How rockstar Ryan Cook became a freelance English teacher
When I met Ryan Cook he was sat in the middle of his modern air-conditioned apartment with his dog Banjo playing with a ball in the background. He began telling me about his 4K technical set up-something which his students love and has contributed to his success as a freelance English teacher and musician. Ryan had just finished teaching and managed to squeeze me in to his schedule before his next class in 40 minutes... "I'm teaching it outdoors tonight. We're doing a walk around. Because it's like one of my favorite students. We're doing a walk around the village where I live, because the 4g connection is so strong in Thailand, that I can literally teach a whole zoom class just hot-spotting from my cell phone. Or I can just walk around and teach outdoors if I want. The 4g connection in Thailand is faster than any country I've ever been to. Korea is really good."Does South Korea have the fastest internet in the world?
"I've been there. And I remember everyone being on their phone all the time. But yeah, the first month that I taught online for zoom, I taught probably 50 classes, and every single one I hotspot in my computer with my phone's 4g. So I was running a MacBook Pro with cameras and lights, all from a 4g connection. It's like 80 megabytes a second download."
For your class, are you going to be in selfie mode? Just walking around teaching? *Gestures to holding up a phone taking a selfie*
"Yeah. Pretty much. Then flipping the camera and showing where we're walking and then just having a conversation? It’ll only be 45 minutes. So we'll walk around and I'll have my dog with me. If it doesn't rain should be fine."I hear you’re in the middle of completing a Level 5 TEFL certificate at the moment. What inspired you to teach online/ become a freelance English teacher?
"What's kind of funny is that I wanted to do this for the last year since I left Vietnam and returned to Canada. I was in quarantine. We were in lockdowns. I knew that the music career for me was going to be on a two to three-year hiatus minimum. I had this feeling like I had a really good read on it. There was that false optimism a little bit in the beginning, like, ‘oh, this might be over soon.’ But I had that premonition. This is going to be like a two to three-year minimum, and then maybe four to five years in the long term. Musicians on the Independent circuit don't make enough money as is, let alone take three years off. So I just immediately thought ‘how can I get back to this?’ ‘how can I transition into teaching English,’ if it kind of wraps up by the end of the year, like Christmas time, maybe I could get back to Southeast Asia, and then start a new chapter in my life. About January, it's like we're in the second wave, and it's very, very bleak. I had to really motivate myself to to to get the ball rolling."Why did you enroll in the most comprehensive level 5 TEFL course?
"I enrolled in the TEFL program because I actually don't have a degree. I went to college in Canada so it's called a diploma even though it was a very intensive multi-year program. It's considered a diploma in film and television and screen arts. So my background is in TV and music, but it's not considered legally a degree here. I felt like I would have made a good English teacher, but without the degree, I had to have the best course. So I started the TEFL program. I told one of my friends in Thailand who owned an English school, and he said ‘Really? You're studying TEFL? Do you want a job?’ So that's kind of how I ended up here."How Ryan became an independent freelance English teacher
Ryan began teaching in a Catholic school in Thailand called St. Mary’s when they were all forced into lockdown. Only weeks after he settled in to Thailand and began teaching. This is where things changed for Ryan. He found the coveted answer to continue his passion for music while earning a stable income. While continuing teaching his classes online from his position in St. Mary’s Catholic School, Ryan said “ a handful of the students I had, took a liking to me and my dog, and the lights and cameras. The parents inquired about hiring me as my private teacher for them.” Ryan left his position as a teacher for this school and started on his new path as a freelance English teacher.Are you working as a freelance English teacher now?
"Yeah. I have five students at the moment that I teach throughout the week. And I could certainly have many more if I was spending some time promoting it. I have other means of income through a fan club online. I have a Patreon site with 50 members on it. So I have multiple streams of things that I'm doing for income, but I really could have many more students. My schedule allows me to have more, but surprisingly, (I don't know if it's surprising or not), but private teaching pays quite well. I charge up to $60 an hour, because you can [when you’re a freelance English teacher]. I'm not charging that much, but I could. I'm probably making about the same salary teaching the five students a week, which takes me about maybe 20-25 hours in total with prep time, as I was teaching 40-45 hours a week at the school and being there every day."
