No, joining SkimaTalk is free! There are no monthly or annual fees. You can book sessions on a per lesson basis.
The teaching method, teaching quality, and even individual teacher rates vary at SkimaTalk. We have a variety of teachers who run their teaching businesses through SkimaTalk and treat students as their important clients. That's why students have been impressed with our lessons. One SkimaTalk student was so happy that she "almost cried."* Our teachers have been known to turn lessons into "life-changing experiences."*
SkimaTalk conducts a screening of teacher qualifications such as if he / she is a native speaker and has potential of becoming a good teacher. However, it is the community of students who decides whether he / she is actually a good teacher. Only teachers with positive student reviews continue to teach on SkimaTalk for long periods of time. If a student wants to make sure that the teacher is good, we recommend that the student choose a teacher who has a high ranking and / or a history of zero to very few cancellations and no-shows. To uphold the community's reliable rating system, we request that all students rate their teachers and their teaching sessions.
Students can shop online for "a 25-minute English lesson" on SkimaTalk, starting with just one lesson and going from there. While there are many who take lessons regularly, students can also be those who have an urgent need of a personal English coach due to a sudden business trip, English interview / presentation, etc. Students can "crowdsource" tasks, such as asking one teacher to conduct interview practice and another to proofread a document.
* Actual comments from students.
You need a PC, an Internet connection, and either a built-in microphone and speakers or a headset to take lessons. Also, you have to install Skype on your PC (free download). See the ‘About Skype' section to see how to download Skype on your PC.
We recommend Google Chrome on PC/MAC. This is because our website is optimized for Google Chrome on PC/MAC. You can use other browsers and devices (e.g. smartphones), but they may not function fully or show pages properly (If you find a page that is not displayed correctly or that has malfunctioned, please let us know by email at teachersupport@skimatalk.com.)
SkimaTalk learning sessions last 25 minutes.
If you are logged in, the displayed time is based on the time zone that you configured in the ‘Settings.' If you are not logged in, the displayed time is in Japan / Korea time.
Yes. Please change the time zone setting when you move to a different time zone because some data is retrieved not just from your time zone setting on SkimaTalk but also from your PC's location. If your actual location and time zone setting on SkimaTalk do not match, the session schedules may be shown incorrectly. Therefore, please change the time zone setting as soon as you move to a different area.
SkimaTalk is currently recruiting native English speakers who can speak American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and/or Irish English. Those whose mother tongue is another language or dialect than those listed above will be asked to wait until SkimaTalk will expand its teacher qualifications. Also, you must be 18 years or older.
No, teaching experience or a teaching certificate is not necessary to become a teacher at SkimaTalk.
All you need to do is create a teaching profile, record an introduction on the SkimaTalk website, and take a SkimaTalk teacher guidelines test. Those selected will receive an email from SkimaTalk within 10 business days after your application. That's it!
No. To be qualified at SkimaTalk, all teachers are required to continue to satisfy the following criteria:
(1) Students’ rating score of 4.5 or higher
(2) Lower than 10% cancellation ratio
(3) Lower than 5% no-show ratio
(4) Quality profile including a professional introduction (video introduction preferred) and a high-quality profile photo.
We will review the qualification for (1), (2) and (3) at the beginning of every month.
You can teach as many or as few sessions as you choose. It is up to you!
First, review all the SkimaTalk official courses here and opt out of the ones that you are not capable of teaching.
Then, open sessions from your teaching dashboard. You can open sessions for up to 8 days in advance. (After completing 25 sessions, you will be able to open sessions for up to 60 days in advance). After opening sessions, you can wait for students to book your sessions and, if you already know your potential customers, invite them via this page.
If you face difficulties in acquiring students after your 3 free sessions, we recommend that you improve your profile by uploading a better profile photo / introduction video and adding more teaching specialties / work history / education / interests / language skills. Many students try to book teachers who have a high ranking, but if you have a great introduction photo / video and unique background, you will receive more hits on the Search page page and will be more easily found by students.
For more details, check the “SkimaTalk - You Are Now Ready to Teach!“ email sent to you when you were accepted.
