"Excuse Me" in Writing and Speaking

I've mentioned before that I advertise for new ESL students on craigslist.org. I never put my phone number in the advertisement, just my email address. If potential students want to contact me for English lessons, they have to email me first.

I received an email inquiry today with an interesting greeting. The writer wrote, "Excuse me" as his greeting. I've received hundreds of email from English language learners and this was the first time I've read this introduction.

Of course, a more appropriate email opening is something like "hi" or "hello" or "good day" (although emails with "good day" are usually from scammers), etc.

I was thinking about this "excuse me" email greeting and although it's not conventional, it really does seem to a polite way to begin an email. I receive so many emails from potential students, people who have viewed my websites, friends, family, businesses, and on and on. I get a little overwhelmed with all the email sometimes.

So "excuse me" just seems like a fair greeting. (Of course, I am not recommending this greeting in emails. It's more appropriate for speaking situations. And if I end up working with this person, it will be something we discuss.) It just seemed right today.

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E-book on Starting an ESL Business

Almost on a daily basis, I receive emails from folks asking questions about teaching ESL to adults. Some of the questions are about teaching methods or grammar--most of those questions I answer with links to certain pages on my ESL website.

I also receive many questions about the business part of running an ESL tutoring business. And lots of questions about how to get started. I usually write back to the questioner and sometimes write the answer here in my blog if I have the permission of the asker to publish his or her question.

I've decided to try to put all these questions and answers (and a lot more) in an e-book about how to start an ESL tutoring business.

I'll be referring to all the prior questions I've received, but I'd like this book to be very thorough. Please contact me with any questions you might have about starting and running an ESL tutoring business.

If your question is addressed in my book, you'll get a free copy!

Thank you,
Debra

Teaching ESL with a Spanish Surname

I have a few ESL students whose first language is Spanish. I also happen to have a Spanish last name. I don't put my full name in my ads on craigslist, but I usually do use my last name when signing my first email responding to an inquiry from a potential student. Occasionally, Spanish-speaking students are concerned that I may not be a native English speaker.

When they meet me, they discover that I am a native English speaker and we then have a small discussion about how the southwestern part of the United States actually used to belong to Mexico and that there are many, many people in this part of the country whose families have been here for generations.

Just as a tip to other ESL tutors doing advertising, if you have a distinctly "ethnic" name, it may be useful to emphasize in your ads that you are a native-English speaker (although, I include this in my ad and people still have questions) and/or initially do not use your last name.

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Using Craigslist to Advertise for ESL Students

As a private ESL tutor, I continue to find my students through posting free advertisements on craigslist.org. My postings have allowed me to earn a living teaching ESL to adults for quite a while now.

The effectiveness of craigslist.org depends on the area of the U.S. you are in, or even the area of the world--as it is now available in many cities around the world. I'm fortunate to live and work in an area where a huge percentage of the population, including English language learners, knows about craigslist.org.

I would love hear about other options ESL tutors use to find students. Please send me any ideas you have and I will be sure to post them so that they may be useful to other tutors.

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Problems with ESL Learning Products

I was looking at some e-products to recommend to some of my ESL students. "E-products" are things like e-books ("electronic books") that can be downloaded from the Internet. Some ESL topics I've seen are things like how to improve your pronunciation, reduce your accent, learn grammar, learn new vocabulary, etc.

Some of these ESL products are free. Some sites charge money for their products.

Here's my problem with most of the ESL learning tools I've come across so far: they have English mistakes in them! Now, I don't claim that I never make a typo, or even a grammar error, on my blog or on my ESL site. I sometimes don't have the time to go back and edit my writing. BUT, I'm not charging anything to read my words! The good and the bad are free here.

I've also noticed errors by other ESL tutors advertising for students on craigslist.org. (I actually made an error on an ad once and someone was helpful enough to point it out to me. Thank you!)

I just think that if you are selling a product to help people learn English, then you have to use correct English! And if you are a student studying English, beware of products that have errors in the sales pitch! They'll probably have errors in the thing you pay for, too.

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Scamming ESL Tutors on craigslist.org

I've mentioned before that I advertise for ESL students on craigslist.org. This is my primary source of advertising and marketing. My other source is referrals from past students. Students work with me for a few months and either return to their countries of origin and/or have met their English language goals, so I often need new students to replace old students.

