What is the Tutor Program and How Does It Work?

A Tutor is usually a young person (mostly students) who lives with a Host Family abroad in exchange for tutoring. In most cases, families hire a tutor from a different country to improve their children’s language skills. This program is especially popular during the summer holidays as students are more likely to travel when they do not have to attend courses.Free Registration as Candidate 

The children can just spend time with their Tutor talking in a different language. This way, tutoring is seen as a joyful activity rather than sitting in front of books the whole day. Nonetheless, there is no age limit (different to the Au Pair program). So, not only students can participate even if this is the usual case.Free Registration as Family 

More and more families see the benefits of hosting an international student to make their children learn another language. In this case, the Host Family has one or more kids who are already able to talk and communicate. Often the family wants their children to start speaking a second or third language at an early age. The child should be under 18 years old.

On AuPair.com the tutor and the host can find each other. Usually the tutor stays for a few weeks to some months. After a few video interviews both sides should agree on the terms and the length of the program. It is recommended to sign an agreement to avoid any misunderstandings. After that, the Tutor can move in with the host and start teaching his or her language.

Usually, the stay lasts from several weeks to a few months, depending on the available time on both sides. But the duration of the stay also depends on the nationality and the visa status of the participant. In case there is no need for a visa, the Tutor could basically stay as long as he or she wants. This applies for example within the European Union. In case a visa is needed the applicant cannot stay longer than the visa indicates.

The tasks of a Tutor are to spend time with the children or the person who requires the tutoring and to teach either the language or another subject. It might be, that someone wants to learn to play the piano or the guitar and wishes to have a live-in Tutor for this purpose. However, it is not the duty of a Tutor to clean the house, cook or do any other household chores. Also, baby-sitting is not part of the deal unless the Host Family would pay extra for this service.

The Tutor program means: free housing and meals in exchange for tutoring, either in a language or any other subject like sports, mathematics or music. The rest of the stay is based upon agreement. Tutors usually do not receive any salary. Make sure to sign an agreement to avoid misunderstandings during the stay.

The working hours are based upon agreement. In most cases, the tutor only works a few hours per month. The rest is considered leisure time. 

Usually, there is no salary included in the program as it is not a proper job. The Tutor program should rather be seen as a chance to live abroad or in another part of your home country at very low costs and teach something to another individual. Please note that this is not a proper employment and does not include any payment from the host’s side.

However, if both parties agree on baby-sitting, which will be compensated in monetary terms, please remember that taxes and social security contributions have to be paid and a special visa will be required when being abroad. Please note that you cannot earn money while being on a tourist visa.

The Tutor position is not a proper employment and therefore does not include a holiday entitlement. However, since a Tutor only teaches a few hours per week, there is usually no need for holidays as there is sufficient leisure time during the week.

The Tutor must pay for the travel expenses as well as for the visa application if needed.
 

Since the Tutor stay usually only lasts a few weeks, we highly recommend this program to people who do not need a visa to live in the host’s country. For example, if you are an citizen from the European Union and want to live in another EU country, you can stay in the country without a visa.

As a consequence, the program can offer you the ideal opportunity to spend some time in another country at very low costs. But if you need a visa to enter the country, we recommend to apply for a tourist visa. In this case, you can stay up to three months in most countries but please note that you cannot earn money during this time. This would even be illegal under the tourist visa scheme. 

The Tutor program is a private stay and not regulated by any official authority. Therefore, there are no official rules which indicate if you would need to attend a language course or not. Thus, attending a language course is optional. A restriction could be that a Tutor only stays for a limited time. It could be difficult to find a course that only lasts for the duration of your stay. Please note that you would need to cover the expenses of the course on your own.

As we already mentioned, the Tutor program is not officially regulated by the government. Therefore, there is no official document that you can use as a template for the stay. In fact, you could use any kind of contract template.

Moreover, the contract is not obligatory but we highly recommend to have an agreement in a written form just to make sure that everything is clear between the host and the candidate. AuPair.com offers a contract template which you can also use for your stay. You can download it for free here. 

When being abroad, it is always advisable to be fully insured. In case of illness, accident or other unpredictable issues you will be happy if you can count on your insurance. In general, insurances for a stay abroad are private. In case you are wondering: you can either choose our partner agency Dr. Walter who is specialized on people traveling the world or contact any other private insurance company that you feel is serious.

The Au Pair and the Tutor program have a lot in common. In both cases, you spend time with individuals and have an intercultural exchange. However, the Au Pair program is an official program regulated by the government (at least in the majority of countries) whereas the Tutor program is not. Indeed, the Tutor program is a private agreement. That means that there is no special Tutor visa.

The most striking difference might be the program’s conditions: as an Au Pair you take care of children and become a family member. You work 20-30 hours in average per week and receive a monthly pocket money. A Tutor is treated more like a guest and solely teaches a language or another matter. He/ she does that only for a few hours per week depending on the agreement and does not receive any payment.

There are also many differences between a Tutor and a Nanny. As a Nanny you are officially employed, receive at least minimum wage and pay taxes. Depending on the family’s needs, most participants work part or full time. As a Tutor you are not employed but just live with the host as a guest and teach him or her your language. You do not receive any salary so there is no income tax to be paid.

Nonetheless, both programs share some tasks. Both Tutor and Nanny spend time with an individual. But a Nanny also carries out some light household chores and plays with the children whereas a Tutor is focussed more on conveying the language.