16/04/2026
Teacher Sheila Dewar of 51Talkâ now signing off.đ
And with thatâ my âPAGTITIIS ERAâ comes to an end. Charrrr!đ
Today marks exactly my 6 years and 7 months working with 51Talkâ the first ever company who trusted meâ giving me the chance to earn my own money. Iâm a business program graduateâ but wasnât able to get a corporate job and work in the field related to the program I studied due to health issues. Kalungkurtttt!
Yesâ it was really frustrating and quite NAKAKA-INGGIT to see my peers especially my college classmates and friends getting the jobs they wantâ working in corporate and big companiesâ going out for their companyâs team building activitiesâ getting holiday bonusesâ celebrating year-end partiesâ and such.
While me? Literal na HUMIHINGA LANGâ staying at my big broâs place with his little family as a PROWPEYSYOWNAL TAMBAY or a TAMBAY WITH DEGREE. I stayed with them since 2017 after I graduated.
I tried looking for a jobâ submitted my resumĂŠ and CVs to different companies and workplaces via email and even walked in. Yesâ I did it all with my big broâs help financially âcause I donât have any penny of my own. But stillâ I always failâ I always get the âMaganda sana âyong credentials mo kaso sayangâ hindi talaga pwede sa company ang health status mo.â after every medical exam. And I would just go home and cry my heart out.
Every dayâ I would browse on facebook looking for an online job I could do as a freelancerâ join online writing competitions and staying up late thinkingâ writingâ and revising my pieces to use for my entryâ and writing updates for my stories posted on writing platforms where I can earn a little amount of money. I did commissioned book coversâ MS editingâ and proofreading for my fellow writers too. I tried working with a small self-publishing business as their graphic artist and proofreaderâ but since I didnât have my own laptop back thenâ it was so hard that I decided to quit.
Until one day, that was September 2019â I came across Mam Dianneâs post on one of the Job-Hunting facebook groups I joinedâ I forgot her surname tho. She posted sheâs looking for someome who is willing to work online. A desperate me tried to message her asking about further details, but she asked me to visit her office the next day intead para daw makapag-apply ako kasi nga raw sa online mag-aapply at ibang lahi ang mag-interview. So I prepared my resumĂŠ again and without any hesitationsâ I went to her office the next day to apply.
Honestlyâ na-shokt ako at first kasi it was an apartment so I was likeâ âHala! Baka kagaya âto sa mga napapanood ko sa online at nababasa sa stories na âyong mga nagpapakita ng katawan sa camera to earn money from afams.â Hahahahahaha! Kaka-wattpad ko dati âyonâ eh. Anywayâ ayon nga medyo nagdalawang-isip na ako kasi wala talaga akong idea or kaunting kaalaman man lang about online ESL teaching as in hindi ko pa siya naririnigâ kaya zero-knowledge talaga ako about it.
To continue and to make the long story short kasi ang haba na ng story koâ hahahahahaha. I appliedâ get interviewed by Filipino HRsâ waited for days for my resultsâ get trainedâ asked to do Mock-Demos with a couple of Filipino trainersâ did a few trial-and-errors with Mam Dianne especially with my grammar and pronunciation kasi aminado talaga akong hindi ako magaling sa English. I can still remember the words I couldnât pronounce well that timeâ âLISTENââ âREADYâ and âPRACTICEâ. So Mam Dianne had to correct me so many times when I practiced with her.
After I think 2 days of preparationâ with Mam Dianneâs helpâ I was endorsed to do my final demo with a CE. Damit pa ni Mam Dianne âyong suot ko noân kasi wala akong yellow polo-shirt kaya medyo malaki sa akin kasi payat talaga ako dati, as in PAYAT hahahahahaha. And I was so lucky my CE was really kind to me during my demo. Literal na hindi niya ako pinahirapan like other CEs do na magkukunwaring distracted na kid student during demo. âYong ginawa niya lang ay mag-mispronounce ng words kunwariâ ang cute hahahaha. At hindi rin niya pinatapos ang lesson slides for my demoâ she stopped me after like 15 minutes siguro to give feedback and thatâs it.
I was really worried that time kasi alam kong hindi ako papasa kasi may mga mali akong nagawa during my demo dahil sa kaba, hahahahaha. But after like 5 minsâ nag-send siya ng congratulatory message sa Skype telling me I passed the demo class. She sent me links needed for my On-boarding Training and some important reminders for the said training.
