How to Make Money Tutoring English

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By Rob McKelvie
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Tutoring English

Ability in English is a prime predictor of success in both higher education and in the workplace. A thorough knowledge of English grammar, spelling and a good vocabulary enable people to read, write and speak well. Children and teens who are weak in these areas of English can benefit greatly from the individual attention that a tutor can provide. If you are skilled in these areas then you can probably make money as a tutor of English.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer
Internet Access
English Skills
Determination

Step 1

Your first step as a potential English tutor is to get a realistic assessment of your own knowledge and skills in English. There are books that you can obtain from the library for this purpose or you can take one of the free assessments online. (Google “English assessment”)
Step 2

If you are a college grad you are probably good to get started. If you are not then pay special attention to your assessment results to see whether you may need any remedial work yourself. Ask a few friends how skilled they think you are in language skills. Once you’re sure that you’re good to go, the real work starts!
Step 3

You will need to review and study a variety of schoolbooks on English to see how the subject is taught these days. It might be a bit different from your own school days. Pay close attention to grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension and writing programs/elements. You’ll need to feel very comfortable with the expectations for different grade levels.
Step 4

Remember that studying new material is hard for many kids, especially if reading isn’t highly valued in their home environment. Making use of games to put serious learning time in is encouraged. Surf the web for games and game ideas. Positive reinforcement for kids is very important to keep their interest and motivation high. Also make use of really hot trends in reading like the Harry Potter series and other children’s lit that is highly popular.
Step 5

A key contribution you might make is to get kids really interested in writing. Writing puts together all the English competencies that are crucial: writing itself, grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, etc. Pull together ideas and assignments from the web and also from their teachers who will probably have more knowledge of and access to good resources.
Step 6

Another key contribution you can make is to provide children with age-appropriate dictionaries and, if in high school, a thesaurus. Show them how to use and get the most from a dictionary and thesaurus. They will really benefit from those resources and that knowledge if they make a habit of using them.
Step 7

Finally, see the Resources section for the article “How to Make Money from Tutoring,” which has guidelines for developing and marketing a business in tutoring.