EnglishClub TEFL Forums (archived)

Hi there,

My name is Kevin and I am a South African citizen. I've been teaching English online for some time now and I like it a lot. I think I'm quite good at it too.
I don't have a teaching qualification but I do have a LLB degree and I've obviously had practical experience. I've been giving lessons both to one student at a time and to groups.
I am now seeking to get started on my own somehow.
My question is how can I get started? I have no problem creating my own lessons and I can easily work with most virtual classroom software. My main struggle is getting myself out there and finding students, any suggestions?

You will certainly earn more than if you work for an online English school.

Hi KMinnaar,

Just wondering how you got on with finding tudents? I have just set up a website to market myself as an online teacher and would be grateful for any tips you have on finding students. I've spent the last 3 weeks doing nothing but work on trying to get my website seen. I've learnt more about computing than I did in the last 20 years! And yet I haven't had any interest in lessons yet.

It's really quite frustrating as I've got a lot of teaching experience and I'm qualified to MSc level in Linguistics. But on the online tutor directories/marketplaces teachers are selling lessons for as little as $3 (US)! I live in the UK and really need to charge a lot to be able to make a living. Lots of online teachers make comments such as "don't be afraid to charge high prices, students will pay if they are looking for good qality lessons". But I've yet to see the evidence of this! Where are these students looking for high quality lessons and how do I make myself known to them?!

I've been giving lessons both to one student at a time and to groups.
I am now seeking to get started on my own somehow.

If you are talking about Skype, I doubt very much that there are native British or American teachers advertising three dollars a time. Ensure you state your nationality, and you will get a higher demand.

For me personally, I wouldn't consider Skype even at $30 an hour as it's too unreliable as a regular income, and too time consuming. Look into teaching online with an LMS such as moodle.org

The pay is low but it might be a good idea to start with one of the already established online platforms to get some experience teaching online and study their business model while you're there. In addition to Skype there is Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and other free VOI platforms. The technology is not so much a problem as identifying a niche and doing the marketing.