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A Parent’s Guide to Teaching English Online:
3 Steps to Getting Started
Teaching English through your laptop or pc is a great way to use your natural skills and earn money from home.
Teaching English as a Parent
Teaching English can be a great way for parents to earn money from home. Using your laptop, or home computer, you can easily connect with students around the world and teach them English through your webcam.
It’s easy to get started, you don’t need any expensive equipment or technical knowledge, and can work around your daily duties. Most teachers earn between $12-24 per hour, and teach an average of 8-20 hours per week – all from the comfort of their own home.
In this guide we’ll go through all the valuable info you need to know, and how to get started with this new career.
See why Alexis from the UK likes to teach English online.
How does teaching online work?
There’s a huge demand for English-language teachers around the world – especially in the far-east. However, it can be difficult for teachers to fly out to these regions, and go through all of the visa steps. While some adventurous teachers, and even families with kids, head overseas to teach, there are still not enough teachers to go around.
Thanks to this demand, and the spread of fast internet throughout the world, it’s now possible to sit in your home and connect with students in their homes or classrooms on the other side of the world. You could be sitting in your living room and teaching a pair of children 6,000 miles away in Beijing.
How do you find students? You don’t need to worry about finding students yourself – once you join a popular teaching site, they’ll match you with students which you can teach. The classes are usually one-on-one, or with groups of 2-3 students at a time.
How do you teach the lessons? You’ll either use an app, or log in to the company’s website, and then use your webcam to interact with your students. Both you and your student will have your webcam on so that you can see and hear each other – just like a video call.
The lessons themselves are often built around fun games, songs, and activities which you’ll do with the younger students. They’re often quite similar to the games and materials which you may have used with your own children. For older students the lessons will often be more topical; focusing on specific practical applications of language – such as how they might introduce themselves during a business meeting.
How much can you earn?
As with most jobs, the amount you can earn with teaching online can vary depending on your hours worked, performance, and qualifications.
Most companies pay between $12-24 per hour, and offer between 8-20 hours of work per week. It’s possible to earn between $800-$1,600 per month after you get into the swing of things and your schedule starts to fill up.
Some companies will pay more if you have a college degree, or a passport from the US/UK/CAN/IRE/AUS/NZ/SA as these are valued by their students, however, it’s possible to teach online without either of these things.
Why do parents make great teachers?
Being a great teacher is all about interacting with your students and helping them to grow. As a parent, you stand at a great advantage over others as you have such a wealth of experience in this field.
Engaging with students: Many teachers find it hard to break their serious persona and engage with the students in a way which they really relate to. By being able to hold the attention of your students, they’ll enjoy the lessons, and learn much quicker than if they’re bored and uninterested.
Problem-solving skills: You’ll also have much more insight into the subtle techniques to read their body language, and deal with any problems which may come up. If a student struggles with a particular activity and starts to get frustrated, you’ll most likely have faced similar situations with your own children, and have a few tricks which you can try to get them back on track.
Stability and investment: Online tutoring companies also prefer to hire teachers which can bring some stability to the role. Parents have a great reputation for taking the classes seriously, and treating teaching a long-term way to work from home, rather than a get-rich-quick summer job which they’ll soon ditch.
Taking the first step
Getting your TEFL certificate online
Your TEFL course will give you all of the essential training to teach English both online and in classrooms overseas (if you fancy the adventure!). After completing the course you’ll receive feedback on your assignments, a digital copy of your certificate and your accredited hard copy certificate will be mailed to a postal address of your choice.