By Trevor H. – December 14, 2021
Teaching languages online and working from the comfort of your home. It sounds terrific because it is. There is no better way to live than waking up every morning and sitting next to your computer with a cup of coffee, teaching language, sharing your skills and helping others.
One might wonder, isn’t the industry flooded with teachers, and will it be too difficult to find students? Honestly, what industry isn’t flooded these days? There are over 6 billion people on this small rock. You will need to pick a profession and commit.
I, myself, have taught English online for many years. In my experience, it’s a good job. There is a demand and I make money. What do I love most about it? Well, I get to drink as much coffee as I want and I can set my own hours. You are your own boss. Well, with some platforms you are.
Before we get to the list, please keep in mind that most job seekers are inclined to work for a company and start making money immediately. In the opinion of many of my colleagues, they suggest finding your own students as you would not have to pay any commissions as you would be required to when working for certain platforms.
Important fact – Teaching languages online is about forming relationships. If you can build a relationship in your first class with a new language student, your chances of keeping them as a regular weekly student will increase.
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Reasons to be an online language teacher that are super cool
- Work comfortably. To be honest, I normally wear a nice t-shirt with a collar when teaching my online language classes, but under the waist, I frequently wear shorts or pajamas. Just don’t stand up suddenly during a lesson to reveal your red pajamas to avoid embarrassment.
- Some students are super talkative. Well that must be annoying, right? A student who doesn’t know how to shut up. Quite the contrary. Sometimes you will have a student who blabs and blabs which allows you to think about what you are going to make for lunch. You may be able to do some other small tasks like check your email. I enjoy looking out my window during a student’s talkathon and smile at how easy it is to make money during this class.
- Save time and money. There is no driving to work and there may be no need to buy a car all together. No car equals no gas, insurance, maintenance. Basically, things human beings hate paying for, you don’t have to. You work online as a language teacher, remember? As long as your legs function, you can get yourself from your bed to your home office.
- Make your own schedule. This one is my favorite. In life, we all have other commitments other than work. Well, with no boss to tell you or pressure you to work, you can schedule days off as you choose. A friendly reminder – I wouldn’t get crazy taking too much time off, as the goal of an online language teacher is to make money, of course.
NEXT BLOG – INTERNET MARKETING
Let’s go over 5 platforms where you can teach languages online and get paid
Preply
Preply allows tutors to make their own schedule. They can also set their own prices. When you look through the website, you will notice many teachers making solid earnings. What is another thing they also receive? Reviews.
Fun Fact – In the beginning of working with some online teaching platforms, it is recommended to keep your prices modest in order to acquire students and receive good reviews. With some platforms, a teacher with 0 reviews is like a fish out of water.
What, Instagram? Instagram allows the user to create appropriate hashtags that relate to teaching languages, and you can use many hashtags to test things out. You may also choose the region you would like to publish your videos. Regions where people need to learn a language such as English or Spanish.
For instance, look at Quebec in Canada, which is a huge market. Their first language is French. They can be targeted through an ad campaign or organically.
Verbling
Verbling is basically like Preply in the sense that the tutor has to pay commissions on most classes, which is annoying. In all fairness to the platforms, they do bring students to the teacher. Perhaps they need to pay Google ads to attract students and in turn they take commissions to cover some of their expenses.
Again, start your prices per class at a modest rate, and everytime you receive a positive review, raise your cost per class. More reviews equals more money.
Fun Fact – When I first started teaching languages online, I charged 5 dollars per class for a month, which sounds like nothing. But I collected 7 reviews in that month and now I charge 20 dollars per class. The strategy worked.
TikTok
No way, really? Yes. You can make videos for free, marketing your teaching style. Using the appropriate hashtags, you can gain followers rather quickly. In your biography, add any relevant contact information, whether it be your website or gmail.
Fun Fact – The key to acquiring followers with social media videos is consistency. If you think you can post one video a week or month and make a full time paycheck with the students you aquire, good luck, amigo.
If you do go the social media route, I suggest having fun with it. Chat with your followers, answer comments, and something obvious, sell your services.
Fiverr
Perhaps the most popular freelancing site on the planet. You can list your language teaching services on the platform. Take your time in writing your description and profile. Present yourself well in your profile picture with a glowing and welcoming smile. Focus on receiving reviews early on and then raise the prices.
When browsing through the platform, check out some successful tutors and view their profiles. Why are they popular on the platform? You don’t need to copy people but you can definitely learn from tutors who are achieving certain levels of success.
If you are new to teaching languages online, you do not need to be a rocket scientist. Go on YouTube and watch other tutors conduct classes. Create your lesson plans focusing on certain elements of the language such as verb tenses then elevate your skills.
You can focus on teaching beginner students if you are a novice and improve your method in time.
Many people say that you need a teaching degree to be a tutor, which is totally untrue.
Elon Musk is going to Mars and he doesn’t have a degree in rocket science. Anything is possible for anyone if they stick to it.
Can you eventually make up to 20 dollars an hour teaching languages online? The world is your oyster.
Thanks for reading. Sharing is caring.
