Kyna for Kids Review Summary

Kyna for Kids is a Vietnamese online ESL program offering flexible 1v1 and 1v4 classes with children. They pay Natives and some Non-Native Speakers $8-20 per hour with good booking rates, though you must have a teaching certificate and degree, learn multiple platforms, and pay 20% tax on your earnings.

Kyna for Kids Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Flexible schedule with no minimum hours requirement
• 80% booking rate during peak hours
• Fair cancellation policy
• Lesson plans provided
• Adult (Business English) students available through parent company Kyna English

Cons:

• Pay cuts, and termination for teachers who did not accept it
• 20% Vietnamese tax on earnings (for non-residents)
• Multiple teaching platforms to learn
• Curriculum can contain errors

Is Kyna for Kids Legit?

Kyna for Kids is a legitimate ESL program based out of Hanoi, Vietnam. Kyna English online started as an e-learning company for adults and companies, before launching its Kids courses in 2017 aimed at learners between the ages of 5-17 (Kyna for Kids teachers may still deliver Business English classes for Kyna English’s adult learners). Students predominantly come from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, and are taught one-on-one. In July 2021, it was reported that the company had 185 teachers, 1048 students, and delivered over 12,000 classes in that month.

Kyna English Pay

Kyna for Kids pay a base rate of US$4-8 per 25-minute class (the precise amount offered is determined by a teacher’s qualifications and interview performance). Teachers had their pay cut on 28 November 2022, and those who did not accept it had their classes reassigned and their employment terminated.

There is a $0.50 bonus for finishing all slides on time (increasing to $1 for over 100 classes taught in a month), a $1 raise (loyalty bonus) after you’ve delivered your 200th class, and also a referral incentive scheme. The Kyna for Kids hourly rate will thus range between $8-20 an hour.

It is important to be aware that, unlike many ESL jobs where you will usually only be responsible for paying taxes in your home country, Kyna for Kids deducts a 20% tax from the salary of non-resident teachers, as stipulated by Vietnamese Law.

Kyna for Kids pays its teachers via PayPal around the 10th of the month.

Kyna for Kids Hours

Kyna for Kids hours are between 9am-10pm (Indochina Time), Monday to Sunday. Peak hours are on weekday evenings between 6-10pm, and at 9am-9pm at weekends, attracting booking rates of around 80% for these busy periods.

A Kyna English class lasts 25, 45 or 50 minutes, depending on the age of the student (younger children usually receive shorter classes), and is delivered individually or to groups of up to 4. Written feedback is also required afterwards.

There are no minimum hours.

Teaching schedules are planned two weeks in advance through the Kyna phone app. Upon setting your availability, you will receive offers of classes through the app, which you’ll have 12 hours to accept before the invitation is passed onto another teacher. These allocations are decided by the company, though parents may request certain teachers.

Teachers may cancel up to 10 classes a month so long as over 24 hours notice is given; cancellations less than 24 hours before a class will result in a $2 penalty. If a student cancels within 6 hours of their lesson, then the teacher will receive full pay still.

Kyna for Kids Requirements

To become a Kyna English online teacher, you must meet the following requirements:

• Come from a Native English Speaking country or Vietnam or the Philippines
• Have completed or are currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree
• Possess a TESOL/TEFL/CELTA certificate
• Previous teaching experience with children
• Proficient in the use of computers
• Excellent social skills
• Strong work ethic
• Patience under pressure
• Be passionate and energetic about teaching

Kyna for Kids Application and Interview

To apply to become a Kyna for Kids teacher, email your resume/CV, certificates and introduction video link to: [email protected]. They are currently hiring (at the time of writing).

Should your initial application pass their review, you will receive an email saying that you have been approved for a Kyna for Kids interview, including the time and date. You will also be sent the rubric, lesson plan, videos and demo course slides to help you prepare ahead of time (these need to be uploaded to the platform).

The first 10 minutes of the interview will involve questions regarding your teaching experience and expectations, followed by a 30-minute demo class where the interviewer will play a child student. You will then be given feedback and told whether you are hired or not. Kyna for Kids wants to see you using your own reward system and props, with a colorful and attractive classroom background behind you.

Below is one applicant’s experience of the Kyna for Kids interview:

After successfully passing the interview and demo class, you will receive an offer letter, plus instructions and training on how to use the companies multiple platforms (Big Blue Button, WizIQ and ClassIn).

Kyna for Kids Reviews

The Kyna for Kids Glassdoor page currently provides an average rating of 3.4 out of 5, with 45% willing to recommend (from 13 reviews). The comments from these Kyna English reviews have been collated below, with positive things to say about the students, curriculum and schedule, but with complaints about pay cuts, tax, and communication:

• Advantages:
  • Lovely students, lesson plans provided.
  • friendly workplace, flexible time and good salary
  • very organized in managing and supporting
  • Given materials, many classes in the evening
  • Clear payment and bonus – Flexible working hours
  • Relaxed students and a nice curriculum. Diverse topics to teach.
  • Lesson plans are already created so the teacher doesn’t have to do any additional work outside of teaching. (Although the lessons have frequent errors and it is clear that they weren’t fully created by native English speakers) They always pay on time. You have full control of your own schedule.
  • flexible schedule -can choose your own hours -no min/max holiday -no lesson planning
  • Online – Service – Kid – No need to prepare – App
  • Flexible Scheduling – Vietnamese are generally more well-behaved and have stronger English skills than mainland Chinese students – Expanding Market Potential: Recently added Thai students – Ability to decline students you don’t want to teach – No parent evaluations (that I’m aware of)
  • Good management, strong collaboration between the operational teams and teachers, flexible hours
• Disadvantages:
  • They have just cut the already low pay with no warning. (NOV 22) with the 20% tax deducted it works out to something like £3/4 a class.
  • nothing bad until now however, I don’t like the app much
  • not many benefits for long-term employees
  • Not very attractive salary to everyone
  • Teacher support takes a lot of time – The training process is not well set up
  • They are terrible at communicating
  • There are too many changes with salary due to tax.
  • Communication is shockingly bad. If you require technical support during the lesson you are lucky if you actually get some from the team. You never know who you are talking to on the app so it feels very impersonal and communication is very broken up. The salary is very low ($6/$7 per lesson) and they keep finding new ways of capping or reducing your salary. You also get taxed 10% and then have to pay income tax in your own country as well.
  • no sick pay -low wages -bad communication -poor teacher support -repetitive curriculum
  • Low pay rate – Technical problems – Complicated apps – Full schedule – No tracking
  • TERRIBLE Platform Issues: Their web-based app is a homegrown headache – Phone App is also problematic and error-prone – SUPER LOW pay: $7 USD + $1 for “completed” classes for Native Teachers with advanced degrees – POOR Service: Firemans are sporadic in platforms; poor service level for teachers; frequent accounting errors in pay -10% Income Tax (no other Vietnamese Teaching Company charges this for foreign teachers/highly suspect)
  • Low-paying for Vietnamese teacher position

Conclusion – Is Kyna for Kids Worth It?

Kyna for Kids offers a flexible schedule with good booking rates (at peak times) and a not-too-punitive cancellation policy. However, teachers lose 20% of their income to Vietnamese tax, while the biggest concern is that the company has already cut teachers’ pay and terminated those who did not accept the new rates, which does not install confidence in one’s job security there.

To apply to Kyna for Kids, email your resume, certificates and intro video to: [email protected].

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