Getting rich - a.k.a How much money does an EFL teacher make?

Hi everyone,

So to follow up with my end of year reflections list it's time to talk about something that makes the world go around and keeps us all occupied (perhaps too much).

I'm talking, of course, about money. How much money does an EFL teacher make?

This is an actual, genuine, in no way faked, perfectly normal

 monthly pay packet for an EFL teacher. I make this much money every month ;-)

Now in the interests of privacy for my colleagues and the school I work for, I'll not be discussing exact details of contracts and hourly rates etc. This is more a post to let people know roughly how much money you can expect to make as an EFL teacher, at least here in Slovakia.

Basically I make between 700 and 900 Euros per month after tax when teaching. It's hard to give an exact figure because I have two contracts, one fixed and one which pays me for each lesson I teach more than the fixed amount. Because of this, my exact income is variable, though almost always falls into the numbers outlined above.

Many other EFL teachers I know work on a kind of business license where they are essentially freelancers who can work for many different companies. Generally they get a higher hourly rate and so come out with a bit more outright cash. On the other hand, because they are not guaranteed any work by companies they can face less certainty in what they do. In addition they don't tend to get other benefits offered and must pay for their own health insurance etc.

So how much will I make as an EFL teacher in Bratislava? Well, about what I outlined above as long as you have a good school and are flexible. I like to teach business English and one to one students at high level, but I also teach adult and children's groups in our school, as well as some lessons at primary schools that Class works with. I sometimes start early in the morning and sometimes work late into the evening....it comes with the job.

The more flexible, skilled and versatile you can be as a teacher, the more work you will get. The more work you get, the more you will earn as an ESL teacher. The more limited you make yourself to a school (no kids/only high level/not too much travelling etc. etc.) the harder they might find it to give you enough lessons.

Of course, from a personal development standpoint, teaching different levels is great too, but let's keep it focused on the moolah for now ;-)

One question that I recall from the last day of my CELTA training course in England was during a final meeting with the director of the school. We were all proud of having completed the course, what we'd learned, what we needed to work on and so on, and he took an hour or so to give us some advice on the more practical side of finding a job, what he looks for in teachers and answered our questions. The question that hit me was:

"Where can I go to make a lot of money as an EFL teacher?"

To the director's credit he answered it effectively, pointing out that Saudi Arabia tends to pay well (though life can be quite restricted there, for women in particularl), South Korea has a good reputation for paying well and so do other Asian countries. The response I was secretly hoping for though, was something like.

"Where can I go to make a lot of money as an EFL teacher?"
"To the admissions section of the medical/law/finance school up the road."

It's no secret that teachers don't make a huge amount of money, EFL teachers included. That said, you get to meet interesting people, do a job that makes a real difference to individuals, get challenged and have good opportunities for travel.

As far as my experiences living in Slovakia go, I think I do alright for my money. My current annual salary is approximately 50% that of what I was earning at my job in the US as a radio station sales coordinator where, while the colleagues were great, the work was often dull, repetitive, didn't challenge me and I was quite poorly paid.

So how is it living with half as much money? Well if we compare the costs, it starts to look really good. I have a bus pass from my school so I can travel for work, largely eliminating transport costs, certainly commuting ones, I get food vouchers every month as part of the government program for employees in Slovakia and my rent is much much lower ($200 a month including all bills and internet sound good?).

I am not a heavy drinker and I have few expensive hobbies (wargaming aside) so I can happily report that in the last year I have managed to save about 50% of my annual salary, which is a really good feeling.

I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination but I'm happy with what I do, I'm interested to go to work and I am building savings much more consistently than I have done in the past. It must be that getting old and responsible thing people keep telling me about ;-)

So that's all from me on this point. If you have any questions about being an EFL teacher or how much money you can make doing this, then please get in touch via the comments section or email.

Best wishes,

Pete :-)