Are there non-native English speaking writers doing well on Upwork?

[towermutasa]

I did some freelance web content writing while I was at university. Most of it was unpaid, seeing as my concern at the time was building a portfolio.

After finishing university in May, with the job market being what it is because of Covid, I decided to become a fulltime freelancer. I managed to find a couple of web content projects before discovering Upwork last month.

I’ve been browsing discussions on this forum, and what I’m getting is:

1, ESL writers suck, even those who think they are good.

2, As a non-native English speaker, I am doomed to $1 per 1000 words jobs.

To cut a long story short, I want to know if there are any successful writers on Upwork whose first language is not English. By successful, I mean you are able to charge north of $15 per hour. I’m especially keen to hear from web content writers.

PS I can’t read or write in my native language (not that there’s a market for it) so that’s out of the question.

[2a05aa63]

The issue is, there are 3 big countries - USA, Britain, and Australia - where anyone born there has most likely a better English than you. You need to work a lot harder and might still produce worse content. You could try to specialize in a very small field where there are not that many people.

English on Upwork is not a perk. It's a mandatory skill. Most non-English do something not directly related to English and use it for communication. 

[towermutasa]

Makes sense. I plan on eventually specialising, but before then, I'm really trying to gage if I'm wasting my time selling writing services on Upwork.

[alexis-arinze]

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ESL writers do struggle on Upwork. I'm sure there are some who find success. The thing is, your English needs to be perfect, and even then, some clients only hire Native English Speakers. It's a tricky situation.

[towermutasa]

I get that. I honestly have no Delusions of beating back clients with a stick because I'm doing so well. Not being from an English speaking country will always count against me.

I just wanted to see if there are ESL writers making it on Upwork. If there are, then it means no matter how remote, there is a chance for me as well. If there aren't any, then I'm wasting my time here, and I should probably look for another gig.