FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
I charge $60 an hour for tutoring. $50 if you come to my house. If you pay for 10 lessons ahead of time, the 10th lesson is free, essentially making it $55 an hour. I charge $35 an hour for skype lessons. For translation jobs, I charge 15 cents a word. If there is a rush, I charge 25 cents a word or $50-$60 an hour. depending on the difficulty of the translation.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I switched my e-mail to Portuguese and read an article a day to keep my vocabulary alive. I speak Spanish daily and listen to the radio in Spanish to keep my skills sharp. I also work part time at a hotel where many of my co-workers speak to me in Spanish. There are also tons of French clients who keep my French alive as well. Additionally, I subscribe to TripSurf, a french surf magazine which keeps my vocabulary alive. The hotel I work at (The Beverly Hills Hotel) regularly puts me into contact with Spanish, French and Portuguese speakers. I also make a point to make friends with native speakers so I don't lose my skills.
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
I just fell into it. I always loved learning languages from an early age. I never expected to teach them, but out of the blue one day while searching for surf I was contacted by a tutoring agency that had head-hunted me off of careerbuilder. They asked me if I was indeed fluent in the languages and when I had confirmed that I was they had me come into their office to test me. I passed for English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. They routinely charged $55 an hour for my services and paid me from $18-$28. Thus, I decided to create my own website and attract my own clients. I have never regretted my decision to go solo.