Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

Right, it IS a good salary if you teach at school. Pretty good.
Yes, schools usually take 1/2- 2/3ds of whatever you earn per hour, depending on the level (private lesson price is about 90-100 CHF average)
but on the other hand - you get an official job....

After 6 years of sitting (and teaching/translating) at home, I gladly took an opportunity to teach in one of the best language schools in Bern... Love it! :)

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

This is true for just about ANY teaching job, including regular school teachers.

They have to prepare work at home. In fact, with so many years of experience preparing shouldn't take that long. And commuting, well, other people have to also travel to their jobs. If the school is too far way that's not the schools fault. If you don't want to commute don't apply for jobs far way.

If you can get a higher salary some where else, more power to you. If you don't need the job, more power to you. But let's be real 45/hr to teach English at an school is not a bad salary. Many people who teach English work in schools to compliment their private classes & (let's be frank) to pick up more private students. And there are a heck of a lot of people out there who would be happy to make 45/hr.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

honestly, i'm not sure prep time depends on how good of a teacher you are. in fact i really think if you are a good teacher, you should be prepping the same time regarless of how long you've been teaching- unless you're teaching the same lessons over and over again. i've been teaching for over 10 years. but i've taught different ages/levels/needs. i still take a lot of time each week to prepare my lessons, and being that i teach younger students, i prepare a ton of hands on lessons that require a ton of prep time.

in terms of pay- if you don't want to accept 45 an hour, then don't. sure you can make more with private lessons, but factoring in materials, transport, etc- i found private lessons weren't all that lucrative for me. personally, working in a school is much more enjoyable to me, and the perk is that the salary increases after time. it's not as easy to ask private clients to pay more after time. but in the end, there are so many people with credentials to teach english, that the market here is getting tighter and tighter and (sometimes) you have to be to accept a lower rate if you need to work.:rolleyes:

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

Sorry I did not reply- been away.

Teaching for 1 hour implies preparation of lesson, sometimes creation of materials and marking. So 1 hour in front of student/s/class can mean a lot more work at home. It's not a bad salary at all- compared to my neighbour who gets CHF30 for cleaning, and a lot more enjoyable. Which is why we swap 1 hour for 1 hour, when I teach her kids and she helps me out with cleaning. But with a good Degree and 30 years experience, considering that I would have to travel and park the car in town centre - I preferred to decline. The fact that un-qualified and inexperienced staff would earn the same, does seem unfair.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

I'm more of the opinion that better teachers should be able to charge more. The fact that somebody has a qualification doesn't make them a better teacher, but logically it is more likely I suppose.

If you have a geniune talent for something but no qualification in my mind you should be able to give it a go. But this is Switzerland and they would prefer that you have both, otherwise will settle for the qualification even if you have no talent.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

I do some teaching in Zurich at a little school. When I tried advertising private lesson services, I got lots of emails asking me about price...and once I told them it was 50 CHF per hour, 99 per cent did not contact me again.
Private English tuition is a luxury for most people, unless they have a very good salary or can get their company to sponsor them.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

Hi, I'm moving to Zurich in August and I'm hoping to get a job teaching English as soon as possible. I'll have a BA (minimum 2:1) and CELTA, as well as a years teaching experience.

Did it take you a long time to get a job teaching English in Zurich? Do you have any tips about how to get a job asap? I've heard that there are a lot of unqualified expat-wives (no disrespect meant here at all!) working as English language teaching so I presume that with both my qualifications and experience I'll be a step ahead!

Do you know of any websites where ELT jobs are advertised? I've heard that EFL jobs tend to only be advertised on the website of the particular language school/institution. Is this correct?

I'm looking to do private tuition as well, but only charging 25CHF to ensure I get some clients!

Sorry for all of the questions! Any general hints/tips would be fab :).

Rachael.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

25 CHF, thanks for screwing us teachers!!

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

If you work privately in your town, don't expect much more than 50CHF an hour.
Friends/neighbours/acquaintances don't want to pay more than that.........

In a good school, expect on earning between 60 - 90 CHF an hour.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

Hey give me a break! I'm moving to Switzerland to move in with boyfriend, won't have a job, will have rent to pay, and will therefore need to earn as much money as I possibly can.

If people want a tutor with 10 years experience then they will have to be prepared to pay for it.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

25 CHF is to low that all I'm saying!

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

"Free market economics" and "Switzerland" don't really go together.

As everyone else has commented, the going rate for English lessons is considerably higher than CHF25/hour, and you'll get plenty of business at CHF35-40.

Believe it or not, most Swiss would probably find a low rate unattractive. The assumption here is that low prices equate to low quality.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

Thanks for that. I did some private tuition in Germany and knocking 5 euros off of my hourly rate got me a lot more clients: I presumed the same would apply in Switzerland, but now I know I can raise my prices I will. It is, of course, better for me financially anyway :).

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

OT

I think your neighbour is screwing you...
No way a cleaner earns CHF30 an hour in Switzerland.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

????

Mine does.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

They most certainly do in these parts - the cleaner for our Jugendarbeit building is paid CHF30 per hour.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

Well that is nice of you.
If she would work for a cleaning company she'd get around CHF13 - 18.
Private cleaning is normally between CHF17 - 20.

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

OT, but the going rate here in Basel (based on three familes that I know of) is CHF 100-105 for 3 hours (includes some ironing).

Apparently in Zürich, too ... even in 2006.

Back to teaching English ...

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

I don't know anyone who pays less than 30 an hour. 17-20 is a cheek!

Re: Teaching English in Switzerland
 

Out here, one needs to pay 35-50 per hour in order to find someone willing to venture this far from civilization.