Once you have a profile created and have set up and funded an account on Glotsalot, it’s time to find the Language Teachers or Tutors that will be teaching you your next language. To find a teacher, login to Glotsalot.com and click on the words “Find a Teacher” at the top left of the page. You should see four search criteria boxes with some bubble profile photos displayed horizontally below. Finding a Teacher on Glotsalot can be fun. The search format could be considered similar to that of a social networking site. You search for criteria, such as a Spanish Teacher that comes from Spain, and the results (all of the teachers photos that match your criteria) will be listed horizontally.
To search the list for a teacher that interests you, move the carousel either to the left or the right by clicking the small, round, black and white arrow buttons on either side of the teacher’s round profile photo shown in the center of the page. When a teacher or tutor is centered on the page, you will see their (condensed) profile, providing you with a profile photo of the teacher, their name, what country they are from, their performance rating on Glotsalot, their average cost per hour, a short self description, and their teacher video. To be specific, here is the step by step process for finding teachers:
- Go to the top left of any page on the website, and click on the phrase Find A Teacher
- From the first drop down menu at the top left of the page, Looking For, choose what type of educator you are looking for. You can look for a Teacher, a Tutor, or both. If you leave this block blank, the default will list both teachers and tutors, which will provide the largest number of results.
- From the That Teaches drop down menu, choose what language the teacher or tutor needs to speak fluently and be able to teach. This is the language you will be learning.
- From the Also Speaks menu, choose the other language you need the teacher to speak during your session. This is usually your native language, or the language you are most comfortable speaking.
- From the Originally From menu, you can choose the country of origin of the teachers on the list. For example, if you are studying American English, you might only want teachers that are native to the USA. If you prefer the Spanish Accent particular to Spain, you would choose Spanish teachers that are originally from Spain. If you are looking for Chinese teachers that speak the version of Mandarin spoken throughout China, you would look for teachers that are originally from China. Where the teacher is Originally from is usually what’s most important to you, much more important than where they are living presently. Multilingual teachers move all over the world, and there just might be an Asian language teacher that’s a perfect fit for you who now lives in Arizona, or Argentina for that matter. If you don’t care about where they are originally from, leave the selection for Originally From on “Select Country.” This may provide a larger list of teachers, as this will return all teachers that fill the other three criteria, regardless of where they are originally from.
After completing these steps, you should see a list of the teachers available based on the criteria you selected. The system will indicate if there are no teacher’s for the criteria chosen. The list is horizontal (moves from left to right) so you can search by scrolling in either direction. When you see a teacher that interests you, the next natural step is to read more about them, or watch their introductory video. If you just want to see their video, you can access the video right there on the search page. Just scroll down until you see the video and click on it.
A more in depth look at the teacher can be had by opening their full Teacher Profile. To open a teacher’s profile from the Search, find the circular green button with the white cross on it at the bottom right of the teacher’s photo bubble. Click on this round green button and two green, pill-shaped buttons will appear at the lower right of the screen, stacked one on top of the other. The first button, titled “BOOK SESSION NOW,” allows you to skip directly to scheduling a class with this teacher. This is handy for follow up classes when you already know the teacher, and want skip sraight to scheduling your next class with them. The second, lower button, titled; “VIEW PROFILE” gives you the chance to open and view the teacher’s full profile.
Viewing a teacher’s full profile gives you a well rounded look at the individuals history, teaching background, education, skills, statistics and performance with other students on Glotsalot. Beginning at the top left of the page, you can see the official 1-5 rating of the teacher, which represents the average rating given to them by their students. At the end of every class you, the language learner, will have the opportunity to rate the teacher’s performance on that day so that other learner’s can have an idea of the performance level of the teacher in question.
Just below the star rating, to the left is a blue button you can use to go back to the teacher search. Just to the right of this is a square green button with the icon of an envelope on it. Clicking on this button will generate a message from you the user, to the teacher. This can be used to start a conversation with the teacher. You might want to ask the teacher a question or two prior to scheduling a class with them. This can be really useful, as it gives both of you a chance to greet each other and make sure there is a fit between the two of you prior to scheduling a class. Here you can clarify any info you might want to know about the teacher, ask questions about their style or methods, and perhaps provide some additional information about yourself, such as your current language level and your language goals. If there is a specific area of language learning you want to focus on in a class (pronunciation, business vocabulary, how to swear in the teacher’s language), you can ask if they are an appropriate resource for that task.
Scrolling down the page, you next can review what country the teacher is originally from, their average rate per hour, what languages they speak (and how well they speak them), and what languages they teach, and which languages they themselves might be learning. Below this is an “About Me” description of the teacher. To the right of this is the same teacher video you saw on the Teacher Search page when their photo was in the center of the carousel. If you’ve seen enough and want to schedule a class with the teacher, the green, pill shaped button titled “Book Session Now” will take you to the schedule a lesson page.
To review more about the teacher, further down the page you will find all of their basic profile information such as where they are from originally, and where they are living now. In language learning terms, it’s more important where a teacher comes from then where they are living now. Multilinguals are a globe trotting bunch, so even though a Chinese teacher lives in Spain, doesn’t change the fact that their native language is Chinese. It does mean, however, that they are living in a different time zone, which might make them available at times when Chinese teacher’s in China are all fast asleep, or at their day jobs. Reviewing the Teacher’s UTC location will indicate what time zone they are living/working in. To the right of the teacher’s basic information are the teacher’s stats with Glotsalot. This will tell you how many students they work with, how many classes they have had, as well as how many hours they have taught. Back to the left of the page you can review the teacher’s education history, and language teaching work experience.
At the bottom of the page are all of the reviews other students have left for the teacher, here you can see how other students feel about this teacher. If the teacher is new, they might not have any yet, or there may be several for you to read through and get a solid idea of the teacher’s performance, from the perspective of their students.
Once you are satisfied that a teacher has the teaching style, skill set and aptitudes that match your learning needs, you are ready for the next step, scheduling a lesson.
Next steps?