Hallo English Review Summary

Hallo is an online teacher marketplace based in the US, specializing in ESL lessons for adults internationally. No degree is required, they hire Native Speakers on $7.20-18 per hour (after commission), have a low threshold for weekly payouts, and provide curricula, though you must market yourself to attract students.

Hallo Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Can request pay out as soon as you earn $100
• Variety of time zones with adult students around the world
• Curriculum available for use (which is rare among marketplaces), or you can create your own

Cons:

• Hallo retains 25% commission on private classes and 40% commission on courses
• Payment structure changes regularly
• The company is reducing its number of Non-Native teachers
• Have to market self, not company booked – takes time to grow
• Must commit to a fixed schedule for 4 weeks at a time (to deliver group courses)
• Hiring process can be slow (as don’t over-hire) and you may on a waiting list

What Is Hallo and Is Hallo Legit?

Hallo is an online teacher marketplace based in Utah, USA. It started as a Facebook group aiming to democratize English language learning for people in the world without access to quality instruction or Native Speakers. An app was developed, which has over 25,000 users, and the web-based teaching platform went live in 2021. Hallo students are adults wanting to improve their English to get better jobs or study abroad, mostly between the ages of 18-30 years from Indonesia, India, Turkey, Egypt and Brazil. As of August 2021, Hallo had 75 teachers and wants to grow this to at least 175 as they look to break into the South Korean ESL market.

How Does Hallo Work?

Hallo English teaching was hitherto delivered via live classes which students subscribed to, however, this is being supplanted by the company’s new in-house courses. These were launched in August 2021, initially on topics such as interviewing, finding dream jobs, passing exams, and love and dating, with new courses being developed and added regularly. Hallo provides the curriculum for its courses, with the goal being to elicit speaking and giving opportunities to practice and improve fluency.

As a marketplace, teachers have to promote themselves through the Instagram-style Hallo app. Livestreams are one way to build a following and attract students to the courses you deliver, though these offer no direct earning potential other than through occasional tips.

Can You Make Money on Hallo?

There are three primary methods that teachers can make money on Hallo, by delivering courses, receiving direct calls, and attracting private classes, with each having a different earning potential, though as a marketplace the company does charge commission.

The pay was more confusing at Hallo, with different rates depending upon the type of package (Dreamer or Aspiring) students had signed up for. However, the company seems to have simplified this (as recently updated in their FAQ page). Now Hallo says that courses run with 2-5 students, each worth US$6 an hour. Courses thus earn between $12-30 per hour, though the teacher commission is set at 60% for courses, meaning you will only receive $7.20-18 per hour.

Hallo teachers set their own prices for private lessons above a base rate of $7.25 per 30-minute class, but for these the commission rate is set at 75%, meaning the minimum hourly rate is $10.88 (there is no upper limit, if you market yourself effectively).

There is also the option of direct calls through the Hallo app, which can be enabled or disabled on a teacher’s profile settings. If enabled, students can directly call the teacher when they are ‘active’ and available on the app, at a rate of $0.16 per minute or $9.60 per hour.

Teachers can request to cash out any time after they have earned $100, which will then be paid the following Friday.

Payments are made either through PayPal (for non-US teachers), which reflects in just a few hours, or ACH direct deposit (for US bank accounts), which may take 1-3 business days to clear. There is a $1 transaction fee per transfer (regardless of amount) for all US payments, while international PayPal transactions carry a higher fee based upon the cashed-out amount.

Hallo does warn that ‘If you finish teaching on Hallo when you have less than $100 in your account, because of the system we are using, we will unfortunately be unable to cash out you without exception’, so bear this in mind if and when you intend to leave the platform and plan accordingly.

Hallo Hours

As a marketplace with students all around the world, Hallo doesn’t have set hours. 30-minute private lessons can be scheduled whenever you like, though Hallo students often like to book back-to-back classes so it’s advised to arrange your availability to accommodate this. Students may request lessons with as little as 30-minutes notice, or up to a week in advance, and teachers have the option to accept or decline requests.

If you are teaching a course, you must stick to the same schedule for the 4 consecutive weeks that the course runs for (with hour-long group classes twice a week). If a course does not recruit a minimum number of (2) students, 24 hours before its start date, then it will be automatically postponed by a week. If it has still not recruited during that extra time then it will be canceled.

Lessons are canceled if a teacher is 5 minutes late, but continue if a student is late. Neither teachers nor students can cancel lessons with less than an hour’s notice. Revocation of teacher status happens after three no shows.

