cambly excitement!

ok! time to talk about Cambly  , because its been along week and it makes me smile.

So, online teaching- subject english as a second language, whaaaaat?

tools needed:
  a strong wifi connection - or an ethernet cord to plug from router to computer ( they have ethernet adapters to plug in usb)
   
computer - laptop in camblys case with a chrome browser
bright lighting - i use a ring light from amazon - excuse the tired ness!
internal or external webcam- i started with my computers internal but i just upgraded to a logi external and holy brightness batman! the difference is amazing. this plus the ring is wonderful!

headset with mic - noise cancelling, i am using a inexpensive basic one from walmart but will be upgrading to a wireless headset soon.

usb adapter is helpful if your computer is like mine with only one usb port.  i can plug my headset, light, webcam, ethernet adapter, (or replace the headset with an outside mouse if i dont want to use my touch pad as my webcam has good speakers / mic built in)

i have technology now what??

- first  - cambly does NOT require bachelors or tesol / teaching certificate ( but its good to have- groupon tesol)

- cambly requires paypal for payment - find paypal, its easy to set up, you get paid every monday as long as you have the minimum of 20$ in your account. ( approx two hours or 120 minutes of talk time)

this is the one con, is that the  pay is not great, but it is supplemental pay for me and i enjoy it so that makes up for me! - .17 c a minute- approx 5.20 for 30 minutes or 10.20 for 60 minutes. it goes by minutes so you could log in at any time and get 4 minutes here, 20 minutes there, 45 minutes here, 30 minutes there. depends on whos calling and the time you are logging in, well get to that.

after you have paypal, if you want my referral link: https://www.cambly.com/en/tutors?referralCode=sammi94  - open it in a web browser, on a computer not a mobile device.  you will fill out your tutor / student profile , answer some basic questions and do an intro video.  the website is a little confusing first, you want to make sure you are on a tutor profile and not student.   they will email you when you have been accepted and can start calling in! ( for me it took three days, but ive heard of some people where it took three weeks / months)

( while you have my referral code - i will get 20$ after you sign up, have been accepted and completed 10 priority hours worth of talking, nothing sooner, and i would need a heads up to contact them about it - its a bit of a process - one of the few cons)



youve been accepted!!!! now what???

read the tutor guide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i can not stress this enough. it covers everything, they have an extensive question and answer area on allllllll items.


if you want to update your video- you can check out other tutors profile videos or even go on youtube, or ask me questions, id be happy to help mentor!  most importantly be yourself in it. make sure your bio is "real" - students will search bios to find one they feel is a good fit and after soooo many classes you go from " new talent" to having a rating. up to 5.0. i have seen people as low as 4.7 but there may be lower, and up to 4.9.  the more chats you get the more ratings youll have, im at a steady 4.82 with almost 700 chats, have met just under 600 students ( in over 30 countries, its awesome)

you can either go " visible" or pick up "priority hours", ph means you have to be available to answer each call - they put you closer to the top of the list to have a better chance of getting students to call - could be students who are already used to cambly or brand new trial students - they do ads all over the world on youtube. going visible means youll be around others of the same rating , in the beginning you are listed as " new talent" with no rating to give you a fair chance at getting callers. some students are very particular about tutors based on rating, and others go off profile, or if they like your accent.

on your profile you can choose beginner, intermediate, advanced, ( students dont always look at that part but for the few who do its good to have )  what you specialize in- grammar / business english / conversation / current news/  exam prep / etc ( ielts or toefl are popular for foreign students wanting to come to school in america) - i highly recommend you find a " tesol" class - groupon has a 19$ deal that is good. gives you the basics on teaching english as second language and if you want to join other esl teaching online platforms you will need one ( vipkid, dadaabc, magic ears, etc)

once you have been accepted and you feel your profile is good to go  you can go  visible or take up priority hours!  priority hours - you will be at the top of the list for accepting any and all calls - from trials to people with subscriptions. people may laugh or expect you to be a robot or flash you, some people may not say anything , beginners tend to be very shy and many people have low confidence when they start due to negative experiences trying english in real life.  - have flashcards for beginners and i reccomend engoo.com articles for others!  cambly also has a library filled with resources.

to start you will be a "new talent" rating- this is until you reach 500 or so chats and then an offical rating up to 5.0 kicks in.  after this if you go invisible you will be in line where your rating lies - mines a 4.82 which is ok, not great but not bad.  i seem to get enough calls during visible time and ph time along with reservations that i am pleased where i am, but i strive for better!

you can edit your bio video or bio at any time. i find it helps to talk to the students and not at the students. make your profile " conversational".  one nice thing about cambly is you can switch between " tutor" page and "student " page - and when you start cambly gives you 20 -25 minutes to use with another tutor! this way you can see what the student side of the platform looks like to help out students when they are confused and ask more experienced tutors how they teach " lessons" or talk to students in general.  you can look at different profiles under the student page and see the different videos and descriptions to help with altering any of your own profiles. 

i cant say how much i enjoy cambly, and as i write this now i am fully aware of how many lower case i's i have and lowercase beginning sentences, however i am tired and it has been a long week so please forgive me!  i have met many wonderful people on cambly from over 30 / 40 countries!! i hear about people wanting to receive job promotions, make life better for families, wanting to travel, needing to practice English for speaking at conferences  ( i meet other psychologists and therapists all over the world) professors, IT / software , engineers, everything!   its so wonderful to be apart of their journey and help them practice English through conversation or simple lessons - practice reading out loud / correcting English, rewording sentences, preparing for interviews, using random question generators, anything!  any questions feel free to comment :)