At the scheduled session time, teachers should call students via Skype Video. All sessions are conducted with your Skype Name. To complete the session, you need to evaluate the student's language skills within 24 hours after the session ends. Otherwise, you will not get paid for the session. When connecting with a new student for the first time, you should send a contact request to the student via Skype. Once your student accepts the request, you will be able to use the chat function and communicate with text as well.*
* Not all students will accept your Skype contact request. Even if the student has not accepted the teacher's request, the teacher must still (& can!) call the student.
Here are the 5 important steps you should follow:
1. Send a Skype contact request soon after your session is booked.
2. Video-call the student from a quiet place with high-speed internet connection at the scheduled time.
3. Not be late.
4. Conduct the session for 25 minutes.
5. Evaluate and submit feedback on the student's language skills within 48 hours after the session ends. (This is the most important final step!!) If we detect that you don't take the evaluation seriously (e.g. submitting the lowest evaluation for a non-beginner student), you will not get paid for the session and also your account will be deactivated immediately.
New teachers must initially conduct 3 free sessions to understand how the system works and build up their initial reputation on the platform. After the three initial sessions are booked, the price will automatically change to $8/session (25 minutes). Once the system automatically sets your price at $8, you will be able to set your own price if you choose to do so.
- Go to ‘My Page' after logging in.
- Click the ‘Open Sessions' button
- Choose the date, time, and number of sessions.
- Click ‘Add to Open Sessions'. That's it!
Teachers can schedule 3 types of open sessions:
(1) If you schedule sessions between 30 minutes and 3 hours into the future, those sessions remain open up until 30 minutes before the session time. You must remain free and near your computer during that time period in case a student signs up.
(2) If you schedule sessions between 3 hours and 12 hours into the future, sessions remain open up until 3 hours before the session time. You must check for notifications via e-mail at least once an hour.
(3) If you schedule sessions between 12 hours and 8 days into the future, sessions remain open up until 12 hours before the session time.
We provide additional scheduling flexibility for our experienced teachers (>25 completed session). Experienced teachers can choose whether or not open sessions will expire at 12 hours, 3 hours, and 30 minutes prior to the scheduled session time. To prevent sessions from expiring, please take the following steps:
- Login to your SkimaTalk profile.
- Go to your profile 'Settings', and select the 'Session Expiration' tab.
- Select the 'OFF' button next to each session type that you DO NOT want to expire.
Additional Details:
• Regardless of the option selected, ALL sessions will expire 5 minutes prior to the session time.
• If you elect for sessions not to expire until 5 minutes prior to the session, it is important that you check your ‘Upcoming Lessons' page frequently, as there can be a delay in delivery of session confirmation emails. Checking your ‘Upcoming Lessons' page frequently will ensure you don't miss any sessions!
The booking information will be updated in your ‘Upcoming Sessions' section at ‘My Page.' You will also receive an email from SkimaTalk.
Every time you teach a session, the student has an opportunity to rate the quality of the session. The best way to ensure quality ratings is to be friendly, work hard to meet the student's needs, and be prepared. We are proud of the teachers on the SkimaTalk platform and we work hard to ensure they are prepared to conduct the highest quality learning sessions.
Every time you teach a session, the student has an opportunity to rate the quality of the session. Specifically they rate 5 categories: ‘Teaching Skill,' ‘Hospitality,' ‘Feedback Skill,' ‘Punctuality,' and ‘Voice / Video Clarity.' Students can evaluate each category as Poor, Okay, or Good. If you receive 5 Good evaluations, your session's overall rating will be 5 stars.
You are required to evaluate 5 skills (Speaking / Listening / Pronunciation / Vocabulary / Grammar) on a scale of 1 to 8, which is based on Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) . For more details, see here .
All teachers are required to evaluate the student's language skills within 48 hours after the session ends. Otherwise, you will not get paid for the session. If we detect that you don't take the evaluation seriously (e.g. submitting the lowest evaluation for a non-beginner student or the highest evaluation for a student who has not achieved native fluency), you will not get paid for the session and also your account will be deactivated immediately.
