I do quite a bit of English tutoring here in Toulouse. Mostly 1 hour lessons, but sometimes 2. Here's a look at my schedule, so I can remember it in the future.
Tuesday:
17-18h I tutor a colleague's daughter and her 2 friends (Salomé, Tristan and Alice). I think they are 8. They are my faves because I can play games with them (it's difficult to play games with just 1 student), and also because they are smart, so they progress quickly.
18h30-19h30 I've just picked up a student name Brigette, from an Assistant whose contract has finished already. I have my first lesson with her this Tuesday.
Wednesday:
14-16h I tutor 2 brothers ages 7 and 10 (Vadim et Guerlain). I've been tutoring them for the longest, I found them through an English Assistant from last year. The older boy is great, but the younger brother has become completely obnoxious. He doesn't like to focus, or try, and he's in a tantrum phase, oh well. Their mom and grandmother's are super sweet. They give me tea and cookies when I arrive. I am suspicious that the reason the younger brother gets so hyper half-way into the hour is because he's eaten so much sugar !
16h15-17h15 I tutor an 13 year old boy named Hugo. He is one of my 2 students from Acadomia, a tutoring company, that hired me. Acadomia is good because it gives me steady hours, however, they don't pay well. For Hugo the teacher only gets 11.25/hr, whereas Acadomia gets 3x that. For older students the teacher makes 14.25/hr. I have no idea why teaching younger students would equal less money, because in my opinion, it takes more effort/finesse and no less knowledge to teach younger kids, than older ones. Anyway, Hugo is great. He's quiet and nice and listens.
Thursday:
18h30-20h00 I tutor 2 brother's named Benjamin et Raphael (11 et 5). Benjamin is good and focused, Raphael is a bit more difficult because he doesn't know how to write yet ! Makes things a bit tricky, but we get by. Their mom talked me into babysitting them, as well as tutoring them. Generally, I avoid babysitting, but I was caught off guard when she asked and so I said I would...I shouldn't really be refusing extra money at this point in my life. So, last Thursday (it won't be every week that I babysit) I picked them up at 16h and stayed with them till 20h30. It wasn't so bad. I was amused however, when Benjamin saw my phone and asked "Mais, pourquoi tu n'as pas un iphone?" (But, why don't you have an iphone) Legit question I guess, all of the kids have them here. I didn't get a cell phone till I was 13, and I was only allowed to use it for emergencies !! Starting to feel old...
Saturday:
15-17h Delphine (15) is my other Acadomia student. I only have lessons with her every 2 weeks, so they are 2 hours when we do have them. She's a really good student and is mostly just looking for someone to talk with and practice so she can keep her English up. She is apparently unimpressed with her current high school English teacher, so now she has me :)
I quite like tutoring. It's nice to teach one-on-one, it's much easier to see the student progress.
