The hardest part of teaching for me is always deciding how much to charge, and its a big part of why I tend towards working for companies, rather than offering private lessons at all. It’s just easier when someone else sets the pay and you agree to it. I hate haggling, and it’s so much worse when you need to set a price based on how much you value yourself.
You should think about what you would be paid for the same job in your home country and base it somewhere off of there. Consider things like demand for native English teachers, level of interest in learning English in the country, and how much the parents would be willing to pay.
I think a good base throughout Europe or Asia is around the equivalent of $20 USD per academic hour (45 minutes). I think any lower than that is selling yourself short. You should also charge more incrementally for more kids, or if you have to travel, or longer lessons, etc.
If you have lots of experience and are super qualified you should of course charge more for that too. I only have a few years of English teaching experience, but I have almost a decade of swim teaching experience, so I charge twice as much for it. I also know that there is a low supply of swim teachers, whereas nearly every American and Brit who goes abroad teaches English.
It’s always a balance for me to compare if the extra money is worth it for the extra pressure I put on myself to be “worth” the money, versus getting less money, but feeling more relaxed when teaching.
Really it’s all relative. Don’t undervalue yourself, but don’t take advantage of people. You can ask for more, and if it’s too much for them to pay, they’ll let you know. My only advice is to not stress about it too much.
Finding Eden 