Today, I want to talk about what it takes to teach English online – specifically, how to use technology tools for teaching not only your students but yourself as well. At the time of writing, I have had the pleasure of teaching more than 500 people in China to read and speak better English – four different levels total, across three different platforms.
Are you just getting started with teaching english online and wondering what tools are available? Or, have you been at it for a while and are looking for new ways to present your content? There are many free online teaching tools available. In this article, I will share some of the best online teaching tools available for those interested in teaching english online.
AmazingTalker
If you wish to teach languages online without worrying about how to get students, AmazingTalker is a great platform.
The site boasts 80 languages and subjects and over 500,000 learners, making it one of the most popular language-learning websites. Want to teach Arabic? Looking to teach Vietnamese or Indonesian? You can with AmazingTalker!
Teachers can set their own hours, own rates, and tap into a variety of training resources. All tutors are paid on a monthly basis. You can also join teacher’s groups within the site and get support in dealing with the common challenges of online tutors.
Languages you can teach:
- English
- Japanese
- Chinese
- Korean
- German
- Spanish
- French
- Indonesian
- Italian
- and more
Requirements:
- Must either be a native speaker or have a degree in the language you wish to teach
- Experience in 1-on-1 language tutoring or related classroom experience
- Ability to create your own lesson plan
CAMBLY
Cambly is best suited for those who want to casually teach as they need extra income. Think of it like “teaching as a side hustle.” The pay isn’t particularly great at $0.17 per minute (approximately $10.20 per hour) but, similarly to Palfish, you only need a smartphone to teach from the app. No TEFL, teaching experience, or degree is currently required, opening this up as an option for those who think they might be interested in teaching, but aren’t fully committed to it as a profession. Cambly pays teachers on a weekly basis through PayPal.
DADAABC
Not from the U.K., U.S., or Canada? DaDaABC might be the platform for you. You will need a Bachelor’s degree on top of your TEFL certification, but this helps justify the higher pay ($15-$25 per hour). Working for DaDaABC means teaching one-one-one, 30-minute lessons to young Chinese learners.
DaDaABC also boasts some pretty fantastic bonuses. Upon being hired, you’ll receive an immediate $15 payment to buy props for your lessons. If you sell a course package to a student after one of your trial lessons, you get an $8 bonus. After your first six months teaching with DaDaABC, you can negotiate a raise with your operational manager, which allows you room to grow within the company.
One major item to consider is that, unless you’re living in China while you teach online, you’ll be receiving your pay through PayPal. This means you’ll get charged a $30 transaction fee, which is a relatively substantial amount.
SAY ABC
Say ABC hires English teachers to lead 40-minute lessons for young Chinese learners. There is a base pay rate of $17 per hour, set by the company, though this is rumored to be increasing in the new year. Say ABC lessons are taught from your laptop and work like most other platforms in that the curriculum is already set for teachers. The company asks that teaching applicants have a Bachelor’s Degree, 1-year of teaching experience, and a certification. They also ask for a three-month teaching commitment upon hiring.
Rype
There is one special thing about Rype. It provides 30-minute private language lessons online through professional handpicked tutors. The teachers make the personalized lesson to fit your needs.
The reviewers assert it is inexpensive. Although, it will take a while to find the right teacher for yourself.
Just like any other apps or sites, the tutors here as well follow their own teaching system. They provide resources and a touch of their own personalities.
However, something differs this site from others. The trainers are not allowed to set their own amount for the lessons they provide.
The candidates buy a subscription for each month. This includes the number of tuition hours they can take per month. And Rype directly pays to the coaches, with nobody is being involved in the middle.
Skype is the most-used software for classes. And no, they don’t provide group projects.
You can pick 10 languages from this platform. It involves English, French, Russian, Arabic, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian, and Portuguese.
EF ENGLISH FIRST
EF English First has classrooms all over the world, most notably in China. However, it isn’t strictly an in-field teaching experience. Nowadays, teachers can apply to teach Chinese learners with EF online!
Because of their company reputation, EF’s interview process is one of the more rigorous for online teaching. They also require a background check be completed on all applicants. Once hired though, you can teach either young learners or adults 25-minute lessons while making as much as $19 per hour. Currently, EF online is only hiring teachers from the U.S. and the U.K.