Juskoo! Iyak malala ako noân kasi I did not expect it na makapasa ako. So ayonâ the next day I signed my first contract with them at pinag-open agad ako ni Mam Dianne ng slots. And guess what? My first ever student in 51Talk is an adult. Hindi ko alam kung paano ko i-approach. I delivered the lesson like I was teaching a kid student. I even gave him stars and rewards and clapped my hands for him every time he answered correctly. Mabuti na lang at go with the flow lang din siya saka jolly rin siya sa klase. Hahahahahahahaha.
I worked in an office-based set up for 5 months with Mam Dianne as my manager but the operation didnât go well for some reasonsâ so I decided to just continue on my own in a home-based set up. Wala pa akong kahit anong device and equipment na magagamit that time kasi nga provided ng office ang lahat except food and personal stuff at biglaan lang din ang pag-pull out ng operation kaya hindi talaga ako ready to start my home-based journey. I even conducted some of my classes in a computer shop just to avoid incurring penalties and getting my account locked.
I donât have any other choices but to take risks. So ayonâ nangutang ako sa kuya ko ng pambili ng laptop at âyong headset and we**am na gamit ko sa officeâ binili ko na lang din para may magamit na ako kasi may mga advance bookings akong dapat i-conduct. âYong internet ko naman na pina-install sa bahay ng kuya ko right awayâ naka-plan lang kasi walang fiber connection doon sa amin.
I had so many bitter-sweet moments too while working with 51Talk. Naranasan ko ring ma-penalty ng 3k plus dahil nasira âyong laptop ko at wala akong backupâ ma-penalty dahil sa malawakang rotational brownoutâ ma-complain ng student na gumagamit ako ng phone during class hahahahahahaâ umiyak sa coach during coaching sessionsâ makipagtalo sa nanay ng student ko during our classâ masigawan minsan âyong mga napakabait kong studentsâ at magklase kahit hanggang hita na âyong tubig-baha sa loob ng bahay.
Naranasan ko ring magklase kahit broken-heartedâbreakdown ng 5 minutes tapos klase ulitâ ganon hahahahaha. I have also reached SAâDeliberation 2 times since I was hired. And so many iyak-tawang ganap in my 6 years and 7 months in the platform hanggang sa maabot ko ulit âyong SAâDeliberation in last week of January this year due to my cancellations of classes dahil sa biglaang pag-clearing ng Meralco which affected my ISP for a week and wala akong back up kasi âyong suppposed to be back up koâ sobrang hina kasi nasa looban âyong apartment ko at nasa first floor pa kaya mahina âyong internet connection at hindi kayang magklase.
I had countless rants towards the companyâs rules and unfair treatments to its teachers tooâ but I canât deny the fact that 51Talk has been my bread and butter for years as well. It helped me pay my billsâ buy sacks of rice and gas at homeâ buy my own wants and needsâ pay my laptop na inutang ko sa kuya koâ send a small amount of money to my parents sometimesâ keep a little amount for savingsâ and even support my 2 younger siblings to send them to school since their Junior High School years at nasa college na sila ngayon. Though âyong isa na lang ngayon ang pinapaaral ko kasi âyong kapatid kong sumunod sa akin na ang nagpapa-aral sa bunso namin. I was able to buy gifts for my nephew and nieces every Christmas and their birthdays too because of the money I earn in working with 51Talk.
Yesâ I am beyond grateful for the chance 51Talk has given me because I am able to earn money even when Iâm at home in my pajamas without any makeup and blush on. Alsoâ it opened doors to new opportunities for me to grow in greener pastures somewhere.
I really donât want to cancel my Service Agreement with 51Talk kasi I love my students here kahit mga pasaway âyong ibaâ but I think this is for something better too. Soâ yeah. Iâm now signing off. Please be patient with my students if ever mapunta sila sa inyo.đĽş
To my fellow ESL Teachers hereâ especially the ones teaching in 51Talk until now and to Sir John Serranoâ thank you for the WEEKLY ONLINE SABONG in â51Talk Teachersâ facebook groupâ este for everything since day one. Your posts about the companyâs updateâ small and big winsâ encouragements and motivationsâ ânot to brag but to inspireââ and even rants were my therapy and assistants as I was on my own since I decided to do this job as home-based.
Thank you so much and happy teaching!âş
Love lotsâ
Teacher Sheilađˇ