No. To get approved for teaching at SkimaTalk, you need to upload your identifiable picture. If you upload a blank photo or one we think is improper or not identifiable, your application will be denied. If you are already a SkimaTalk teacher and upload an unidentifiable or improper photo, your account will be deactivated immediately*. Also, if your student claims that you are different from the photo, we will temporarily deactivate your account immediately and may ask you to provide us with an official ID.
Only head shots or shots where you (smiling & looking at the camera) take up most of the photo can be candidates for our ‘Featured Teachers' section on our home page. The decision to be included by SkimaTalk is made at the time of your application ONLY**. So, don't miss the opportunity!
* If you change your photo to a lower quality photo or other photo that we think is inappropriate for our top page, you will lose the right to be one of the ‘Featured Teachers.'
** In addition, you must add a written introduction to your profile to be one of the ‘Featured Teachers.'
Yes, you can check DON'Ts in the teacher guidelines. Among them, drinking beer (alcohol) during sessions, conducting sessions at cafés/loud places, and turning off the video without your student's consent in particular are gross violations that subject the session to a full refund if the student complains.
They are two 25-minute sessions. These 2 sessions will be recognized separately and rules will be applied accordingly on the SkimaTalk system. For example, if you want to cancel the sessions, you need to cancel both. You could discuss with your student whether you would like to take a 5-minute break between the 2 sessions or have a 50-minute session without a break.
Teachers are prohibited from eating, smoking, chewing gum, or consuming alcohol during SkimaTalk sessions, as this can distract students and detract from the learning experience. If a student reports that a teacher was eating, chewing gum, or drinking alcohol during a session, the teacher will not be paid for the session. Repeat offenses will be reviewed and can lead to account deactivation.
SkimaTalk charges a fee of 20% of the session price, less applicable PayPal / Stripe fees. The remaining 80% of the session cost (less applicable PayPal fees) gets passed directly to the teacher.
If a teacher does not show up for a session, a full refund will be issued to the student. In addition, the teacher will incur a cancellation penalty of US$9. The penalty will be deducted from the teacher's next payment. If the next payment is not enough to offset the penalty, the teacher will be required to send the penalty amount to SkimaTalk via Paypal by the end of next month. For details, see here. Teachers are required to call the student on time (+- 30 seconds). If a teacher is more than 5 minutes late to the scheduled session, the session is counted as the teacher's no-show.
If a teacher does not show up for the 2nd time in a month, his or her sessions will become immediately invisible to the students for the next week. And if a teacher does not show up for the 3rd time in a month, his or her session will become invisible to the students for the next two weeks.
If a teacher logs 2 no-shows in a 30-day period, his or her sessions will become immediately invisible to students for a period of one week. If a teacher logs 3+ no-shows in a 30-day period, his or her sessions will become invisible to students for a period of two weeks. SkimaTalk reserves the right to deactivate a teacher's account if the teacher logs a no-show in their first 10 sessions.
SkimaTalk also monitors teachers' no-show ratios. This ratio is defined as the # of no-shows divided by the # of total sessions conducted and no-shows. To be qualified at SkimaTalk, all teachers are required to continue to keep the no-show ratio lower than 5%.
SkimaTalk may deactivate the account of a teacher with a no-show ratio lower than 5%, as other factors will also be considered (cancellation ratio, no-show ratio for a certain period of time, lack of professionalism or compliance, etc.). Any account deactivations will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and are at the sole discretion of SkimaTalk.
If a teacher cancels a session before the scheduled session time, a full refund will be issued to the student. The teacher may incur a cancellation penalty (for details, see here).
The same (usually worse) condition applies if a teacher does not show up or is more than 5 minutes late to the scheduled session. Also keep in mind that poor attendance or tardiness can lead to low ratings from students.
If a teacher logs 3 cancellations in a 30-day period, his or her sessions will become immediately invisible to students for a period of one week. If a teacher logs 4+ cancellations in a 30-day period, his or her sessions will become invisible to students for a period of two weeks. SkimaTalk reserves the right to deactivate a teacher's account if the teacher logs a cancellation in their first 10 sessions.
SkimaTalk also monitors teachers' cancellation ratios. This ratio is defined as the # of cancellations divided by the # of total sessions conducted and cancellations. To be qualified at SkimaTalk, all teachers are required to continue to keep the cancellation ratio lower than 10%.
