TEACHING ENGLISH ONLINE FOR FILIPINOS
How it all got started
My name is Bryan. I’ve been teaching English to my private students for about 4 years now. I’m very happy and satisfied with my business, I have the freedom to work anywhere I want and choose my own schedule, too. Not only that, I also get paid the amount that I want because I can charge my students my OWN rates.
But it wasn’t always like that.
MY HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Back in 2011, I taught English online in a Japanese company where I got paid $1/per class. I didn’t think it was TOO low at the time. I thought it was just right so I worked there for about a couple of months and then went back to studying at university.
In 2014, I worked as a call center agent and worked long hours––12 hours a day–– so I can earn more. Because I had to commute to my office and back home, I spent almost 16 hours every day just by working.
It was mentally and physically exhausting. So, I did some thinking and asked myself, “Is the life that I want?”
My answer was NO. I don’t want to waste my working graveyard shifts, stuck in traffic and air pollution, and just hoping for the weekend to escape.
This realization changed everything.
THE PROBLEM
I wanted to work from home but I didn’t have any idea how to start. I’m an undergraduate with no qualifications to start with. And the competition on Freelancer, Upwork, and Jobstreet.ph was tough–-I was competing with thousands of highly skilled and experienced freelancers all over the world. I just had no chance.
Then it hit me. Why not go back to teaching English? That’s something that I know how to do!
MY QUEST
Researching on the internet led me to different paths that I can take on to become an English teacher. I found out that having a TEFL certificate can get me a job as an English teacher abroad.
So I underwent a TEFL training online and even got more serious and took up a globally recognized certificate like the CELTA at International House Bangkok.
After my training, I applied at different language schools in different countries via email, hoping that I’d get a chance and live the life that I want.
I failed.
Most of those schools require a native speaker from countries like the U.S, the U.K, Canada, and Australia. Aside from that, they also require a bachelor’s degree, which is something that I don’t have.
LOSING THE BATTLE
I spent more than $2000 with the courses I took only to find out that I’m not eligible to teach abroad. I was frustrated and hopeless. I lost the battle I thought I could win.
I got back from where I started. I applied in an ESL company that paid me peanuts. Not having any freedom and control over my job, I decided to search for other opportunities.
Wanting to get my private students and earn more, I decided to do my research and case studies on how to find and attract students, spending hours and hours of learning different skill sets that led me to my craft.
In 2017, I found out how to get my own students and started teaching privately, charging my own rates––the amount that the ESL companies will never be able to give.
WINNING THE WAR
I finally broke the code! After spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours, I was able to get out of the matrix.
My investments paid off.
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Fast forward to 2018, I started to build my own brand (English Decoded) which helped me get more students and get paid more than $1,000 per month working part-time.
I never went back to working for ESL companies or any other companies ever since.
Every now and then, I see Filipino teachers on different platforms talking about how hard it is to work for their company.
They work very hard, putting in time and effort, sacrificing their leisure time with their families or friends, just to pay the bills. Yet the companies they work for don’t treat them well, well enough for them to sustain their lifestyle.
Reading through comments on different forums for teachers, I realized that I’m living the dream of online teachers. The only problem is I’m the only one I know who’s living it. And this broke my heart.
With the rise of companies hiring teachers to work for them for an unreasonable amount of salary, I decided to take a step forward and do something to help my fellow Filipino teachers.
And that’s how the TEOF course came about.
YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
Many teachers, especially Filipinos, don’t believe that it is possible to get decent amount of income by teaching English online. When they hear the word “business” they think of big companies that hire teachers and have great websites and advertisements and all that.
This couldn’t get further away from the truth.
You've reached this part and you’ve read my story. I’m just an average person. Nothing special about me.
The only thing that makes us different from each other is I’ve walked the path earlier than you. And because of that I had many failures, spent years doing this, and paid thousands of dollars in learning the skills that I now have.
But you don’t have to go through everything I went through. I created a system that works effectively. All you have to do is follow it.
To be brutally honest, I never thought I would end up teaching Filipinos how to start their own business. I really just wanted to teach English.
But when I experienced first-hand the impact of having the freedom to teach who I want, set my own schedule, and charge my own rates, my life changed. I now have enough time to do the things that I want––like going to the gym, reading books, writing blogs, and going out with my family and friends on weekends and even weekdays.
If I only keep this to myself, I wouldn’t be as passionate. I wouldn’t be driven. And I would have to suffer guilt––the guilt of knowing that I could have done something to help but I didn’t.
And that’s why I want to share my knowledge. I want to be a part of something bigger than myself.
I want to be a part of your success.
And I am ready. So, my question for you is…are you ready?
Are you ready to write your own story?
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now."
