When people go into business for themselves, they have to know how much they'll charge for their goods and services. You may be the most altruistic person in the world. Your overarching goal may be to make your love for the French language so contagious that all around you want to learn it as well. But you still have to decide how much to charge for your classes.
Should you bundle your lessons to offer a discount on the per-lesson price? Should you charge as much for online lessons as you do for in-person sessions? What about group lessons; should you cut the per-person rate? What about your travelling expenses? So far, we've not touched on how much to charge for a primary school learner (shorter lessons) versus a secondary school student (longer lessons and more intensive work).
Becoming an independent French tutor, you have to take all of these factors into account when considering how much to charge for French lessons. If you price your lessons too high, nobody will hire you. If you price them too low, everybody might see your offerings as poor in quality. Even if you have no need of any extra cash - you tutor for the fun of it, how you calculate your rates will tell your students a lot about you. Let's send them the right message.
Price Your Lessons By Level
The level in question is twofold. What is the student's French study stage and what is your degree of education in French? Where you're concerned, this question can be split further. How much experience do you have teaching French, and also whether you're a native speaker or earned a degree in French studies. To what stage did you study? If you sat the Diplôme d'Étude de Langue Française or the more advanced Diplôme Approfondi exams more commonly known as DELF-DALF, your credibility as a French tutor goes up a bit.
For learners, 'level' generally means how much French they already know and how well they can use it. That also suggests how much work there these learners have to do. A pupil studying French in secondary school may need the full array of language learning services. That means grammar and vocabulary drills, reading and writing in French, and speaking and listening exercises. They may need guidance with their homework, too. By contrast, with a very young learner taking French lessons for enrichment, you can enjoy a more relaxed pace. You'll place more emphasis on speaking French than on grammar.
Scope of Work Pricing
As you set about finding pupils for French lessons, it's a good idea to keep to a particular type of lesson so you don't have to figure out or advertise an extensive schedule of fees. Novice tutors often make the mistake of setting a simple cost-per-hour rate. They don't take into account how much work different types of lessons can be. As an example, Conversational French lessons would be less intensive than Business French.
Superprof French tutors' profile pages let tutors specify the type of French tutoring they do. You might list homework help, exam prep, French for Medicine and so on. They may also mark which type of students they're qualified to teach, such as secondary school learners or adult learners. And then, they can set their fees accordingly. That way, prospective clients can narrow down their selection of tutors to those who are prepared to guide them to meet their language learning goals.
Fees For Online, In-Person and Group Lessons
How you organise your French lessons depends on which format you present them in. You might follow a typical engage-study-activate lesson structure whether you tutor online, in person or in small groups. Your pedagogy might not change much whether teaching small groups or one-to-one. But your fees should reflect the difference.
Many tutors print worksheets for their pupils and carry a case full of learning tools; everything from dictionaries to pens and highlighters. Tutoring online, you won't need to factor the cost of those study materials into your lesson prices. Tutoring small groups of learners means they can share your attention, time and extra materials. That means lower costs for you, which your pricing should reflect.
What About Transportation?
It's reasonable to charge for your commute if you travel to your clients' homes for tutoring. It's not getting any cheaper to drive and park the car, after all. However, if you build transportation costs into your pricing, your online learners and the pupils that come to yours for their sessions are paying more than they should. Listing commuting fees separately from instruction costs gives your clients the chance to decide whether to pay extra for the convenience of instruction at home. It also puts your good ethics on full display.
Set Prices by Geographic Location
As a general rule, things cost more in high-density population areas than in sparsely populated regions. If you live in geographically-distant Perth, your lessons should be priced lower than if you lived in Adelaide, Sydney or Brisbane. Western Australia is far from every other major city, making the tutor selection likely less diverse than in areas with several cities close by. Don't let the scarcity of French tutors trick you into pricing yourself out of the tutoring market.
You must keep in mind that, if you tutor in a remote area, you'll still have stiff competition from online French tutors. You might be one of only three French tutors in Tasmania but anyone with internet access can choose to learn French with a tutor online. In this instance, scarcity doesn't work in your favour. Technology has neutralised your advantage.
Pricing yourself Into the Competition
Anyone setting themselves up in business has to check out the competition. Undercutting the competition's rates is a sound strategy for anyone selling goods but not necessarily for those selling services. As you are selling a service, pricing yourself within the competition works in your favour.
Look around your area to see what kind of services other French tutors offer and how much they charge. Do they have the same qualifications as you do? What about their experience tutoring French? Do they cater to the same learner groups as you? Are there any client testimonials that point to your area's most successful tutors? How much do they charge?
If you're more credentialed and more experienced than any other French tutor in your area, you're justified in setting your rates a bit higher. Conversely, if your qualifications limit you to tutoring up to secondary school French learners, set your fees in line with tutors that offer the same service. The range of services you offer factors in, too. The more types of French classes you offer, the more pupils you're likely to have. Slightly lower rates will draw learners with different learning goals, which allows you to flex your full range of French tutoring skills.
Takeaways: How to Set Your Prices
Among the many advantages of becoming a French tutor, setting your tutoring business up just the way you want it has to rank near the top of the list. You get to decide your course format and delivery. You may choose your teaching materials and activities. And you get to name your price. You have to do it judiciously, though. These are all the factors you must consider when setting your rates for French lessons.
Your range of services: most clients will only be interested in one service you offer. Conversational French students don't care that you can also teach Business French. They want the best value for their money. Set your session fees according to the services you offer.
Your delivery: If you intend to deliver instruction online, in person and in small groups; at your home or theirs, your rates should reflect those options. The easiest way to make those distinctions is to list a separate charge for your transportation costs. For group lessons, you may list a discounted per-session rate for each student in a group.
Your location: cost of living and access to tutors should determine your lesson fees. Beware that learners needing a French tutor may resort to finding one online if your in-person classes are too expensive. Take online French tutors' rates into consideration when setting your rates.
Your competition: don't price yourself out of the competition. Investigate other French tutors in your area, even those who work with tutoring agencies. Compare their range of services and experience to yours to set your rates competitively.
Your experience and qualifications: you should be compensated fairly for the work you've done to learn French and develop your pedagogy. Beware, though, that your asking rates don't exceed what people are willing to pay for French lessons.
What you need to make a living: your love of French won't pay the bills. You still have to earn your living and pay taxes. Use these factors to set rates clients won't baulk at paying.
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