I How to Say This?

You decide what you want per hour or per session. I would do it by the hour. Make sure you write it all in the email so that they are completely clear on what you are charging, how to be paid etc. Here is an example:

Dear ______family,

Thank you for choosing me to be your daughter's tutor. I am available on ____days and from ______time to ___________time. My fee for tutoring is paid in cash at the time of service and _____dollars per hour/session etc. I have a 24 hour cancellation fee. If you book an appt and can not make it, I need at least 24 hours notice or you will be charged the full session fee of _______dollars. Thank you for understanding. If you have any questions, please call me at _________. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Do not do a trial session for free to see how she likes etc. That is a recipe for disaster and she may take advantage. Have EVERYTHING in writing and have YOU sign and date it and have HER sign and date it. It needs to be a contract.

FYI- I said cash, but you could to check after the first visit if you feel comfortable. Otherwise, I would stick with cash only.
Take care,

M

Write it in the email. That is a good idea. Don't be uneasy to talk about your fee. It makes it hard for both of you if you are uneasy. You have a skill. She needs your skill. She needs to pay you for your skill.

I just saw what you said about her wanting to decide how much you are worth. Good grief. She is trying to take advantage of you.

You decide how much to charge. You do not have to teach her. She cannot learn this language easily. Don't let her jerk you around, Mowmow. Tell her how much it will be, period. No free lessons and she doesn't get to decide how much to pay you.

Good luck!
Dawn

I agree that you should be the one deciding how much to charge, and LivingLife has an excellent suggestion for the wording to include in your contract. The Foreign Language department of your school may have someone who could also offer ideas for any other terms that would be useful to include, both for your protection and your client.

May I also suggest that you keep records of what she pays and when? Not only for tax purposes, but to avoid any confusion if you choose to accept cash only. I believe you can go to an office supply store and get books of receipts, so that you could give her a receipt when she pays you. If there is also a carbon, then you'll have copies for your records all in one place.

Good luck! I hope this works out to be a good source of some extra income for your family :-)

oh, my dear. don't feel uneasy about this. you have expertise and you are marketing it. don't put this off, do it right away up front, and do it with confidence. depending on your expertise and the going rate in your area, you should be looking at a minimum of $20 per hour and probably a good bit more.
khairete
S.

I suggest that you need to decide how much you're worth. It's good to be able to negotiate but you need to have a starting price.

I suggest that you contact tutors in your area to see how much they charge. Google "tutors Tempe AZ" or call businesses that tutor and ask what they charge. Perhaps call a local school and ask to talk with someone about tutoring and ask about possible prices. Perhaps teachers will be familiar with tutors and can refer you to them.

I suggest that you ask for cash payable at the end of each lesson until you get to know the person and know that they're reliable.

I suggest that after you discuss your syllabus and provide some examples of how you'll teach that the first actual lesson is to be a paid lesson. You are a professional. Perhaps she made that suggestion because you were unsure of what to charge. That is OK but now you should decide on an amount before the meeting. Act more confident even if you aren't.

Here is one web site that lists private tutors and their rates.

http://www.wyzant.com/fullsearchaw.aspx?g=GoogleAdwordsCo...

You do need to take into consideration the amount of training they've had and their experience when comparing their rates with what you could charge. This site may not be helpful. I don't know your training or experience in tutoring.

You could also call a college and ask to speak to someone in the ESL program and ask them for guidance. You could also get referrals from them.

BTW I hope you're feeling better and have figured out how to get medical care easier.

Later: Factors to consider when deciding on a fee. What language you are teaching? How much in demand is knowing and using that language? What is the student's age and reason for learning the language? Do they want to learn it superficially or will they want to become proficient? Are there other tutors available to teach the same language? What experience do you have in teaching that language or any other subject? Do you have credentials or a degree in anything even peripherally related to teaching and the language? Will you be providing handouts/work sheets, recordings, and/or books?

