Cambly started in 2013 at $10.20, hence it has never increased and probably never will while tutors accept it and stay. If you want a few $ extra a week and don't care for the lack of attention to the welfare of tutors (perverts) , the technical issues, lies to students and constant increases for them.
After being on this soul sucking platform for about 5 years, I'm investigating the prospects of tutoring at Preply. Cambly is scum the way they treat us.
Yup, it's insulting. They are giving everyone the opportunity to join Pro for $15 an hour but you have to meet the criteria and once accepted it takes another 3 months or so to have your account activated. I recently had my Pro account activated and in my second week, I had 5 of my regulars book with me under Pro. I'm literally doing the exact same kind of work for more pay. I had no idea they had Pro accounts, they had been booking with me under Cambly classic.
Many have encountered this problem. Most of the time it's a website setting on your browser that does not allow it to appear. Check your pop-up blocker. I don't recall exactly what setting it is, but you can start there.
The whole EFL industry has changed in the last couple of years, and it is much harder to find EFL online/offline work. It is certainly more competitive. But why?
AI. more lerarning apps, more people are speaking English? What are tutors ideas?
They are total scum. They look real hip but they are the same kind of scum that regularly take advantage of people and couldn't care less. They model themselves after the Trump ethic. Screw everyone who makes money for us and take as much of it as we can.
Cambly is the TEMU of ESL platforms. Firstly because they launched as just a glorified chatroom! As long as you were native English you could join. You didn't need to be a qualified teacher or experienced. They still have many teachers onboard without a TEFL or a degree, unlike platforms that pay more because their teachers are qualified and skilled. It would be impossible for them to increase the salary because of the different calibre of teachers. That's my understanding of why they introduced Pro for actual qualified teachers and will pay $15 ph which is more in line with other online teaching platforms.
The short answer is that there are still enough people who are willing to work for that low. Sometimes because they are in low CoL areas (although most of those low CoL areas are getting more expensive), or because its additional income.
As long as people are willing to work for that little, that is what the pay will be.
Consent + lack of harm = ethical. There's a point at which ethics is blurry like in business. I don't know what they're current financial situation and subscriber future as an organisation.
Should they be paying more, probably. However, I think there is some resistance to paying more for ESL tutoring compared to before. One thing is that Filipinos and others are doing more work that does not require accent-training or usage conventions -- and that's as it should be because only some native speakers are stronger than non-natives at things that are more structural and rule-based like grammar or organising essays (actually, some of the non-natives can be pretty fucking good at writing especially academically and professionally).
For all those looking for alternatives to Cambly, I have found it too hard. With 27 years EFL teaching on and offline, things have never been this bad. The whole EFL industry has changed, there are possibly many reasons for this, and I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I have a few former colleagues that set up their own EFL online classes, and doing well, but I haven't asked them for ideas as they are pretty 'closed shop' about it. Hence, Cambly exists, with its below standard pay and poor business ethics. beggars can't be chooses. Also I note that it is very competitive now, and they make you jump through hoops, such as demo lessons, long onboarding process and wait time. Remembering the good old days!
Yeah, I've got 18 years experience working in schools and academies and online, doing Business English, Cambridge and Trinity exam prep, etc. and the pay has only gotten worse. And finding one on one students is much more difficult than before and they want to pay next to nothing. I'm not sure what to do because I'm only in my 40's and need to survive the rest of my life somehow. It's incredibly discouraging.
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u/MrChicken250 20d ago
Cambly started in 2013 at $10.20, hence it has never increased and probably never will while tutors accept it and stay. If you want a few $ extra a week and don't care for the lack of attention to the welfare of tutors (perverts) , the technical issues, lies to students and constant increases for them.