Side hustle ideas

[stevensfo]

I left my profession as an architect at the age of 56 and my "retirement" goal at the time was almost non-existent. In practise, I resolved to do only what interested me and even not too much of that. Financial compensation was rarely a consideration.

After a couple of years of enjoyable faffing about, I took a one month highly intensive course in teaching English as a foreign language. This allowed me to continue to work overseas in various countries and join my wife as a teacher at the British Council in 7 countries. I only worked very part time but loved it. Eventually, I did a bit of tutoring which I also loved.

The original poster suggested editing as a possibility. I have done that for 20 years and love it. I started by editing literature translations for the Slovak government. Editing is rarely simply correcting grammar as overseas work sometimes requires total rewrites which is fun. The work flow is very sporadic which suits me but as you are usually the last person in line prior to publication you are frequently given minimal time to complete the job, the only downside. For decades, I have been editing 2 or 3 times a year for a friend who runs a substantial business in Hong Kong. I have been doing this gratis but in recent years she has repaid me handsomely by letting us use one of her vacant flats in Hong Kong whenever we like.

I hadn't intended to write my life story but almost have. Sorry.

TP2.

Funnily enough, TEFL is one thing I am seriously considering for when I retire, though as a volunteer... well at first. I assume that your intensive 4 week course was the standard CELTA? I have the impression that its importance has fallen since the TEFL industry has grown, but I may be wrong. Having worked abroad for half my life, often as the only English mother-tongue speaker, I'm truly sick to death of editing, correcting, re-writing English etc, especially as it's not my actual job, but for the use of a nice apartment somewhere, I may be persuaded.
Many years ago, a French colleague asked me to "just check" the English in a manual he'd written. Turned out he'd translated it via Google or something. It gave me so many headaches, I asked for the French version but he couldn't find it, so I said no. I don't know what happened to it, but it came very close to being used as a suppository in him!

Steve

[TahiPanasDua]

I left my profession as an architect at the age of 56 and my "retirement" goal at the time was almost non-existent. In practise, I resolved to do only what interested me and even not too much of that. Financial compensation was rarely a consideration.

After a couple of years of enjoyable faffing about, I took a one month highly intensive course in teaching English as a foreign language. This allowed me to continue to work overseas in various countries and join my wife as a teacher at the British Council in 7 countries. I only worked very part time but loved it. Eventually, I did a bit of tutoring which I also loved.

The original poster suggested editing as a possibility. I have done that for 20 years and love it. I started by editing literature translations for the Slovak government. Editing is rarely simply correcting grammar as overseas work sometimes requires total rewrites which is fun. The work flow is very sporadic which suits me but as you are usually the last person in line prior to publication you are frequently given minimal time to complete the job, the only downside. For decades, I have been editing 2 or 3 times a year for a friend who runs a substantial business in Hong Kong. I have been doing this gratis but in recent years she has repaid me handsomely by letting us use one of her vacant flats in Hong Kong whenever we like.

I hadn't intended to write my life story but almost have. Sorry.

TP2.

Funnily enough, TEFL is one thing I am seriously considering for when I retire, though as a volunteer... well at first. I assume that your intensive 4 week course was the standard CELTA? I have the impression that its importance has fallen since the TEFL industry has grown, but I may be wrong. Having worked abroad for half my life, often as the only English mother-tongue speaker, I'm truly sick to death of editing, correcting, re-writing English etc, especially as it's not my actual job, but for the use of a nice apartment somewhere, I may be persuaded.
Many years ago, a French colleague asked me to "just check" the English in a manual he'd written. Turned out he'd translated it via Google or something. It gave me so many headaches, I asked for the French version but he couldn't find it, so I said no. I don't know what happened to it, but it came very close to being used as a suppository in him!

Steve

Hi Steve.

Yes I did do the CELTA course which I found to be much more intensive and stressful than anticipated. I believe it is still accepted as the basic qualification for EFL teachers though I met so-called English teachers working for small private outfits in Hong Kong who had no qualifications whatsoever. Indeed, at least one or two of them were barely literate in his own native English. Beware of most online TEFL courses which sound good but will not be accepted by decent employers.

I started work with a CELTA working for the British Council in Romania where I was living at the time. I was lucky to get such a job straight away with only the CELTA and no experience. This was only possible because of the dearth of teachers in Bucharest at that time. For the most desired locations, such as Rome, the Council required at least the DELTA (Diploma) and some experience. I loved the job in Romania. You might be able to wangle a job with the Council in one of the peripheral countries. However, once you are on the books you can apply for jobs in other centres of which there are about 160 IIRC.

Regarding proofreading, I would advise you not to take up any more of this work as you obviously dislike it. I, on the other hand, absolutely love doing it for some reason. About half the work I did in the past was either free of charge or paid for at local pittance rates in some of the countries I lived in. Working for free allowed me to choose only the type, timing and amount of work I enjoyed. I was in the fortunate position of not needing the cash.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

TP2.

[TahiPanasDua]

You could be forgiven for thinking that I didn't proofread my post above. I didn't. "barely literate in his own..." should, of course, read "barely literate in their own..."

Cheers.

TP2.

[stevensfo]

You could be forgiven for thinking that I didn't proofread my post above. I didn't. "barely literate in his own..." should, of course, read "barely literate in their own..."

Cheers.

TP2.

Hi,

Yes, I've heard a lot about the CELTA and how much work is packed into four weeks. I have an old friend who did one in Cambridge and he said it was exhausting. I also have a cousin who teaches in Cambodia and took a different course in Thailand first. There are now other CELTA options including online mixed with teaching practice spaced over a much longer period. The number of solely online courses has increased dramatically and it's a real minefield out there with some giving out courses and certificates for ridiculously low sums of money, though they do seem to be evolving quite fast, with some offering real teaching practice and others including teaching young learners, which the CELTA doesn't cover. In my case, I already did some teaching as a volunteer, albeit mainly 1:1 so would probably do one of the better online courses and get a bit more practice.
By chance,I found a website that reviews these courses, and for the first time, appears to be genuine.
https://trustedteflreviews.com/

Anyway, plenty of time to think about it. I'm not eligible for release...sorry, retirement...for at least two years!

Steve