F.A.Q.
We’re excited that you’re interested in becoming one of our teachers’ community members . With us you can teach what you have an expertise in.
Below you may find answers to the most frequently asked questions concerning who we are and how we operate as a GLOBAL LANGUAGE INITIATIVE.
Q. What is onlingo?
A. We are an online Global Initiative = Tutoring services marketplace with our own facility for live video lessons, connecting language learners with language tutors. A learner can have live online language lessons with any language tutor from around the Globe, at anytime, 24/7!
Q. I am a new tutor. How does Onlingo work?
A. Students can easily buy lessons on your profile page. They have the option to book a trial lesson, or any number of lessons they feel is sufficient for their needs. When a student books a private lesson with you, we will also send a notification to your email address.
Students may send you personal messages before or after booking their first lesson with you. This can be useful to determine the student's level of proficiency and style of learning, as well as help you to prepare for a more effective lesson. Make sure you reply to each student within a reasonable time frame, but not later than 48 hours after the student has contacted you or booked the lesson(s).
Lessons may take place either through our marketplace video chat or through one of the external video chat platforms, such as skype , zoom etc.
Payments are sent to you once every 2 weeks , Sunday or Monday, depending on your country’s timezone.
NOTE: We won’t be able to make the payment to you if you do not follow the above steps to complete a lesson.
NOTE: For more information on what to do when a student misses a lesson or what to do if you miss your lesson, please check information in the question below about Cancellation/Rescheduling of lessons .
Q. Why should I join the onlingo global initiative?
A. Onlingo does NOT charge any subscription fees or high commission to use the service. We only add a small service fee 0.95 - 1.95 euro per each lesson booked. The service fee is used to maintain and upgrade the quality of service we offer to our Users, both tutors and learners, and to invest in our marketing to attract continuously new students.
In addition, through a distinguished tutor profile, positive student reviews and our targeted marketing activities, we will help you succeed and experience the freedom and flexibility that comes from running your own tutoring work.
Q. How do I join Onlingo ?
A. Follow these simple steps to get started.
- Visit the introduction page for tutors by clicking on Tutor, at our Home page and then click Start your online tutoring business or Teach at Onlingo and you will be directed to a new page to register .
- Once you completed your initial registration, we send you an email so that you confirm your email. Once you confirmed your email, then you will be directed to complete your account and profile details.
- Make sure to complete all fields within your profile, including the uploading of such important info as copies of your teaching credentials, ID or passport, and an introduction 1-minute video about you.
- Once you have completed all fields, then you send it for our review and posting on our tutors’ list. Please note that our Tutor Profile review may take up to 2 working days. Once it is posted, you will receive an email notification. And you are ready to start receiving bookings for lessons!
Q. Can I teach any language course ?
A. You are free to choose the language and topics you wish to teach through Onlingo . Please however, note this list of prohibited content within any lesson :
- Sexually explicit content
- Content relating to any kind of violence
- Hate speech or discriminatory language
- Language that promotes any illegal or unethical behavior
- Language that is intentionally misleading or deceptive
- Content that violates any law
- Harmful or otherwise inappropriate language
We reserve the right to modify this list at any time. If you notice content that you believe should not be on Onlingo, please notify us immediately at: support@onlingo.eu
Q. What Onlingo expects to see in a tutor?
A. Tutoring is working with people! Energy, passion, inspiration and a positive attitude- key attributes of our Users - tutors. We also expect tutors to exhibit the characteristics of great teachers – patience, professionalism, honesty, and reliability.
You should:
- Start on time, be organised and friendly
- make learning joyful, regularly encouraging your students
- respond to contact requests within 48 hours
- always welcome comments from your students
Does this match your vision as tutor and your overall personality ? If yes, then we will be happy to see you among our tutors😊- join Onlingo Global initiative!
Q. What are the minimum qualifications a tutor needs to be able to join?
A. We welcome native teachers , with experience in teaching any of the following languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Turkish, and Chinese.