It might depend on where you live but we pay a tutor $60/hour who specializes in dyslexia tutoring. Flute lessons are $35/hour here. Horseback riding lessons are $35/half hour or $60/hour. We are outside of Boston, Ma.
YOU HAVE A SPECIAL SKILL that is worth getting paid for. I think both parties will feel more uncomfortable if you do not set the pay rate UP FRONT. I would call a few tutors and ask what they charge, or do some research online, here are 2 sites and the rates say no less than $25/hour and they go up to $75/hour with specialized training.
http://www.care.com/tutoring-tutoring-fees-p1145-q3356.html
http://ask.metafilter.com/75268/Whats-the-going-rate-for-...
Are you just a native speaker or do you have teaching credentials - that makes a difference. Your time is worth money and I would start at $25/hour if you have no teaching credentials and at about $45 to $50/hour if you do have a teaching certificate and even more if you have specialized training. Don't sell yourself short and make sure to set expectations - do they expect their daughter to learn to speak some conversational sentences so she can travel and find the bathroom, or do they want her to read and write in the new language, or do they expect fluency? If you are preparing for the travel-level and they expect fluency they will be dissappointed and give you a bad reference. So make sure your syllabus has a sentence about expected progress, and expected homework time, and expected feedback (from you to them and them to you as well). Keep the communication open so email now and attach a professional looking syllabus with some sentences about these expectations and your fees.
I work in marketing and we always charge for seminars since free (or charging too litte) gives the impression that the lessons is not valuable and can be skipped. Oh, also make sure to put in a 24 hour notice cancellation charge of half the hourly fee (and you can tell if they ask that last minute cancellations due to illness will be excused). One more thing - charge more if you are travelling to their house than if she comes to yours, maybe $5/hour more (assuming local travel only) and put it in your syllabus/expectations/rate sheet.

I have not read the other responses yet.

My feeling is that you DO need to communicate upfront and the fee should be in the first email with the syllabus. You are the one teaching, so YOU set your fee..... the client does not set your fee...... YOU know your worth. Not only is your tutoring worth a solid fee, your time is also worth money. Be firm when you set your rates and don't waver or someone will try to take advantage and get your price lower.

That said, in the past when we have used tutors here are fees we paid....

Academic $50/hour CASH

Violin $30/1/2 hr CASH (regular instructor), $80/hr CASH from someone who is in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra instruction.

Personal Coach for SAT/ACT test instruction 24 hour instruction program....... $200/hour through Princeton Review (PR guarantees a higher test schore if you go through their program based on the 1st ACT/SAT test taken). It is true and it worked.... not only must you "know" the material, you must "know" how to take the test.

Personal coach for college applications process, reviews, interview coaching,etc... $115/hour through Princeton Review. (sounds like a waste but the college app program is VERY detailed and specific. If you miss detail or have an essay that is just "ok" your chances of getting in to the better schools are lower) i can let you know how this works later this semester when we get word from colleges our daughter has applied)

YOU are providing a good service to someone so do not sell yourself short! Good luck to you.

I think that LivingLife's wording is perfect. Given the info in your followup, I would charge $25/hour. If you have some kind of education background (ie, you have a college degree in teaching your native languate), then you could charge more. But if not, I think you should go with the lower end of the spectrum.

You should decide the pay.
Not the other way around.

If you haven't discussed it yet, put in the email.
Put the amount you will charge & say payable by check in person (or what-have-you).

She doesn't get to "try you first and decide what she is going to pay you".
You teach, you decide.

Eleni:

you are the tutor. YOU need to set your rate. If the going rate is $40 - then that is what you charge. you do not let the client decide the rate.

If you meet at your home, ensure you have your son taken care of. DO NOT expect your son to be there while you are working. This is a job and you need to take it seriously.

I would put EVERYTHING in an e-mail.

Dear Eleni:

Thank you for trusting me to teach you (insert language). I am excited to start teaching you on (insert date). I have lesson plans and a syllabus set up and ready for you.

My rate is $40 (insert rate) per hour, payable weekly in cash.

We will meet at (insert location) - I would state your local library. My suggestion is that we meet (insert amount of days) and (insert hours) for each session.

Personally - I wouldn't do more than one hour per session as it can get overwhelming learning a new language.

Have fun!! Good luck!!

you need to set the price.