Hallo encourages teachers to schedule livestreams, though they have no earning potential beyond the occasional tip, as they are a good means of marketing, building a following, and attracting potential paying students.

Hallo Requirements

Hallo teachers do not need a degree, but they must meet the following requirements:

• Legally able to work in the USA, Canada, UK, South Africa, Australia or New Zealand
• At least 1 year of ESL teaching experience online
• Must have a TEFL/TESOL/CELTA certificate
• Access to a US bank account or PayPal
• Desktop/laptop with a reliable and fast internet connection of at least 25 Mbps (you can test your internet speed here)
• Willing to undergo a background check
• Committed to professionalism and kindness towards students
• Teachers need to be active and consistent with livestreams and speaking clubs to build a stronger community of followers 
• Teachers should be friendly, accepting, fun, engaging, sincere, passionate and dedicated 
• Teachers need to understand teaching courses and private lessons will take time some time
• Social media experience is preferred

How Do I Become a Teacher in Hallo?

To become a Hallo teacher, you must first download the Hallo app and create an account. You will initially be given a student account (which can be confusing), but you need this to get your Hallo handle/user ID (you will be switched to a teacher profile after successfully passing the application process).

Once you have your handle, visit the Hallo website and submit the application form with the following information:

• Full name
• Active Hallo User ID/Handle
• Referrer (if applicable)
• Email address
• Phone number
• Select that you meet the requirements
• Select your teaching preferences: private 1 on 1 lessons and/or group courses
• Upload resume/CV in PDF format
• Any additional details about your background with teaching, professional or personal experiences working and/or volunteering with adults
• Credentials, degrees, licenses, training, certificates (current and expired, years obtained and maintained)
• Social media links and handles
• Upload or link a 5 minute (max.) video in MP4 or MOV format,: 1) Introduction and 2) teach a concept from this sample curriculum on ‘Local Cuisine (Intermediate B1)’. Be aware that you are teaching adults who are looking for creativity and use of technology*
• Agree to complete the Hallo FAQ quiz, complete the onboarding process in a week and download the Slack app to connect with the teacher community
• Agree to the terms of service

Hallo doesn’t over-hire and due to the high volume of applicants, you may be put on a waiting list. If you have not received a response within 2 weeks, you may follow up by sending an email to: [email protected]. Should you be hired, there are 8 tasks you must complete within your first week:

1. Review, sign and return your contract (through DocuSign)
2. Take the FAQ quiz
3. Have the Hallo team upgrade your student account to teacher status
4. Create your teacher bio, profile picture and intro video
5. Set up your payment information
6. Schedule a new teacher group meeting
7. Attend new teacher training
8. Do your first livestream

Hello have recorded a video overview of their application and onboarding process here:

*Hallo Demo Lesson

The Hallo demo lesson (to an imaginary student) that you send alongside your application form should last a maximum of 5 minutes, including a 1-minute introduction followed by 4 minutes of teaching (this needs to be recorded in MP4 or MOV format).

Use the introduction to display your personality. For the remaining 4 minutes you must teach a concept from the sample curriculum on ‘Local Cuisine (Intermediate B1)’. You are not expected to deliver all of the material, just a couple of slides.

There is no need for TPR or puppets as you will teach adults at Hallo. Instead, they want to see creativity, how you will engage a student, that you are comfortable using technology and can multi-task (i.e. speak to a student whilst sharing your screen and using chat functionality). Hallo lessons are more conversation focused, so ask questions, provide correction, and help with pronunciation and vocabulary.

Hallo Teacher Jen has shared a recording of her demo lesson here:

Hallo Teaching Reviews

As a newer platform, there are few Hallo reviews currently available from teachers online. We did find two, wrongly posted on the Indeed page for a Dutch IT company of the same name:

The Hallo app itself receives a rating of 4.5 out of 5 from over 25,087 downloads in the Google Play store.

Conclusion – Is Hallo Worth It?

With Chinese ESL companies disappearing and positions elsewhere becoming more competitive, online teachers have to consider alternatives where they may need to market themselves more. An advantage of Hallo over other teacher marketplaces is the prepared curriculum they offer, as usually you would have to develop your own. The platform’s expanding global footprint and low threshold for weekly payments are other benefits. However, the company frequently changes its payment structure, which can be confusing, and keeps a hefty percentage as commission. There are also no guarantees of students, and you must be comfortable putting in the time and effort to build your brand and attract them to your courses and private lessons.

You can apply to Hallo here (install the app first to get your Hallo handle).

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