Skimatalk is an online teaching marketplace based in Japan that focuses exclusively on English teaching. Teachers can have regular-paying students and set their own rates.
Teacher Requirements
- Native English speaker
- No teaching experience required
- No teaching certificate required
- A stable internet connection
- Headset with microphone
Students can rate teachers after each session. Teachers must maintain a 4.5/5 average to remain on the Skimatalk platform.
Although teaching experience is preferred, it is not required on Skimatalk.
While there are no minimum hours required, the most successful teachers open more available hours.
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Payment
- Minimum rate to set: 16 USD per hour
- Maximum rate to set: 60 USD per hour
- Simatalk takes 20% commission
- Teachers are paid once per month
The teacher has to teach three free sessions on registering to the platform. The minimum threshold that teachers charge is 16USD per hour, and teachers are free to set their own rates.
Lessons
- 25-minute lessons
- One-on-one teen/adult classes
- 5 minute break between lessons
- 24/7 flexibility
- No minimum hours required
Students can choose between Skimatalk’s pre-planned courses or have their own conversation classes with teachers.
Students are mainly Japanese Business professionals, so teachers can expect to helps students with small talk, interviews, and business English courses.
Teacher Application
- Sign up here with your name and e-mail
- Create your teacher profile
- Take a few simple tests and click apply
- Wait until Skimatalk approves your account
Skimatalk want teachers to create their own introductory video.
Teachers also must take a test to ensure they meet the platform’s standards.
After teachers are signed up and approved to teach on Skimatalk, teachers can set their schedules.
Lessons are conducted on Skype. Teachers are required to evaluate their student’s language skills after each lesson. They have 48-hours to provide students with feedback.
You may also be interested in: The Best English Teaching Companies in 2022.
Scheduling
Teachers can schedule three types of lessons.
- If teachers schedule lessons that are 30 minutes to 3 hours from now, those sessions remain open for booking until 30-minutes before the lesson time begins.
- If teachers schedule lessons between 3 hours and 12 hours from now, those sessions remain open for booking until 3-hours before the session time.
- If teachers schedule sessions between 12 hours and 8 days from now, those sessions remain open for booking until 12 hours before the session time.
Teachers are informed via e-mail when they receive a class booking. Experienced teachers on the platform are given additional flexibility and can choose the expiry time.
Cancellation Policy
Teachers must maintain a clean profile, with less than a 10% cancellation rate and less than a 5% no-show rate.
Teachers receive financial penalties for missing or cancelling classes. 3 USD (for cancellation) or 9 USD (no-show) is deducted from their paycheck.
If teachers are late for class (five minutes or more), it is considered a ‘no show.’
Review: Pros and Cons
There aren’t many up-to-date reviews for Skimatalk on the internet, but from what I can tell, here are the pros:
Pros of Skimatalk
- Flexible schedule
- Friendly students
- You can block students if you need to
The teachers are free to set a flexible schedule without waiting by their computer if they book it ahead of time.
Teachers can open a 24/7 schedule, ideal for teachers who want many hours or live in a foreign country. They have some freedom to decide what they teach and can therefore provide quality lessons to their students.
Teachers also have the power to block students, if students are causing them trouble.
Cons of Skimatalk
- No formal training
- Commission fees at 20%
- Students can cancel classes
It seems as though the platform doesn’t provide any formal training, and teachers may not necessarily get booked.
Teachers also have to complete three free classes when they first get started on the platform. This could be a strategy for managing poor quality teachers/complaints, or maybe it’s a way for helping teachers get noticed. However, teachers still may consider it as a con.
Students can cancel their bookings, but I can see students receive financial penalties for canceling with less than 24 hours’ notice. This could serve as a deterrent from canceling classes.
In Conclusion
Skimatalk is another way for teachers to make money online. For more information about Skimatalk, click the link below to get started teaching.
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I'm an Irish tutor and founder of TPR Teaching. I started teaching in 2016 and have since taught in the UK, Spain, and online.
I love learning new things about the English language and how to teach it better. I'm always trying to improve my knowledge, so I can better meet the needs of others!
I enjoy traveling, nature walks, and soaking up a new culture. Please share the posts if you find them helpful!
Skimatalk is really not interested, they are clueless, unlike Cambly which is an amazing platform to join!
Hi Caitriona. Thanks very much for the informative piece about SkimaTalk. If you didn’t know, they are apparently changing their name to SK-Tech Inc.
Seeing as though this is a “..tutor review”, is this information partly from your experience? Have you worked for them? If so, I’m curious about why there is so little information about them online. It’s very weird and makes me quite wary. For a company that has been around for 10 years, I think. scariest thing also happened to me in the application process. They ask for so many personal details as well and the application process is long.
Hi Louis, thanks for the details. I am not affiliated with Skimatalk, this is what I could find on the web. But I would love to know your experience. What happened during your application process?