As a student, I cannot afford the more expensive tutors or teachers. I can understand the appeal- someone with many years experience and qualifications teaching would be nice. It's just something I cannot justify. Language for me is a hobby, I imagine if it was a career path (such as to become a teacher) or if I had immediate plans to work/live in another country that doesn't speak English then perhaps I would pay the extra.

So I go cheapo, but even then so far I have no plans to do lessons more than weekly to fortnightly, so I also wouldn't say more bang for my buck seeing as I'm not using the money I'm saving on extra lessons

Hi! In my opinion it is depends on the level of the student and many other things such as your income, your goals, if you need to get something like a certificate soon or in a specific time , in my experience there are good teachers and good community tutors, maybe a good teacher can use a better lesson structure (maybe) and if they studied for a years they should have a better options for to get a good learning process, in my opinion you should charge a price that you could pay or you Would pay. The teacher’s experience is an important thing too, Regards

I think Teacher Lyndon is right that you usually get what you pay for (although, unfortunately, it isn't always true).

It does depend what you want from it though, as Ellen said. If you just want some general conversation practise with a few small goals in mind a less expensive tutor will suffice. If you need very prescriptive, structured help, on a short timeframe, with guaranteed results you'll probably have to pay more.

I guess experience influences cost in other ways too. If I was a teacher in high demand and I had as many students as I could handle, I could afford to put my prices up. If I was trying to build my base and gain some reputation I'd lower my prices to begin with. I guess that's why you can sometimes get very good teachers for less money; they're good, but no one knows that yet. They're still building their reputation. You're taking a risk with them and sometimes it pays off.

@Ellen - You pay for what you get though. Finding a teacher is an incredibly personal journey (for me anyway). It's hard to find someone who shares your interests and as well as the skills to benefit you to the maximum. I personally wouldn't go for a professional teacher. I want someone I can converse comfortably with and learn things from, not only the language I am learning. It needs to be an all round holistic, entertaining and informative experience - this is what I look for and it is also what I like to provide as a teacher... I want to talk to the scientists, the artists, the innovative business minds, the entrepreneurs, the psychologists, the philosophers and the enthusiasts.

Language is passion and I want to pursue that more in both my learning AND my teaching :)

Teacher Lyndon: "It's hard to find someone who shares your interests ... I want to talk to the scientists, the artists, the innovative business minds, the entrepreneurs, the psychologists, the philosophers and the enthusiasts."

That's my experience as well. I had three doctors, a mathematician, a philosopher, and some people interested in Homer, the Mahabharata, Martin Luther, and other pretty exotic topics. Very interesting!