Tutlo Review Summary

Tutlo is a small, Polish ESL company delivering conversational 1v1 lessons with adult and child students. Classes are on-demand upon logging in, with no advanced booking schedule. A degree is not required, though they prefer Native Speakers for whom the pay is relatively low.

Tutlo Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Very flexible, with lessons available on-demand – just log in and teach
• No minimum or maximum hours
• Good curricula provided
• Pleasant students
• Responsive and positive community

Cons:

• Preference for Native English Speakers
• Low pay
• Must provide a tax residency certificate to avoid Polish taxes being deducted from pay
• No regular schedule or guarantee of classes

Is Tutlo Legit?

Tutlo is a legitimate start-up from Poland, delivering online teaching including English/ESL lessons. They were founded in 2015, and are the fastest-growing language learning platform in Poland, with over 2,000 users. While their students are primarily concentrated in that country and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, the company has global ambitions. They cater to a variety of students, from children and teenagers to adults and business professionals, with their conversation-based curricula covering topics ranging from cooking to business English.

How Much Does Tutlo Pay?

The Tutlo pay rate is between US$5-$11 per hour. However, an important consideration is that they will deduct Polish tax unless you can provide a valid tax residency certificate.

Teachers are paid their Tutlo salary via PayPal every month.

Tutlo Hours

Tutlo teaching hours are available between 9am-10pm Central European Time (CET).

Tutlo peak hours are after-school/after-work during weekdays between 6-9pm CET.

There are no minimum hours, and you are free to teach as much or as little as you want.

The standard-length Tutlo English language lesson is 20 minutes long, though students also have the option of selecting 40 or 60-minute classes. Lessons are on-demand, meaning there is no advance schedule to open and book, teachers just have to log in and pick up classes when they want.

As the curriculum is structured and provided, not much preparation time is required, and as Tutlo lessons promote student conversational practice, the talking time is split 50/50 between teacher and student.

Tutlo Requirements

The requirements to become a Tutlo tutor are as follows:

• Be a native English speaker from the USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or South Africa*
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Have a minimum of 6 months of English teaching experience (either offline or online classes, private tutorials, language volunteer programs, etc.)
• Possess a Teaching Certificate (TEFL/TESOL/CELTA)*
• You should be a good conversationalist
• Access to an internet upload and download speed of at least 5 Mbps (test your internet speed here)
• Access to a laptop/computer with a webcam and microphone (a headset with microphone is preferred)

* There are some contradictions on Tutlo’s website concerning their position on Native Speakers and teaching certifications:

• The company clearly sells ‘lessons with native speakers‘ and emphasizes these countries on its application page, yet it also mentions on the latter that ‘Non-native speakers are welcome to apply’. Tutlo does hire Polish teachers too, and we’ve heard anecdotally also Filipinos, so we can presume that if your standard of English is passable as Native-level, then you might still be considered.
• The Tutlo application page says that Teaching Certificates are ‘required’, however, they add that if you have ‘No teaching certificate yet?’ then a ‘TEFL Scholarship [is] offered exclusively to interview passers’.

Tutlo Hiring Process

To apply for Tutlo jobs, fill out the Tutlo application form by submitting the following information:

• First and last name
• Email address
• WhatsApp ID
• Country of origin
• Where do you currently live?
• Download and upload speeds (tested here)
• Do you hold a degree?
• Describe briefly your English work experience (minimum of 1,000 characters)
• How did you hear about Tutlo?
• Upload your CV/resume (PDF or Doc format)
• Upload copies of your teaching certificates (TEFL, CELTA, English Teaching-related Diploma, etc.)
• Upload your introductory video (MP3 or MP4 format)
• Give consent to the processing of your data

Tutlo suggests the following tips to record a successful introductory video (most of which should be pretty obvious):

1. Record your video inside a quiet room
2. The video should be a maximum of 60 seconds
3. Take care about proportions: take about 60% of the screen, be in the middle, show your upper body
4. Put the camera on a flat surface and shoot horizontally in a well-lit environment (do not hold the camera in your hand)
5. Record it on a plain wall or in a classroom (avoid having your bed, kitchen, other people, etc. in the background)
6. Don’t eat or drink during the video
7. Dress smart-casual. Avoid open tops, cleavage, hats or sunglasses
8. Prepare a script before the recording

Tutlo also provides a sample script that you may use to help structure your introductory video:

• ‘My name is…’
• ‘I’m from…’
• Teaching experience… (age groups, courses you have taught, years taught, etc.)
• ‘Call me if…’ (encourage the student as to why they should choose you)
• (Optional) Fun fact about yourself

You can find plenty of examples on Youtube, such as this:

Tutlo Interview

Tutlo does not share much information about their interview process, but an applicant has informed us that they had to deliver a mock lesson, where they were asked to teach grammar to a 13-year-old intermediate student. You should receive the result of the interview within 24 hours.

Tutlo Reacher Reviews – What Is It Like Working for Tutlo?

The Tutlo Glassdoor page gives the company a rating of 4 out of 5, with 100% willing to recommend them to a friend, though is from just 3 reviews (the pros and cons appear to be written in wrong sections in the second review):

As a relatively small company, there are not many Tutlo reviews available online. One teacher recorded her positive experience of working for the company, praising the following aspects:

• pleasant students
• good curriculum
• responsive
• positive teacher community in an active WhatsApp group
• pay is always on time
• students can be picked up quickly after logging in – good availability

Conclusion – Is Tutlo Worth It?

Tutlo is a lesser-known ESL option, with some fairly positive reviews (albeit from a small sample size). It is totally flexible in that you just log in when you want to teach, though there is no guarantee of lessons and some teachers might not wish to commit valuable time in the mere ‘hope’ of getting classes. The pay is also relatively low considering Tutlo wants Native Speakers, though the European time zone is useful for teachers looking for non-Asian/American hours to fill out the rest of their day.

You can apply to Tutlo here.

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