SkimaTalk may deactivate the account of a teacher with a cancellation ratio lower than 10%, as other factors will also be considered (cancellation ratio for a certain period of time, no-show ratio, lack of professionalism or compliance, etc.). Any account deactivations will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and are at the sole discretion of SkimaTalk.
The student's cancellation fee varies and depends on the time the student clicks the cancellation button. See here for more details.
If a student fails to notify SkimaTalk of cancellation (a no-show by the student), the session is counted as if the session were conducted -- teachers get paid the full amount.
Teachers will be paid once a month. For example, payment for services rendered during the month of January will be sent to the teacher on or before the last day of February. Typically, you can expect payment by the 10th of the month. However, if the 10th of the month falls on a holiday or weekend in Japan, the payment date will be the following business day in Japan. To get paid, you need to make sure you have the correct PayPal email account listed in your SkimaTalk profile. Please also note that the payment is based on U.S. Pacific Time, and not your local time. For example, in the case mentioned above, payment would be for the sessions conducted from January 1st through 31st, U.S. Pacific Time.
SkimaTalk takes 20% of a student's cancellation fee. For example, if the student's cancellation fee is US$2.00, SkimaTalk receives US$0.40 (20%) and the remaining $1.60 (80%) will be paid to the teacher. In this case, the calculation of your teacher payment would be ‘$10.00 X 16%* = $1.60.'
* $10.00 is original session price and 20% is the percentage described on the "Cancellation Policy" page. 16% is calculated by 80% X 20%.
You are not eligible or we are not ready yet.
To be eligible to receive monthly payment, teachers are required to complete student evaluations of all conducted sessions for the month and abide by Section 5 "Prohibited, Questionable and Infringing Items and Activities" of SkimaTalk Terms & Conditions.
Regarding our payment schedule, you can typically expect payment by the 10th of the month. So, for example, you will receive one payment for all January sessions by February 10th. In order to get paid, you need to make sure you have the correct PayPal email account listed in your SkimaTalk setting page.
Teachers don't have to use SkimaTalk Courses on the SkimaTalk website unless your student requests to use one of them. Teachers can be creative and use their own teaching materials and methods to be unique and stand out on the SkimaTalk platform.
If you don't have experience teaching English, we recommend that you refer to the SkimaTalk teacher guidelines to understand how to structure a session and better utilize the SkimaTalk learning tools.
Here are some of best practices from our best teachers.
(1) Be punctual - call on time (+/- 30 seconds) and talk for at least 25 minutes. The student must not feel short on time. (Teachers must remember to be careful, however, when to end the session if they have another session scheduled directly afterwards).
(2) Adjust speaking speed depending on the student's level - In the beginning, speak slowly and deliberately as if talking with a young child. Then adjust your speed and vocabulary based on the student's level.
(3) Use the Skype message box very frequently - type links, questions, and words on Skype to make the session more efficient. Go through the messages in the previous session to review (for both the teacher and the student!) what you covered in the last session.
(4) Give feedback frequently - correct the student when grammar, pronunciation, comprehension, etc. is off. Change your feedback depending on the student's ‘study focus.' The students need this feedback to improve -- this is part of SkimaTalk's core philosophy. Encourage the student whenever possible and provide frequent praise, highlighting areas where the student has improved.
(5) Prepare a learning plan! Have an idea of how you think the session should go -- of course, this could change over the course of the session, but it's best to come prepared.
(6) Say hi and bye - send Skype messages before and after the session to say hi and goodbye.
(7) Leave feedback after the session on the SkimaTalk website. The student will receive an email with your comment from SkimaTalk immediately after you leave the message.
(8) Be available. Both for the students and for you, it's better to have as many sessions open as possible. Remember, just because you list your availability for 10 sessions doesn't mean you're necessarily going to teach 10 sessions, so don't worry about over-booking yourself.
(9) Be creative and unique. Find your own secret tactics to turn your students into returning clients.
If the student does not show up, teachers are required to complete two steps on your teacher ‘My Page.'