, with a valid teaching qualification . Many students want to learn a language to help them when they go abroad, focusing on the development of speaking skills. Therefore, they might learn best from a native speaker, Some other students will be extremely focused on grammar , preparing for exams or improving language skills for work purposes. In these situations, formally qualified tutors can be the most suitable option.
Q. How much should I charge per lesson?
A. The best way to evaluate this is to look at other tutors’ rates and define where you fit in based on your experience, skills, and qualifications. The more skills and expertise you have, the higher can be the hourly fee to get paid.
However, from our experience, we would advise you to start with a lower more competitive price relatively to other tutors with similar qualifications. This will help you attract quickly first students and possibly, first positive reviews.
Please note that It is easy to adjust your lesson rate at any point by logging into your account and updating your profile.
Q. How much can I earn?
A. We simply facilitate the connection of language learners with tutors globally. With hard work and dedication, you could make tutoring a full time job if you want to. Some tutors in our network have over 10 students , earning over 1000 euro per month.
Q. Should I offer a free trial lesson?
A. We strongly encourage you to offer potential students a free first lesson. From our experience , such a possibility encourages students to contact with you. They have nothing to lose!
Also, it provides an opportunity for students to get to know you and therefore not just judge you on price. This is a simple and effective way to start building long term relationships.
Q.How will I attract students?
A. As we are growing our community we increase our marketing and promotion of all members of our tutors’ community.At registration you should Invest time to make your profile as informative as possible – tell everyone what your unique skills are!
Don’t be afraid to show your personality either – this is a critical part of building strong tutor-student relationships. Adding a short video presentation to your profile page will allow you to stand out!
In addition, every month we select a few tutors who have excelled themselves on certain parameters and will have during a month featured top positions in search results of potential students. For more info, see the relevant question below.
Q. What if the student doesn’t show up?
A. We send reminders to all students before each lesson. If your student doesn’t show up, you can send them a message through Onlingo live.
If finally the lesson didn't happen, you click on the yellow triangle below the video screen in the virtual classroom, and complete/send the "Incomplete lesson" report. If you decide to charge the missed lesson, then the amount will appear on your balance in 12 hours. If you decide to reschedule it , then the student will go through your calendar during 24 hours after the original lesson time and reserve a different time for the missed lesson.
Q. What if I have technical problems and can’t complete a lesson?
A. If you are using our video chat channel within Onlingo and you have a technical problem that does not let you start or complete the lesson click on the yellow triangle below the video screen in the virtual classroom, and complete/send the "Incomplete lesson" report. . Then, your student will reschedule the lesson at another time convenient for both through your calendar. The student will check time slots available in your calendar and book a new time for the non completed lesson.
The same procedure in case you try to have a lesson through an external platform such as skype and zoom. First we advise you to try to have the lesson through Onlingo video chat, and if it does not happen, then follow the steps described before.
Q. If I want to pause teaching for a certain period, how is this arranged?
A. Going on vacation or taking a few days off, then very easy to just edit your calendar to remove availability so students cannot schedule lessons with you for times when you're away from teaching.
To remove availability from your calendar, please do the following:
1) open your calendar in personal account page
2) click on the cell of existing available slots for lessons so that you will make them not available
3) then just save the calendar with the new availability of time slots for lessons
NOTE: If you travel to another country and plan on working from time to time during your absence, please keep in mind that your calendar is in your local time zone and does reflect the location where you are traveling.
IF YOU WANT TO TAKE A PAUSE IN TEACHING, THEN YOU MAY CLICK ON THE "DEACTIVATE ACCOUNT" BUTTON IN YOUR ACCOUNT.
Q. What is the Onlingo Rating?
A. Our team of experts on the bases of following objective parameters:
*number of years teaching,
*being a native speaker or not of the language you teach , and
*availability of academic or other teaching qualifications,
defines a point system which leads to the overall mark that is assigned to registered tutors. This internal rating scheme helps students to evaluate better the level of teaching that can get from new tutors.
As tutors will be accumulating reviews from their students, then the rating of students is an additional indicator of the level of teaching offered by each tutor.
