Professional Teacher - Esperanto
0 Professional Teachers and 1 Community Tutors are teaching Esperanto.
Oh no!
It looks like we don't have any professional teachers that teach this language.

I think there are lots of Esperanto speakers who live in poorer countries. This would be a good way for them to make money.

Alkanadi:

Professional Teacher - Esperanto
0 Professional Teachers and 1 Community Tutors are teaching Esperanto.
Oh no!
It looks like we don't have any professional teachers that teach this language.

I think there are lots of Esperanto speakers who live in poorer countries. This would be a good way for them to make money.

I think there are too many free courses available online and who would pay to learn it in a poorer country when more lucrative languages available, with real income opportunities for speakers. English, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, etc.

BeardedBloke:...who would pay to learn it in a poorer country when more lucrative languages available...

People who like to waste money despite the fact that they don't have very much money. I can't think of anyone else who would do that.

But, these people could teach Esperanto on italki in order to earn money. For example, there are lots of Esperanto speakers in China that could be tutoring Americans.

Maybe, I should have been a bit more clear in the post. Cheers.

BTW, I was looking to see if there was an Esperanto tutor for myself.

Is there a demand for Esperanto teachers? Just because you want to learn through a teacher doesn't mean there's a huge demand to be met.

Being new to Esperanto, and having tried to learn other languages (Spanish and German) my impression is this.. I can completely understand why there are no tutors on iTalki.

Unlike other languages, a feature of Esperanto is that it is easier to learn, by ones self, and there are numerous free resources with books, online courses and software to learn it. To my knowledge, no one has had to go to school or spend hundreds (or more) on taking classes and courses to be able to learn Esperanto. The most popular way is without cost and without a teacher.

In contrast, the most popular way to learn other languages is in school, paying a private teacher, or purchasing costly software and/or language programs to learn it. And also, quite often, people don't just try one way, they spend quite a bit of money trying the different ways available to learn the language if one method doesn't work out so well.

So, in comparison to the amount of money already spent on a language, or to try and avoid paying that much money and try to learn it on ones own, being able to get a tutor on iTalki is a lot more cost effective and less of a cost risk than the more popular yet higher priced alternatives. Also, when learning most languages, it is possible, but not easy to find people who would be willing to help you learn out of the kindness of their hearts.

With Esperanto, the most popular alternative is no cost at all. Also, due to the unique nature of this language and its community spirit, it is far easier to find people who are willing to help cultivate and grow awareness of Esperanto by passing it forward and helping others who want to learn it. This makes paying a tutor the least cost effective as well as the least sensible option resulting in no demand and no supply.

I also looked on iTalki for a tutor when I started learning. I found it really useful to have a teacher for the pronunciation and general questions.

So I am also confused why more people don't put themselves forward as paid teachers, I am certain there would be students.

simon831:I also looked on iTalki for a tutor when I started learning. I found it really useful to have a teacher for the pronunciation and general questions.

So I am also confused why more people don't put themselves forward as paid teachers, I am certain there would be students.

It might be a good part time business for people in the developing world who are really good in Esperanto. Of course, you can find people to chat with for free but I think you get more when you pay for something.

Alkanadi:Of course, you can find people to chat with for free but I think you get more when you pay for something.

Well, that depends. In the new age of open-source-sofware and free culture movement, I think the old adage "you get what you pay for" is becoming less relevant. Most servers run Linux today - totally free operating system. LibreOffice and company is very close to Microsoft Word in terms of functionality.

Honestly, I don't see a great difference between paying someone to chat with you, and just chatting for free in a chat room. Freenode's ##esperanto is a great place to just hang out and practice your skills in a room with many experienced, active users.