(1) The first is to click the ‘Report I"m ready' button during before 5 minutes of your session (the 1st report is effective only for 10 minutes).
(2) The other is to click the ‘Report Student's No-show' button 15 minutes after the scheduled time and before the session ends (the No-show report is effective only for the last 10 minutes).
Then, the session will be counted as a student's no-show and you will get paid in full. However, if the student reports your no-show (a failed connection sometimes happens even if both sides are online) via the SkimaTalk system, the session will be cancelled, which means no payment and no penalty for both sides.
Teachers must remain on Skype for at least 15 minutes into the scheduled session time, sending several messages to the student. To prove that you were online, you need to do two steps. See above question ‘How do I report the student's no-show?' for more details.
Yes, students can find the teacher's Skype Name on ‘My Page' or in the confirmation email after booking. If the student doesn't receive a Skype call from the teacher at the session start time, it is possible that the teacher is trying to call the student but cannot reach them for some reason (e.g. the student's Skype Name is incorrect). Therefore, the student is requested to call the teacher via their SSkype Name immediately if the student doesn't receive a call from the teacher at the scheduled time.
Not all students will accept teachers' Skype contact requests. Even if the student has not accepted the teacher's request, the teacher must still call the student. In that case, search for the contact and right click on the contact's name. One of the options should be to Skype call the contact, even if the contact request has not been accepted. Teachers may not be able to enable video until the call connects.
No. Don't rely on Skype's online / offline status to determine whether the student is online or not. Even though the student is shown as ‘offline,' oftentimes the student is online and just waiting for the teacher's call. Teachers must call the student, regardless of their Skype status.
Try to contact the student via SkimaTalk message and inform him/her that his/her Skype Name is not correct. Other than that, all you can do is wait for a call from the student. Students can call you via Skype from the SkimaTalk website.
Yes, teachers should show up for their 2nd session. In this case, teachers should think that only the first session is counted as a no-show by the student. The first session and the 2nd or later sessions are respectively different. Even if the student didn't show up for the 1st session, the student will probably show up for the next session. Teachers should be prepared for it. All the sessions are 25 minutes, and there is no 50-minute or 75-minute session. Therefore, please don't consider several sessions in a row as one session.
Lessons are not officially cancelled unless they are processed through the SkimaTalk system. If the student sends us a complaint about and/or requests a coin refund for your cancellation, the lesson will always be considered a no-show on your part, even if you conducted a compensatory session later. Once the student notifies us and it becomes clear that you requested a cancellation through Skype or SkimaTalk message but not through the SkimaTalk system, the lesson fee will not be paid, again, even if you conducted a compensatory session.
Attempting to cancel via Skype or SkimaTalk message but not the SkimaTalk system often upsets our students, so, if this happens, we will consider deactivating your account.
Since we are unable to confirm or refute any Internet related issues on either end, please do the following in the case of poor connectivity:
[If you were unable to conduct a lesson at all]
Please let us know by emailing TeacherSupport@skimatalk.com. The student will receive a full coin refund, and there will be no payment or penalties for the teacher.
[If you were able to conduct only a portion of a lesson]
Please email us a copy of the Skype call record by taking a screenshot of your computer. If possible, also attach screenshots showing previous situations in which you were unable to contact the student. We will deliberate the case depending on its circumstances. If there is inconsistency between your and the student's accounts of the situation, we will ask you to abide by our decision.
Open sessions disappear depending on when you set your session availability.
(1) If you schedule sessions between 30 minutes and 3 hours into the future, those sessions will remain open until 30 minutes before the session time. You must remain free and near your computer during that time period in case a student books one of your sessions.
(2) If you schedule sessions between 3 hours and 12 hours into the future, those sessions will remain open until 3 hours before the session time. You must check for notifications via email at least hourly.
(3) If you schedule sessions between 12 hours and 8 days into the future, those sessions will remain open until 12 hours before the session time.
We will handle such instances on an individual, case-by-case basis. Please submit any evidence, such as a computer screenshot or photo that shows that the system bug actually happened. Otherwise, we will not be able to treat it differently. We thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.
