How to earn money online with Cambly

Being able to easily and quickly earn money online with an EFL teaching job on Cambly while travelling is extremely handy.

Is your dream to travel full-time? Imagine sitting on a balcony by the beach speaking to people online to help them with their English. Then popping off down to the beach to relax in the sun with a cocktail or two. Sounds so divine that it seems completely unrealistic. Well, it is the reality of many so can be your reality too! You could work on Cambly in between in-person English teaching jobs around the world!

Have a specific question? Then click on any of the links below to head straight to that particular section.

What is Cambly?

Cambly is an online English language platform which provides children and adults with the opportunity to learn English.

You can teach from the comfort of your own home or from anywhere in the world if your wish is to travel.

What is required to become a Cambly tutor?

To become a Cambly tutor, the only experience you need is to be either a native or near- native English speaker. This makes Cambly are a very attractive source of income to people needing extra money.

Neither TEFL or a degree is required. These may guarantee you are more likely to be accepted but I wouldn’t worry because from what I’ve read, most people who apply to Cambly when they are hiring are accepted fairly quickly. However, I recommend becoming TEFL qualified.

Find out how to become TEFL qualified here.

A strong internet connection is required. Cambly also prefer you to have headphones ready to use and many tutors use a microphone. However not essential as not all tutors use them.

When and how to apply to Cambly?

Like many others, the first mistake I made was to apply when they had not specifically said they were hiring. You can apply at any time so I hadn’t thought about waiting to be notified of them needing tutors. I didn’t hear anything so I applied to another platform but they informed me that they were full. (Everyone was probably applying throughout lockdown).

I reapplied in December last year when they emailed to say they were hiring. About a week later I was offered a place!

You simply fill out each section of the form online (it’s very straight forward). After this you submit a video around a minute or 2 long explaining a bit about yourself and pointing out things such as previous experience. This video is to help the students decide between the tutors.

Why become a Cambly tutor?

• Cambly provides a very easy accessible service to those needing extra money quickly.
• The job mainly involves just having a conversation with your students so it’s super easy-peesy.
• They pay weekly so a frequent bump to your bank balance.
• You can work anywhere at anytime.
• Work as often or as little as you wish.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of someone else’s thinking. (Steve Jobs)

If, like me, you want to use Cambly as a way to help your dream of travelling become a reality then do it. As Steve Jobs explains above, don’t let other people’s opinions decide the way you live your life.

What does a Cambly lesson involve?

All lessons are generally relaxed and easy going. Make use of the free translation tool and message box to makes things even easier.

General conversation –

Most students just simply want to practise speaking English with you. Some will be happy to continuously talk while you correct them. Others may be more nervous, in which case you can ask them questions. An easy question I like to ask is ‘where are you from’. This can lead into them telling you about their country and vice versa. You can use the share screen function to show where you live.

Lesson plans –

Some students choose lesson plans. These are automatically put up for you to see as soon as you connect with the student. They are super easy to follow. They usually involve asking the student to repeat after you or asking each other questions.

If the student is unsure what they want to do during their time with you then you can just have a conversation or check out the Cambly library. This has all the lesson plans you need for all levels.

Correcting mistakes –

You can correct the student after each mistake they make or less often depending on their preference. Under their name it may have their preference if they have added it in. If not, then I tend to correct most mistakes but not constantly as this can be draining for the student.

How to create a schedule on Cambly

You can work anytime as much or as little as you wish, 24/7 because students worldwide are looking for tutors.

Reservations –

• You can select daily slots to show when you are available for students to make reservations with you.
• If you have the same weekly schedule you can copy and paste it into as many weeks as you wish.
• To have students make reservations with you, after a call send them a message. Simply say good job and that you would love to speak again so feel free to make a resevation with me. You can send them the link directly to your reservations.
• You have to wait for ten minutes before giving up on waiting for a student to ‘turn up’. If they don’t ‘turn up’, you are paid for the ten minutes waiting time.

Priority hour –

The part in black is a priority hour. This is when you sign up for a full hour. All calls get directed to tutors doing priority hour.

Answer every call. Otherwise, Cambly will put you ‘lower’ down the list so during future priority hours, you may receive less calls. Also, this can affect how far in advance you are allowed to book priority hours.

Students may just be trying Cambly out so it could be a series of quick calls or you could have a half hour call. It is completely random.

When a student calls, it tells you how many minutes they have available to talk. If you don’t get a good ‘vibe’, either say you have a reservation starting soon, hang up or report them if you feel this is necessary. Never feel pressured to stay on a call that makes you feel uncomfortable. If you do actually have a real reservation then make sure to let the student know at the beginning. This way they can let you know if they would rather talk with someone for longer. If it is time for your reservation and you are still talking with someone else, a bell will ring to let you know.

You may receive no calls or the calls you receive may add up to less than 15 minutes. If this happens, you still get paid for 15 minutes. Occasionally there are priority hours available which will pay you for 30 minutes. For example, if I am on a ’30 minute’ priority hour and I only receive one call that lasts 25 minutes then I will still get paid for 30 minutes. You need to stay logged on for the fully hour though. Otherwise this can impact how far in advance you can book priority hours.

Something come up? Then make sure to cancel your priority hour 12 hours beforehand. Or this will hold penalties the same as ignoring calls during priority hour does.

‘Available’ –

• If you would like a break from having to answer every call during priority hour or if you just have a short time available then simply just place yourself as ‘available’.
• Being ‘available’ does not ensure calls but the great thing is that there is no pressure to answer a call. Ignoring a call will only negatively impact you while on priority hour.

• ‘Available’ students find you by scrolling through the list of tutors. Tutors with the highest ratings on Cambly are most likely to get calls while ‘available’ because they are higher up the list (students can rate you out of 5 after calls).
• You only get paid for how many minutes you were on calls for. For example, if I was ‘available’ for 30 minutes but only had one call which lasted 10 minutes then I would only be paid for ten minutes.

How much does Cambly pay?

• Cambly pays tutors $0.17 USD per minute or $10.20 USD per hour. This is 0.12 pence or £7.44 in GBP.
• Cambly keeps track of how many minutes you are on calls for so you don’t need to do anything at all.
• Teachers are paid via PayPal every Monday.