Now you have a higher quality of life as a freelance English teacher. Can you still perform and play music?
"Yeah, I can. I do a variety of other things. Some of the English teachers I had encountered in Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City had what I thought was this really idyllic schedule. It seemed like they were sort of teaching in the afternoons Tuesday to Saturday. They had a big day on Saturday. But their schedule was so relaxed, they could play tennis every morning. They were just always around." Having a schedule like that if you can get it is pretty, pretty cool. And I don't actually mind teaching in the school either, like being in the school, Monday to Friday or Tuesday. So I really like them both. But it's like a path. It's not just a path of least resistance. I actually really enjoy the online zoom thing. Maybe a boutique thing that I already have a lot of experience and passion for doing. And now we've locked down again. So this never ended."
Can you tell me a bit about Thailand and the COVID-19 situation over there?
"I'm living in the city of Pattaya. It's a pretty big tourist destination. Pattaya is an hour and a half south of Bangkok and it's on the Bay of Bangkok. It's famous for Walking Street and it's a huge tourist destination."Can you tell us more about Pattaya?
"It's like being on a movie set. Like it literally feels like you're on an old movie set somewhere. It's just mind-bending. Walking Street is surreal. It's a street that's like a Mardi Gras for like a kilometer at both sides of the street. There's no traffic, it's just called ‘Walking Street’. And that's the big claim to fame in Pattaya. It's wast like an R&R destination for American servicemen and women in the Vietnam War. So that's how it got it grew as a popular touristic place. Because of the COVID-19 virus, the city of Pattaya has been on lockdown meaning day-to-day activities are limited until the number of daily COVID-19 cases decreases. The only businesses that are open are pharmacies and 711s. And I suppose the supermarket would be open but no other stores are open and everything shuts down firm at 8 pm."
How have you coped as a freelance English teacher during the pandemic and lockdown?
"In a funny way, relating to the story that is this journey I've been on, everything sort of worked out well for me personally. If I was still working for the school, I would be on again off again with the lockdowns and in and out. So in the end, having the home 4k setup is like working out pretty well. The restaurants are open, but only for takeout. You cannot even sit in an open space. We had that in Canada too. I was familiar with it because I went through it at home in Canada."How long have you been in Thailand? Have you gotten to explore much?
"I've been here for five months. I've been around Thailand a bunch in the past. I would say that Chiang Mai has always been my favorite city in Thailand. It’s one of these places you go and you just fall in love with it. It's just something about it. It has character to it. In the wintertime, it's about 10 degrees cooler up there, which is a bit more breathable for most of us."
When you were moving to Thailand, did you have any issues with documents like visas, covid tests, etc?
"It was unbelievably stressful. I did it on such a tight timeline that everything had to turn around quickly including the criminal record checks. I had to have a COVID test 72 hours before I arrived at the Bangkok airport. It was hard to coordinate that. To have a COVID test 72 hours before you arrive at an international destination that takes two or three days to fly to takes a lot of planning."
How was the transition when you arrived in Thailand? Did you find there was a big culture shock?
"I was used to it from being here before and traveling. So there was no culture shock, but there was a quarantine shock. Two weeks in quarantine in a hotel is... I don't know if anything could have prepared me for that. Psychologically. Even the paperwork wasn't as hard on the head."What advice would you for someone booking a quarantine hotel for their stay in Thailand?
"In the event of a two-week quarantine or even a seven-day quarantine, I spent a little bit of extra money, I would say for me it was an extra $400. That was like 50 square meters and a balcony. And good views. I made that decision after watching a number of YouTube videos of people stuck in quarantine. And I noticed that some people were trapped in a room that was like a 25 or 30 square foot room with just a window that didn't open. So I said no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna pay the extra three or $400 and splurge on a room with a balcony. Best decision I ever could have made."