Q. What should I do about negative reviews?
A. We understand that your reputation as a tutor is very important. However, it is also important that students receive the best possible experience, and it is a student's right to provide a rating and review on your lesson. Student reviews and lessons ratings are one of many factors contributing to your overall reputation .
If you believe a student's negative rating is due to a misunderstanding, we encourage you to resolve the issue with the student directly. If you and your student resolve the issue, you may politely encourage your student to email support@onlingo.eu asking to remove or correct the rating.
Occasionally, students might negatively review their lesson experience due to circumstances outside of your control, such as the student's own internet access quality. In these instances, please provide us with detailed insight into the issue before submitting. We carefully review disputed reviews each week before determining if they qualify for removal.
Situations that might qualify for a rating to be removed:
- Your student experienced technical difficulties that you were, despite your best efforts, unable to help them fix
- Your student leaves a positive review but, seemingly by accident, selects low rating marks
Situations that qualify for a rating to be corrected:
- Student reaches out to support@onlingo.eu, asking for the review to be amended
Situations that do not qualify for a rating to be adjusted/removed:
- You do not like the student's review
- You are unhappy that they student rated you less than you expected
- You came late to a lesson, were unprofessional or impolite, or exhibited other behavior that prompted a low review
- You were not "on your best mode" or you "had a bad day"
- Your student was unsatisfied with your lesson
If you have any questions, please contact support@onlingo.eu
Q. How are tutors rated by students?
A. At any time after completing a lesson, students may leave a rating (1-5 points), and they may choose to leave a public comment or compliment.
The scale of rating is the following:
- Irrelevant: 1/5
- Not in a good mood: 2/5
- Good effort: 3/5
- Positive experience: 4/5
- Great feeling: 5/5
Teacher ratings are shown on a teacher’s profile, but they are anonymous. That means that the student’s name will not be shown.
Students may choose to leave a comment or a compliment. These impressions are publicly shared on a teacher’s profile, along with the student’s name. Such feedback from students is optional.
Students will have the opportunity to add a compliment, that is, to give a teacher credit for something they specialize in or do particularly well. This is optional.
On teacher profile will show reviews-compliments, average students rating, and Onlingo’s experts rating.
Q. What is the “Ambassador” Programme for tutors?
A. This is a gesture show our appreciation to the efforts of tutors who go the “extra mile” , as we say. The main idea is about the referrals of tutors to our programme by tutors, and it offers valuable benefits to those who get results, as follows:
For every tutor referred , registered, and delivered the 1st paid lesson, the Referee ( tutor who referred the new tutor) gets 1 whole month ABSOLUTELY FREE service at our platform- no fees!!
Each tutor has the right to refer up to 6 tutors during 12 month period!
That gives up 6 months of FREE service , a reward of total value of over 100 euro!
All 6 months of FREE service can be redeemed till end of 2021!
You may find the referral code to invite friends-tutors at the bottom of the main page of your account
Q. How often do tutors get paid?
A. Tutors get paid every 2 weeks. New revenues of a 2 week-period are transferred every last Sunday of this 2 week period( or a day later depending on the timezone of your country of residence). Onlingo is using 3rd party payment systems to transfer the revenues to tutors, such as Paypal and Transferwise.
Q. Does Onlingo charge any fee?
A. In order to maintain a high quality of teaching and learning experience, we continuously work to improve the environment we provide through our platform. So, we will need funding to be able to continue offering a comfortable experience. For this important reason, we take a service fee for each lesson, as follows:
First trial lesson – Discounted 1st lesson : service fee = cost of the discounted lesson .
For all the subsequent lessons:
| Video Platform used | Service Fee |
| Onlingo | 1.95 euro/lesson |
| Zoom/ Skype etc | 0.95 euro/lesson |
For example, if your rate is 15 EUR per lesson, and you use Onlingo, we deduct the 1.95 euro service fee, so the rate to be paid to you is 13.05 euro per lesson!
If you experience issues or have any questions, get in touch with us at support@onlingo.eu
