Fluentbe Review Summary

Fluentbe is a Polish ESL company paying $8.50-$13/hour to teach children or adults 1v1 or 1v4 via Zoom. No qualifications are required, Non-Native English Speakers can apply, bonuses are available and bookings are stable, though you need 1 year’s experience, and must teach 2+ courses with classes lasting 25-90 minutes.

Pay (per hour):$8.50-$13
Native / Non-Native Speakers accepted?Both
Degree / diploma required?No
TEFL / TESOL / CELTA required?No
Adult / child students?Both
Class size:1-4
Minimum hours (per week):1-3*
*you must commit to teaching 2 courses, the hours vary depending on the course

Fluentbe Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • No qualifications are required
  • Bonus and referral system offered
  • Full pay for last-minute student cancellations/no-shows
  • Long-term bookings with the same students
  • Choice of teaching children, teenagers, or adults
  • Access to Off2Class materials
  • Helpful staff

Cons:

  • Low base pay
  • Lack of transparency over why individual teachers are offered different rates
  • Can take weeks to schedule an interview
  • Some long classes of 60 or 90 minutes
  • Must be available for specific time slots/days to teach group courses
  • Not many reviews for Fluentbe from existing teachers

Is Fluentbe Legit?

Fluentbe is an online ESL school which is based in Warsaw, Poland. Since its founding in 2015, over 2,000 teachers from around 35 countries have delivered over 300,000 English lessons for the company, and its legitimacy is reinforced by a Fluentbe Trustpilot score of 4.8 out of 5.

Fluentbe Online Teaching

Fluentbe teaching takes place online via Zoom, either one-on-one or in groups of up to 4 students.

While most Fluentbe ESL classes are one-on-one with Polish adult professionals who already speak an intermediate level of English, the company also teaches children (from 7 years), teenagers and younger adults, with students also coming from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Spain.

You have the option as to which age groups you wish to teach.

As a Fluentbe tutor, you will have access to Off2Class materials and be given teaching resources and lesson plans, though reports of their quality are mixed.

How Much Does Fluentbe Pay?

Fluentbe teacher pay is not openly advertised by the company. They tell candidates that it will be discussed ‘individually during the interview’ and will be ‘not lower than $8.50‘. They vaguely list the ‘contract type’, ‘lesson type’ and ‘etc.'(?) as factors behind this, without sharing specific details.

The maximum Fluentbe pay rate which we have seen reported is US$13 an hour.

If there are any student no-shows or last-minute cancelations (with less than 25 hours’ notice), you will receive the full amount for that class.

Fluentbe offers a bonus and referral system:

  • If an individual student stays with you for 10 lessons, each time you will receive a bonus of 50% of your base rate
  • When your referred teacher starts teaching, you receive a gift of PLN 250 (or an equivalent amount in USD/GBP/EUR)
  • When your referred teacher conducts 100 hours, you receive another PLN 250 (or an equivalent amount in USD/GBP/EUR)

Fluentbe payment is issued on the 10th of each month. This happens automatically once you have earned 100 euros (or the equivalent amount in PLN, USD or GBP). However, if you earn less than this, you may still request payment by emailing [email protected] prior to that date.

You can receive your Fluentbe salary in in either USD, GBP, EUR or PLN via PayPal, Payoneer, or bank transfer (charges apply to all international transfers).

Fluentbe Hours

Fluentbe peak hours are between 3-9.30pm (Central European Time).

Fluentbe English lessons last between 25 and 90 minutes, depending on the student(s)’ age, class numbers, and course type:

  1. Group courses
    1. adults 21+ years: 90 mins
  2. Individual courses
    1. children 7-8 years: 25 mins
    2. children 9-14 years: 40 mins
    3. teenagers 15-20 years: 60 mins
    4. adults 21+ years: 60 mins
  3. Business courses60 or 90 mins

Fluentbe teachers must commit to teaching at least 2 courses.

Group courses consist of 30 lessons total, providing a fixed schedule for 15-16 weeks. These take place in fixed time slots twice a week:

  • Mondays and Wednesdays, either 6-7.30pm or 8-9.30pm
  • Tuesdays and Thursdays, either 6-7.30pm or 8-9.30pm

Individual courses usually last 1 semester, with most students booking at least twice a week.

