minutes to familiarize themselves with the lesson (which you can log in early on to review), and then you’re ready to go with engaging content and ready-made teacher tools.
Classes are scheduled by SayABC, and parents are not given a choice of teachers; This automated system seems to keep bookings smooth all around. This allows teachers to focus on fully engaging with their students instead of worrying about parents.
Student engagement is also supported by class continuity! Once you are assigned a class of four, you keep those classes – so you teach the same students three times a week, ideally on a minimum 3 month contract. This gives SayABC teachers the opportunity to build relationships with children and see their progress in English as a second language.
Classes may be scheduled daily throughout the week and on weekends; You set your own time but, as always, being available during peak times in China will give you the best chance for consistent bookings. Due to the time difference between the United States and China, most class times fall between 6 AM EST and 8:30 AM EST (Monday through Saturday), and some late evening hours are available on weekends. SayABC advertises that 90% of their teachers can expect to teach an average of 4 classes per day!
requirement
If you’re hoping to land a contract with SayABC longer than 3 months, you must have a bachelor’s degree, but they’ve relaxed that requirement by creating an alternative path to qualification – and launching an internship program with some American and Canadian universities. This means that people with associate degrees – or perhaps university students who have not yet graduated and are studying education – have the opportunity to join the ranks of SayABC’s online English teachers. You still need to demonstrate your educational qualifications and at least one year of teaching experience.
As with other online English teaching companies, the remote nature of the work means you don’t need to work from a fixed location to work with SayABC. Teachers can work from anywhere in the world, and SayABC has even installed servers outside of their original Chinese office in Singapore, Japan, South Korea, North America, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia. This work will not bind you!
You’re expected to have the same basic equipment you’d need for any other distance learning gig:
- A Home computer, meaning either a desktop or a laptop. This is not a tablet- or smartphone-friendly task.
- A webcamBecause your students need to be able to see you while you teach.
- A Headset with a microphoneSo you can communicate with your students – make sure the mic is noise-canceling, if possible.
- A High speed internet connection: Since this is a teaching position that relies on video streaming over the Internet, this is essential
- The Google Chrome browserWhich is an internet browser that works best with SayABC’s system.
- their Learning platform software The one you will use for the job (you will also need it for the interview).
Payment
Note: Pay rates are subject to change at any time. The rates mentioned below were listed on the company’s website at the time of publication of this post. Please visit the company website for current rates and incentives.
Earnings through SayABC seem to top out at a potential $21 per 40-minute class – nothing to sneeze at when you’re getting a decent booking rate! Their per-class rates start at a base pay of $15 with opportunities to earn an additional $6 per class for incentives. The $6 incentive pay is based on your attendance record, and also includes a seasonal incentive. (No details on whether the included $2 seasonal incentive is permanently available, though.)
There is also an additional incentive: if you are asked and chosen to be a substitute teacher for another class (with less than 24 hours notice), they will add $7 to your payment for that class. This is also true if you are asked to take a class in progress.
SayABC also seems to have a method of increasing income – when your contract comes up for renewal, you will be re-evaluated and may receive a raise. They don’t advertise how much growth you can expect. They do, however, outline what you can earn if you do trial classes with potential new students for them: you have the opportunity to earn $16 for every student you recruit!
Your earnings are issued as a wire transfer once a month, around the 15th. Because distance teachers with SayABC are independent contractors, you are responsible for paying your own taxes as required.
What are people saying about SayABC?
You’ll find that the reviews are largely positive for this company – most teachers are enthusiastic about the job and find the onboarding process to go quickly and the support staff to be, well, helpful. SayABC is a relatively young company at 2 years old and their reviews are somewhat limited (at the time of this review you’ll only find 23 on Glassdoor), but one thing many teachers appreciate is their beautiful and engaging platform for teaching kids. Their pre-designed lessons for teachers are cute and slick, as you’d expect since they’re designed by National Geographic.
Several teachers also mentioned that they felt supported when they needed to take sick days – there was no guilt or punishment, just an acknowledgment that the company then paid a sub for your class. Many people really like that they automatically assign you classes – parents don’t get to choose the teacher – it creates a more relaxed learning environment where you don’t have to worry about constantly marketing yourself.
Complaints about SayABC are largely the same as other English-teaching agencies based in other countries – the hours are too early or too late due to lessons being taught at appropriate times for children in China. Sometimes, communication is lacking – it really depends on who you talk to if you have a technical or scheduling difficulty.
The biggest complaint is that bookings may be low, despite SayABC’s assurances that 90% of their teachers are teaching at least 4 classes per day – some teachers say the low bookings are due to the off-season when teaching English, others say it’s because SayABC currently There may be too many teachers and not enough classes available. This is a common complaint among many work-from-home jobs because almost every industry experiences some seasonal ebb and flow. You should always have a few eggs in your basket!
Interview and demo process
The interview process is pretty straightforward – you submit your application through their site and, if your resume passes their review process, they’ll contact you to set up an interview. You will select an interview time, and it will probably be late at night – after all an employee in China is interviewing you.
Once your interview time is set, you download their learning platform as your interview takes place! You can look up some information about how to work within their platform so that you have a chance to familiarize yourself with it before your interview.
SayABC advises interviewees that their interviews last approximately 40 minutes and that 15 minutes of that time is involved in a mock class. You are definitely not teaching any real children – just the interviewer who will pretend to be a child between the ages of 5 and 8 with limited English skills. They will work and expect you to demonstrate your command of the classroom, including your ability to teach and be engaging. Some employers may expect you to use toys or other tools to keep restless children’s attention, so be prepared!
You’ll get feedback on your mock class and, if all goes well, you’ll be hired! You will have the opportunity to go over your contract and sign it, and then you will have an orientation meeting and assessment class. The orientation meeting includes your SayABC mentor onboarding you – they will demonstrate for you the basic operation and learning tools of their custom learning portal. This is your question and answer time.
After orientation you will have your first class – an assessment class in their expected format (you will be teaching 4 kids) for 40 minutes. A member of their “support teacher management team” will watch your first class and give you feedback – usually in a written follow-up, but sometimes in a training session if they have serious concerns about your performance. And that’s it!
Apply here at SayABC
Other sites like SayABC
Don’t think SayABC is necessarily the right company for you? No sweat! Teaching English as a second language online is a thriving business and there are several companies hiring:
- cambli – Earn money while you chat online with students (they pay in minutes) and communicate with people all over the world – they pay weekly!
- Kids – Qkids hires teachers who have degrees – or are currently enrolled in college and working toward their degrees, much like SayABC.
- VIPKID – VIPKID is probably similar to SayABC in terms of proprietary platform and payments, so they are a good alternative to consider.
Have you applied to teach English with SayABC? We’d all love to hear about your experience and get more insight into the company.
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