How To Become An English Tutor Online
We live in a world where you don't have to leave your house to educate yourself. Thanks to today's advanced technology, educators can connect with students wherever they are. Online teaching has become a popular avenue for teachers to make money while enjoying the freedom to work from home. If you want to become an online English teacher, you have reached the right place, I'd say.
What Qualifications Do You Need To Become An Online English Tutor?
If you want to become an online English tutor, it's not mandatory to have a certification. But having a certificate will put you ahead of the competition and give you authority in the industry as an expert language tutor.
1. Certification
Even if you don't have a teaching degree, you can become an English tutor online. But you must know how to teach, hence it is recommended to get a TEFL certificate if you are serious about teaching online. A TEFL course will take you through how to support students to refresh their vocabulary, how to teach grammar, and how to build a rapport with your language learners. You must also have a bachelor's degree, which is mandatory.
2. Experience
Your portfolio will look impressive if you have some sort of teaching experience. If you have worked for any tutoring company before, you can start giving private classes based on that experience.
3. Good Knowledge Of The Language
If you are brainstorming on how to become an online English tutor, ensure you have good language knowledge. Even if your native language isn't English, living in countries like the UK gives you real insights into the language. Regardless of whether you are a native speaker, your vocabulary and grammar must be excellent.
How Much Money Can You Make By Teaching English Online?
The basic pay of an online English educator is not very high, but you can definitely improve your income and make more money by offering specialized online English classes and group sessions if you have a good academic qualification, TEFL certification, prior teaching experience, and expertise. The more proof you have of your expertise for your target clients, the more you can ask for. Online English teachers can make anywhere between $10 and $50 per hour, if they have the right qualifications and certification.
Do You Need To Have Prior Experience In Teaching English?
Not necessarily, you can start teaching English from scratch as well. The best way to gain valuable experience is to offer your ESL services for free when starting out. Advertise your free English classes, and you will get students for sure. But once you start getting more students, you need to start charging for your time and efforts. Ask your existing learners if they can refer their friends and colleagues.
Once you have completed, and successful, tutoring hours under your belt, you need to charge for your time. This can work as an effective marketing method and one that can be used to bring in new clients. When you want to teach students specialized areas of subjects, you need certification. There is a huge category of English classes you can teach; make sure you get certification in relevant areas, so you have the qualification and expertise to cater to learners.
Other Requirements You Need To Teach English Online
To start teaching English online, you will need a computer, a Zoom account, a stable internet connection, and a TEFL certificate. Being a native speaker is an added advantage. When you start teaching English, the classes you offer also need flexibility. This means you will have to cover English listening, speaking, writing, reading, and grammar to establish yourself as an online English teacher.
1. A Quiet Place To Work
You need to set up a workspace even if you work from home. Your workspace has to be a quiet space where you will not have interruptions during your working hours.
2. Internet
A good advantage of tutoring English online is the ability to teach remotely. Hence you need a strong and reliable internet connection.
3. The Right Tutoring Setup
To make sure you deliver high-quality online classes, make sure you have the essential tools and hardware, which include a laptop, a webcam, a headset with a microphone, etc.
4. An Ability To Facilitate Engagement
Your learners have to be at ease when attending your classes. Make sure you design your classes in such a way that you foster student engagement during the sessions.
5. A Tutoring Website
To host your online classes, you need a platform where you can host your live classes and online courses.
6. Start Teaching
Once you have everything ready, start teaching your first class, and making amazing connections with your students. Even with their learners across the screen, online tutors are often surprised at how much engagement they have with students.
7. Find Learners
Another important thing is to find learners for your tutoring venture. The major difficulty you might face is finding potential learners who are spread across the world. The best way is to connect with learners through social media. Spread the word about your classes to get your first set of learners. You can also leverage paid advertising on Google, and have other special profiles like on Facebook and Instagram, to broaden your exposure.
Conclusion
The best thing about becoming an online English tutor is that you can start tutoring anywhere and anytime from the comfort of your home. The requirements needed to start online English classes are fewer in comparison to the difficulties you must go through to become a school or university teacher. Leverage this opportunity to create a brand for yourself and teach to a broader audience and engage with them. By following these tips, you can soon become an expert English teacher in the industry.
