We’re closing out January already, the month just seemed to evaporate. My holiday schedule was very similar to a normal week, same with New Years , and it looks like the same for Tet, or Chinese New Year. One of the benefits of having students from around the globe I guess. When I worked for a school the holidays meant there was no work for a couple weeks and for us teachers that resulted in no pay. The office staff were on salary and looked forward to the time off, me? not so much…

My classes are always evolving (even if slowly) as more tools and techniques become available, and student needs change. I switched out the transcription tool I was using for the Google Gemini LLM and I was able to write a prompt to fine-tune the output to be more useful.

First we have the actual speech transcribed, then a version with the same ideas and vocabulary just more clear and concise, finally we have the over the top version with complex grammar and vocab. Here is an example:

Okay, here are the rewritten versions of the provided transcription:

Original Transcription: Alright, go ahead. Uh one thing I'm really proud of myself is as a as an animation hobbies, I made uh quite a few 3D animations and actually won some prize, national prize back then. So, one of my one of my favorite uh one of my favorite creation was a was an animation called Dream for the Sky. It's basically uh animation about how people from the how how started from the how people started from the cave man just starring at the bright sky and try to figure out how to how how to how to lift up like by balloons and eventually plans and rockets. So go go go all the way from just a dream to aviation and eventually to the space. And I I and part of the part of uh I am proud of this because not only because I because I won the prize but also I'm proud because I can express my ideas better uh and in a in in a better and unique way through these animations.

Mid-Level Version: Okay, you can begin now. One thing I'm really proud of is that as an animation hobbyist, I made quite a few 3D animations, and I even won a national prize for some of them. One of my favorite creations was an animation called "Dream for the Sky." It’s basically an animation about how humans, starting from cavemen, looked at the bright sky and tried to figure out how to fly, using balloons, then planes, and finally rockets. So it’s about progressing from just having a dream to aviation and then reaching space. I’m proud of this because it's not just about winning a prize, but also because I could express my ideas in a better and more unique way through these animations.

Higher-Level Version: Very well, proceed. A significant point of personal pride for me lies in my avocation as an animation enthusiast; I have produced a substantial number of 3D animations, some of which garnered a national accolade. A particular creation of which I am fond is an animation entitled "Dream for the Sky." It serves as a narrative portrayal of humanity's aspiration for flight, chronicling the journey from primitive cave dwellers gazing at the celestial firmament to the development of various modes of aviation, commencing with balloons, followed by airplanes, and culminating in rocketry. In essence, it is an allegorical depiction of humanity's progression from a terrestrial existence toward the realm of space. I derive considerable satisfaction from this endeavor, not merely by virtue of the award received, but also from the capacity to articulate my conceptualizations in a more refined and singular manner through the medium of animation.

I usually have the student read the corrected version so they get to experience what their ideas could sound like. That final version is mostly just for laughs and new vocabulary. I sometimes read it myself and “translate” for the student. From time to time, there will be a word I don’t know and we look that up together.

This month I did manage to have Super Tutor status this month, however, it is very close every month. The Preply algorithm said I should raise my rates to $25 for 50 minutes, so I did, I was curious to try it again. The results were… no new students, lol, looks like my current maximum rate is between $20 and $24.

This leads me to conclude that I have pretty much maxed out my income from Preply. If I increase the number of students much more I will eventually just burn out. So I will need to find other forms of income to supplement Preply.

2025 is looking good so far