It's possible that SkimaTalk emails cannot reach your email account due to system errors. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that all users receive such emails all the time. Please check the ‘Upcoming Lessons' section on ‘My Page' for the latest booking status as this is more accurate. Please set your own reminder(s) just in case SkimaTalk is unable to send a reminder email.
If you have a request or dispute regarding the record and/or payment of a specific session, please email us at TeacherSupport@skimatalk.com within 24 hours of the session end time. Otherwise, SkimaTalk will not take your request or dispute into consideration. Furthermore, we cannot accept your request if you fail to respond to our follow-up emails within 7 days of the session end time (even if your initial email was sent within 24 hours after the event took place). Therefore we recommend that you respond to our emails promptly.
With Skype, you can make Internet calls for free. For more details, visit the Skype homepage at www.skype.com.
If you are a PC user, you can download it from here (for free). You can also download the Skype application onto your smartphone from your respective app store.
The Skype website shows you just how easy it is to use Skype.
Visit and refer to the Skype website about sound problems.
Sometimes the voice quality is low due to the student and teacher both showing their video feed. The voice quality can be improved by allowing the student to turn off his/her video. The teacher should not turn off their video as it is mandatory that the teacher leave his / her video on as it is their job to teach the student.
If you are a Windows user, click ‘Tools' --> ‘Options' --> ‘Privacy.' There you can change the settings.
If you are a Mac user, click ‘Skype' --> ‘Preferences' --> ‘Privacy.' There you can change the settings.
You might have input ‘Skype Display Name' instead of Skype Name.Your Skype Name must have between 6 and 32 characters. It must start with a letter and can contain only letters, numbers and the following punctuation marks:
full stop (.)
comma (,)
dash (-)
underscore (_)
An error shows up on SkimaTalk when you input an ID that does not follow the above rules. Learn more.
If you use Firefox as your browser, please change the settings according to this page. If your browser is not Firefox, please email us at TeacherSupport@skimatalk.com with your detailed situation.
See here for the details.
You can communicate with your student on the SkimaTalk website, but you cannot always send or receive messages. You can do so after your student books a session and within 48 hours after the session end time (this is to prevent spam). However, if a student follows a teacher, they can communicate via SkimaTalk message at anytime. (You cannot send a direct cancellation request via SkimaTalk message. See the ‘Troubleshooting' section for more details.)
No. To be qualified at SkimaTalk, all teachers are required to continue to satisfy the following criteria:
(1) Students' rating score of 4.5 or higher
(2) Lower than 10% cancellation ratio
(3) Lower than 5% no-show ratio
(4) Quality profile including a professional introduction (video introduction preferred) and a high-quality profile photo.
We will review the qualification for (1), (2) and (3) at the beginning of every month.
Yes. Here is the list of restricted activities that incur a US$9.00 penalty for teachers in addition to, if applicable, no session payment:
· Sending a SkimaTalk or Skype message to a student to reschedule a session or to induce a student to cancel a session. (Subject to immediate account deactivation.)
· Sending a SkimaTalk or Skype message that may offend or upset a student, including:
· Blaming a student for a low evaluation, being late, a no-show, etc. (If you would like to hold a student responsible for something, please consult with us first).
· Soliciting a student to book more sessions.
· Trying to acquire a student's private, identifiable information such as an email address.
· Trying to connect directly with a student or connect with a student outside the SkimaTalk platform.
· Conducting a session at a loud place such as a café.
· Turning off video without a student's consent.
· Eating, chewing gum, smoking, or consuming alcohol during a session.
If a teacher conducts one of the actions listed above, the teacher will receive a warning email from us or be notified that his or her teaching account has been deactivated. In either case, the US$9.00 will be deducted from the teacher's next payment.
It is possible to schedule a session on your smartphone. You can conduct a session on your smartphone by downloading the Skype application for smartphones. It's free and downloadable from app stores. However, we highly recommend that you use a PC/MAC in order for you to best provide quality lessons for your students in terms of video stability and use of the chat function for typing any necessary clarifications. This generally ensures better ratings from your students.
You can delete your account from the ‘Others' tab on the ‘Settings' page.
No, we do not provide any tax forms. Please view your earnings directly from your PayPal account.
Please email us at TeacherSupport@skimatalk.com.