10: Hire a Tutor
Hire a Tutor
The following are ideas from former volunteers concerning who and how to hire a tutor and how often to meet.
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“I have a two- to three-hour language class once a week with an older man who is a schoolteacher. Two shorter classes in a week would be better, but my teacher only has Saturdays free right now. But if you’re working like you should be during the week, there isn’t a lot of time for a bunch of classes. I chose my teacher because he is a teacher and works at a private school, so he has more of a salary and a less stressful workload than the public teachers. He is the father of a good friend of mine, which allows me to communicate through my friend if it’s necessary (for example, changing times or canceling classes), but also the ability to have some distance. Some PCVs picked people that they work with or see every single day, which they later see as a problem. It will always be possible to ask your friends about language (without payment), and they will even enjoy the conversations as they can ask about English too. So personally, I think making a good friend your tutor is not a good decision.”
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“I spent the first three months at sight scoping out someone who I might want to employ as my tutor rather than asking around for someone who already does it. I felt like if I had someone who had never tutored before they would learn a few skills and class would be more flexible. I found a girl who had graduated in English from a local foreign language school; she is a student and could definitely use the extra money tutoring me would bring in. I asked if she was interested, and then we decided when to begin and how many days per week. We settled on 3 days per week for an hour each time. I find that if we cover too much material, I don’t have the time or brainpower to study all of it before the next lesson.”
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“It doesn’t matter too much who your tutor is. Find someone you like and get along with. Even if he/she isn’t the very best teacher, having a tutor means devoting time each day or week to studying Amharic. Having a responsibility to meet someone will make sure that you actually sit down and study something.”
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“For finding a tutor, it seems the compound that I live on is the best place to start. You are living with the group and interacting every day anyway. I tried going through my counterpart, but he knew little of the community himself. I have switched tutors as well when they don’t work out (found by someone else in the office).”
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“After PST, many volunteers quickly recruit a professional language teacher at their site. They also start off paying that maximum allowed tuition rate, which is an hourly rate far in excess of the typical community standards. As I see it, there are several reasons why you should not do this. First, you will perpetuate the stereotype of a rich foreigner who can throw around money at a time when you want to be integrating into the community and teaching everyone that you came to transfer your skills, not your money. Also, most of your community will not make anywhere the Peace Corps allowed hourly rate, even on a daily basis. I would suggest that you find out what the average local minimum wage is and start around there. Hire a student or perhaps a beneficiary of one of the community organizations that you work with to help you out. You can also ask your landlord or coworkers for recommendations for someone with a good reputation in the community. Starting low will let you afford more hours of assistance. You can always raise the rates later on if you are satisfied with their performance or would like to give them extra incentive to improve.”
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“Give some attention to who you hire and where you hold your sessions. This is especially true if you hire a tutor of the opposite sex. Intentions can be misconstrued, which can lead to awkward situations. Also, people will talk. Even if the gossip doesn’t affect you, it may be damaging to your tutor’s standing in the community.”
