TEFL and teaching English online

[dimsum123]

Does anyone do this? What's the reality, good in terms of flexibility, earnings, enjoyment or a nightmare and not worth paying for a TEFL course?

Am on min wage at the moment, work part time, need to earn more but need flexibility and able to wfh.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[user87382294757]

I am interested in this also. I know a mum does this and think she did a college course for TEFL locally. We are in a town with lots of language students and she seems to get lots of work- fits in with school times also

[cardamoncoffee]

The online market for teaching English is very over saturated, it's very much a race to the bottom in terms of fee per hour (some starting as low as £3!) There are online 'schools' which mostly cater for Far Eastern children, but they usually require a degree and a CELTA as a minimum. The CELTA is expensive (~£1300) but it is the highest teaching certificate and is recognized worldwide. The TEFL certificates are not really given much weight now.

Check these links out, apparently if you are able to commit to a reasonable amount of hours per week you can earn fairly well over time.

itutorgroup.com/about_1.html

www.tutorabc.com/

[BonnesVacances]

I do this. I teach online to children in China and generally work between 9am-1pm. I earn £30 an hour, but this doesn't include planning. I pick my hours and won't work weekends. If I'm offered a student whose hours I can't accommodate, I just say I can't do it.

I have a degree and the Trinity TESOL certificate. I also did TEFL for 2 years before DC so have teaching experience.

It's not a reliable source of income as if they cancel a lesson you don't get paid. I've also found that I need to be able to combine EAL teaching with KS1/KS2 as most of my students are looking to come to school in the UK eventually. So I'm on a learning curve with that.

But it's good pin money without a huge amount of effort. I had to give up my normal work to be a full time carer to DD(17) who has ME. I get the Carer's allowance so I limit myself to 4 lessons a week so I don't exceed the earnings limit. And I find that fits in ok with our week and it doesn't need too much headspace.

[cardamoncoffee]

BonnesVacances that is amazing. Can I ask which company/school you work for?

[BonnesVacances]

It's just a small company a (Chinese) friend of a friend set up last year. I don't know how many teachers they have or much about it tbh, other than they offer English, Maths and Science tuition.

[cat4bx]

Is anyone teaching english online (ESL)? I have looked at various companies eg iTutor Group, English First and Dadaabc. All of the companies seem to have very mixed reviews so I don't know whether its worth a try or not.

[MaybeMaybeNotJ]

I’m in the same boat just looking into this. I have a degree in English but it’s unclear if that helps much.