I regularly run an ad offering my tutoring services to English learners in the Lessons section of craigslist.org. Without fail, right after I post my ad, I receive one to three offers from someone claiming they are from another country and they would like me to teach their children because their children are going to be in the U.S. "on holiday" and they want their children to keep busy, etc. They will also ask me for my rate for three or four weeks, my address, phone number, etc. They tell me that they need this information so that they can send me a money order or cashier's check. Their email will never be in correct English although some claim to have grown up in the U.S., but are now living abroad. It will usually be in all bold letters.

Over two years ago, when I started using craigslist to find students, I actually fell for one of these scams (for a little while). I corresponded with the scammer, providing most of the information he requested and asking him for more information about his son (age, level of English proficiency, etc.). He said he wanted to hire me for two-hour lessons, five days a week for one month. I actually started planning my work (and vacation schedule around this scammer). I didn't receive any money, but the month came and went and the "student" never showed up. A couple of weeks later, I got another email explaining that there had been a family emergency. By this point, I finally realized that I was the target of a fraud scheme.

The way it works is that the person saying they want English lessons eventually sends you a cashier's check or money order for an amount over the amount of the total English lessons. Then the ESL tutor is supposed to reimburse the scammer for the overage. It takes about a month for banks to discover that a cashier's check is fraudulent. In the meantime, the scammee has sent real money to the scammer.

This scam is not only used on English tutors. Someone tried to scam a student of mine who was selling a car. It's the same idea. The scammer sends you payment for over the amount of the transaction and the victim is supposed to return the excess payment.

I just think it's really low to try to scam teachers!

Length of Private ESL Lessons

I offer three options to my ESL students for the length of our individual lessons: one hour, one-and-half hours, and two hours. In my ads to find new students and when meeting with my students for the first time, I highly recommend that they take the one-and-a-half hour option. Ninety per cent of my students have heeded this recommendation.

Most of my ESL students are either working professionals or visiting scholars (as well as parents), so their time is limited. Additionally, the learners that I meet in the evenings are often, as you can imagine, tired from their workday. A two-hour lesson is just way too much. I feel that the last half hour is really a waste of their time and money, as it is difficult for students to continue to focus for such a long period of time. About half of my students travel a long way to meet with me. Some of them prefer to meet me for two hours.

One-hour lessons are just not enough (usually), in my opinion. It is often very difficult to cover enough material to make sure that the English student can sufficiently learn and show some mastery of the topic. Of course, for students who only want to improve their English conversation skills through conversation practice, a one-hour lesson is often sufficient. I have had students successfully improve their English skills when only meeting once a week for only one hour, but these students have been willing and able to dedicate a significant amount of time studying outside of class.

One-and-a-half hour-lessons seem to work the best for both my students and for me. We can sufficiently cover the topic and have enough time to practice and reinforce the topic, especially some English grammar topics.

To encourage potential students to choose one-and-a-half hour lessons, I offer a discount.

As for how long we continue to have lessons, this is usually determined by the length of time the student is in the country, or for those who live here (in the U.S.) how their work schedule pans out. Some students have specific goals they want to meet. We stop working together when the student meets his or her goals.

How to Find New ESL Students

As a self-employed English as a Second Language tutor, it's my responsibility (and livelihood!) to find my own students. Adult learners often have specific goals in mind. About half of my students at any given time live and work in the U.S. This is their home and they are trying to advance in their careers. The other half are ESL students who live in other countries and are here for a short while (a few months to a year) to study classes in their particular field and/or to improve their English language skills. We are able to meet their goals in a matter of months, so I continually need to market my services in order to have a constant source of students.

My primary source of new students is craigslist.org. I keep at least one ad running (almost) at all times. Since I only tutor adult ESL learners, my ads focus on professionals living in the U.S. and visiting scholars. This free method of advertising has worked very well for me and has allowed me to earn a living through the number of students it provides me.

The trick to running an ad for ESL students (or any other type of new client) is to tell the reader what you can do for him or her first. People look at ads because they have a "problem" or a need and they want to find someone who can help them. So it's best to start your ad by telling your potential student what you can do for them.

I see a lot of ads where the writer makes the mistake of talking about themselves way too much. While the potential student wants to make sure that you are qualified, even more importantly he or she wants to make sure you can help solve their problem. Talk about your major qualifications at the end of the ad. Remember that it is more important to tell the reader how you can help him or her solve a problem.