Fluentbe Requirements

  • English teachers who are Native Speakers of English, Polish, Czech, Slovak, or Spanish
  • At least 1 year of experience teaching English to foreigners (online teaching experience is a plus)
  • Happy, talkative, engaging and open
  • Passionate about something (discussed during the interview)

Fluentbe Technical Requirements

  • PC or laptop with Windows 7 or higher / Mac OS X 10.9 or higher
  • A stable internet connection of at least 2 Mbps (preferably 10Mbps): test your internet speed here
  • A headset with an external microphone, preferably with a USB connection
  • An in-built or external webcam with at least 720p resolution

Fluentbe Application Process to Become a Teacher

To teach for Fluentbe, apply online through the Fluentbe jobs page.

When you click on the listed position, e.g. ‘English Teacher (online)’, you will be presented with the job description and the Fluentbe teacher application form; you may autofill this by importing your resume from your computer, Dropbox, or Google Drive, or by submitting the following details:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Address (optional)
  • Photo (optional)
  • Resume
  • Link to your Fluentbe video introduction (see examples via this link, or simply write ‘none’)
  • What teaching qualifications have you obtained?
  • Can you speak Polish?
  • Can you speak Czech or Slovak?
  • Can you speak Spanish?
  • What’s your mother tongue?
  • What’s your current location?
  • Please test your internet speed (upload) here: www.speedtest.net

This video takes you through the Fluentbe application process:

Be aware that the Fluentbe hiring process can take time, as even when they respond to your initial application within days, it may then take several weeks before you can find an available date to book your interview for.

Fluentbe Interview

The Fluentbe interview lasts around 45 minutes and includes up to two 5-minute demo lessons. First, your interviewer will share some information about the company and its students, ask you about your experience, teaching methodology, and something you are passionate about, before providing the opportunity to ask your own questions.

Here are some Fluentbe interview questions that have previously been asked:

  • What is your experience?
  • Why did you choose to work with us?
  • Why do you want to teach online?
  • Why do you want to teach adults?
  • How can you manage a rude student?

Fluentbe Demo Lesson

For the Fluentbe demo you will be teaching 2 real students at intermediate (B1) level, using Zoom. In addition to the interviewer, another Fluentbe staff member may join to monitor you.

While candidates have been told they have 5-10 minutes for their demo, several report having been cut off strictly at the 5-minute mark, so plan to finish within by then.

You are expected to prepare/use your own materials for a choice of topics. Here are the instructions that Fluentbe has given some candidates:

  • Use activities you have already done with your students, e.g. a warm-up introduction, practice, revision, etc.
  • You will be able to display your resources on the screen
  • Don’t use a video in your demo lesson – it will consume precious time!
  • Choose one from the topics below:
    • Articles
    • Life balance
    • Phrasal verbs/expressions with ‘put’

While several interviewees confirmed they were offered this choice of topics, some also mentioned other options, e.g. ‘prepositions of time’.

Fluentbe advises that you ‘prepare a practical activity – don’t give a lecture or talk about the theory/rules‘, and avoid using TPR when teaching adults.

After teaching your demo class, you will be asked follow-up questions about:

  1. Your teaching objective
  2. Your choice of activities
  3. Interaction with and between students
  4. Corrections and feedback

At the end of the interview you will be asked for your expected hourly rate. If you request more than $13 you are unlikely to get hired.

You should receive an outcome within a week of the interview.

To recap, here is Fluentbe’s video overview for prospective candidates:

Working for Fluentbe Reviews

The Fluentbe Glassdoor pages gives a score of 4.5 out of 5, with 100% willing to recommend them, though this is averaged from just 6 reviews (at the time of writing). Here is a summary of comments from these Fluentbe teacher reviews (the only difference of opinion relates to the quality of teaching materials):

  • Advantages:
    • ‘Pretty good’ lesson plans are provided
    • Access to Off2Class materials
    • Schedule is easy to set
    • Company matches students
    • Payment on time
    • Respectful, supportive, responsive and helpful management/staff
    • Lots of classes
  • Disadvantages:
    • Quality of the materials could be better
    • Relatively low pay
    • Platform sometimes crashes

It is difficult to find many other reviews on Fluentbe, though a couple of teachers talk positively about the company in this Fluentbe Reddit thread:

Conclusion – Is Fluentbe Worth It?

Whether Fluentbe is worth it boils simply down to how much you can afford to live on, as the relatively low rate of pay is the only major downside to this company. While the class lengths and fixed schedule won’t suit everyone, reports are generally positive otherwise regarding the company’s long-term bookings, administrative support, prompt payments and bonuses. Just be prepared to wait for an interview if you do decide to apply.

You can apply to teach with Fluentbe here.

A full list of other online teaching companies can be found here.

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Dr Daniel Spence

Daniel Spence is the founder of Online Teaching Review. He has been an international teacher since 2008, an award-winning academic, author of two books, and holds a PhD, MA, BA (Hons), and TESOL.

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