MyLingoTrip
MyLingoTrip is an online language school that lets learners schedule private, one-on-one lessons via Skype. Lessons for two are also available.
The site currently offers 12 languages. Each lesson is scheduled to last 60 minutes.
Using MyLingoTrip as a tutor is completely free. Teachers invoice their students directly for their lesson fee using PayPal or an alternative invoicing service, which means you can receive payment electronically from your students regardless of currency.
Languages you can teach:
- English
- French
- German
- Italian
- Spanish
- Greek
- Swedish
- Dutch
- Russian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Chinese
Requirements:
- A love for teaching languages
- Must enjoy working with international students
- Must be a native speaker of the language you want to teach
- You feel comfortable speaking English if you want to teach a non-English language
- Basic computer skills
VivaLing
Created by a team of language and education enthusiasts, the VivaLing Academy is perfect for kid lovers who want to teach languages online. It offers language courses for kids 3 to 15 years old.
It also offers business language courses, exam preparation courses, and conversation courses for adults.
Your skills in child management, language teaching, and online teaching, as well as your character, will be reviewed during the recruitment process. Onboarding includes online language teaching training and teaching practice.
Languages you can teach:
- Mandarin
- English
- Spanish
- German
- French
Requirements:
- Native level of the language you want to teach
- A minimum of two years of experience working full time with children or adults
- A teaching certificate and/or an educational degree in the language you teach (minimum 120 hours)
- High-quality computer and stable internet connection
- At least 12 hours over 4 days of availability per week during after school hours in Europe and weekends
Verbling
You can learn a new language as per your schedule and the teacher you are comfortable with on Verbling.
Started in 2011, it grew to one of the most successful online language teaching websites. Busuu, a popular language-learning app, had acquired Verbling in 2020.
The teachers on this website set their bios and price by themselves. Some even offer the first class free or provide a discount. But not everyone does that.
As a teacher, you can teach anytime and from anywhere and make decent money in the process.
The educators show proof of teaching certificates. If you have experience and you wish to teach your mother tongue, you have an edge. This is to get approved as teachers for the platform.
They have their own video calling service. Plus, the trainers can upload any document they think will be convenient for teaching. Their services also comprise a flashcard service.
You can book a class with them at a decided time and can set a timer for the same time every day. In this way, you don’t need to schedule a class for the same time each day.
Let’s get a payment thing clear.
You won’t end up paying the same amount you get to see at the start. It’s because Verbling takes about 15% commission of each class. This means that if you set your hourly rate at $20, you will earn $17 (85%).
Talking about languages, they offer 70. It covers English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Arabic, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, and many more.
You can also learn one of the lesser-taught ones, such as Polish, Persian, Indonesian, Romanian, Portuguese, Greek, Swedish.
As a teacher, you can apply for any language as they are introducing new languages regularly.
Preply
A unique aspect of this website is that they offer tremendous courses for each language. Students can decide whatever they like to pursue.
This means that if you want to learn Spanish, you get to choose from several programs. For instance, conversational Spanish and Spanish for beginners, advanced, study abroad, travelers, kids.
Or if you want to go for a specific accent or Spanish dialect, like Mexican, Argentinian, Caribbean, or any other.
If your dream is to pass the official language exam, you can select that too. Like, IELTS for English, JLPT for Japanese, HSK for Chinese, CILS for Italian, etc.
Preply team manually verify and approve tutor profiles. The teachers also set their own rates and select the timing that suits them.
They also take a 100% commission fee from the tutor for the first trial lesson. It varies from 33 to 18% for all following sessions, as per the number of completed lesson hours with students.
In short, more tutoring with Preply means less commission you will pay.
They allow the most well-known languages, like English, Japanese, Chinese, German, Arabic, and French.
But the list does not end here. As it also has Hebrew, Dutch, Ukrainian, Urdu, Serbian, Czech, and Danish.
Conclusion:
Teaching English online is a rewarding, fulfilling and career path that allows you to make money from a place in the world where you want to live and surrounded by people that fascinate you. Teaching English online using technology can be accomplished by anyone with a tablet, computer and/or laptop, some motivation, enthusiasm and an ability to communicate in English .