5 things you should know before you decide to teach English online
There are plenty of platforms available today for language tutors and teachers online, offering English online teaching jobs. They all strive to attract you by asking you to create your profile and start teaching English online immediately. Many of them don’t even check if you have any teaching experience and if you are a qualified English teacher. They all say: register and start earning quick and easy additional income – teach English online.
Although it sounds appealing initially, it gets tricky and frustrating with time. The language learners cannot distinguish between qualified and non-qualified English tutors, they have to go through thousands of tutors’ profiles to get clarity on who is offering what, getting more and more frustrated about whether it is worth paying a higher price to a native English tutor or to get a more affordable lesson with a non-native qualified English teacher.
For the English online tutors, it becomes more and more complicated to stand out and have a voice as they are forced to compete with each other and between thousands of people who decided they could teach English online for quick and easy additional income.
Let’s try to get clarity on who is who in the English tutoring online business and what are the 5 most important things you need to know before you go for teaching English online:
- language tutors vs language teachers
- where to teach
- who to teach
- what price to charge
- how to develop your teaching practice
1. Distinguish between English Teachers and English Tutors to apply for English teaching jobs
- English teachers
English teachers are qualified to teach English as a second language. They have either a pedagogical degree in teaching English or in teaching in general. If you call yourself a language teacher, it is ethical to take into consideration that teaching qualification requires a Bachelor’s degree in English teaching. And it doesn’t matter if your native language is English or not. Being a native English speaker doesn’t make you an English teacher by default.
A qualified English teacher is equipped with the knowledge of proper English teaching methods and strategies, as well as instruction strategies for different types of learners and assessment methods. You can apply for English online teaching jobs if you have a teaching degree.
- English tutors
English tutors are qualified language educators, who obtained a relevant degree in language teaching. Such degrees are CELTA, ESOL, TESOL, and some others (depending on the country).
CELTA is a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (also known as a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
TEFL refers to any certification program that trains an English speaker to teach their language to others. The difference between CELTA and TEFL is mainly the scale of popularity of their brands.
You can apply for English teaching jobs if you qualify for teaching English as a second language by obtaining a relevant certificate. You can even find a teachers-friendly platforms where you can teach English online without a commission.
2. Consider your options of where to teach English online without a commission
- Teach English online on a language platform / English online teaching jobs
As we mentioned in the beginning, there are plenty of platforms for language tutors to teach languages online. The most popular and well-known platforms are Italki, Cambly, Superprof, Teach Away, and Amazing Talker.
As mentioned before, these platforms accept almost any type of language tutor. English tutors with and without qualification, native and non-native speakers, experienced and non-experienced in teaching and tutoring can apply and start teaching English online with them. They charge a commission of 15%-35% from language tutors. Everyone who wants to earn additional income can apply to teach on the language tutoring platforms.
- Teach English online without a commission / English online teaching jobs with zero commission
There are some platforms, that have more tutor-friendly policies and they are free for language tutors. As an example, Lonet.Academy doesn’t charge a commission from the tutors. So if you apply as an English tutor online to Lonet, you can teach English online without a commission.
If you are a qualified English teacher or a certified English tutor with a diploma in teaching English as a second language, register on Lonet and teach English without a commission.
- Create your course and teach English online
Another option to start teaching online and create a flow of income from language tutoring is to create your course and sell it online. In this case, you will have to meet the marketing expenses, expenses for the development of the course, necessary online tools, and technology expenses. Also, you will need to get knowledge in social media marketing, Google ads, sales strategies, and online marketing (at least basics).
- Start your own English teaching practice and business
If you are not only a teacher but also feel like an entrepreneur striving for your own business, create a personal website, start your English teaching business, and develop your unique teaching brand. Your business will bring you a sense of freedom and independence, along with more responsibilities, risk, and control.
3. Decide who you want to teach
Every marketer will ask you the first thing to do: get clear with who is your potential client. This is not just a theoretical question in marketing. This is one of the most important questions for you to decide for your online teaching positioning on the market. Imagine how many English teachers and tutors are there around the world! And most of them are all online. Accept the reality and think about how to differentiate yourself from other English language tutors. Describe your ideal client (English learner). Write down their features:
- Age (what age group you enjoy teaching most);
- Gender (if you are inclined to teach one specific gender);
- Level (think about which level of English you enjoy teaching most);
- Type (what do you prefer teaching most: general English, business English, English for special purposes, conversational English, or preparation for exams);
- Nationality (what nationality of learners do you prefer);
- other features that might be important for you.
Of course, you will teach different types of learners, any gender, all levels and, probably, even all age groups, BUT: for standing out we highly recommend you to formulate your SPECIALIZATION.
In your marketing message tell the audience what your strengths are and what you are best at. This will help you grasp the attention of the learners, looking for that specific value you are offering. And this will help them to make a quicker decision in booking their trial lesson with you!
4. Decide how much you will charge for the lessons online
Another aspect to explore before you start teaching online is the market prices for English lessons in your area. Even if you teach online, which means that your market is worldwide, it is worth getting clarity on how much your potential clients will be willing to pay and how much your competitors charge them at the moment.
To decide what price to offer take into consideration the following points:
- purchasing power of your potential clients (basically, how much they can afford to pay);
- will they prefer paying for each lesson or would they be willing to subscribe for a “package”;
- are you ready to offer a lower price to get your first clients?
- what expenses you have, that your price has to cover;
- consider seasonal fluctuations;
- other points that are important to explore for your pricing strategy in your specific region (e.g. taxes).
The prices for English teaching online differ a lot. The bigger the platform where you teach is, the more you have to compete with your competitors price-wise. Remember that platforms like Italki or Preply accept non-qualified and non-native English tutors from India, Pakistan, Middle East countries, and countries of Asia and Africa, where the costs of living are low and the tutors from those countries can live on 20 US dollars a day. So, be ready to compete with them in your pricing if you join a big language teaching platform. And don’t forget about the commission charged.
Therefore we recommend you to compare the conditions for the teachers on the language platforms before choosing where to teach online. The more teacher-friendly the platform is, the smaller it is, the better conditions you get as a teacher. Find a platform that values educators and teach English online without a commission.
5. Decide how you will develop professionally to be the best possible tutor for your clients
For teaching online, you will need to get proficient in some easy-to-use online tools and technology for online educators. Also, you want to develop your teaching skills and go in line with the latest tendencies and trends in teaching English online. Consider professional courses to attend (at least once a year) to get to know new techniques in language teaching. Discover new methods of applicable coaching elements in language teaching. Explore the multitude of courses in psychology of learning on Coursera and choose one of them to learn positive psychology and psychology of learning. You can also dive deeper into the applicable psychology in teaching and for a diploma in coaching for language learning.
Remember that the industry of English language teaching is evolving and to stand out and bring the best value to your clients you must keep the pace.
If you have questions about how to go about your career in teaching English as a second language, talk to me! I am a creator of Lonet.Academy, the most teachers-friendly platform online. I will be happy to discuss the challenges and opportunities in language teaching, coaching and training with you!
Good luck with your teaching practice!
Lonet: connecting nows, transforming futures!