English teaching jobs online are the key to convenient, meaningful, and well-paid work! Teaching online is a great gig to fund your travels, be location independent, and immerse yourself in another culture. Many ESL teachers are getting out their laptops and applying for online English language teaching jobs as opposed to the traditional in-class teaching position. If you’ve got a knack for working with ESL learners and don’t quite want to commit to a contract abroad, teaching ESL online may be just for you.
How do you figure out where to find these jobs? What country of origin will your students be from? Do you prefer to teach adults or children? Is this going to be your full-time income or a side gig to fund happy hour? Before applying to every job out there, consider why you want this job and what kind of commitment you are willing to fulfill. Soon enough, you’ll be pulling out your laptop, lesson planning from home, and hanging out with students thousands of miles away!
Although you can teach students from all areas of the world, here are some of the best companies that teach English online—particularly if you’re excited about working with populations from East Asia, where the online English teaching job market is poppin’. (P.S. If you still need that oft-required TEFL certificate, check out International TEFL Academy to get started!)
Here’s a shortlist of the best companies that teach English online, according to meaningful travelers:
Teach English online to Chinese students
You’ll likely find that most online ESL companies are catered to teach English online to Chinese students. There are tons of companies out there with their pros and cons. Here are a few of the top Chinese online ESL companies to sift through.
1. Preply
Preply is a global platform connecting online English teachers with students from all over the world. Teachers set their own rates and schedules, making it a flexible option for those looking to teach part-time or full-time. Preply also provides resources to help teachers improve their skills and attract more students. It's ideal for teachers looking for autonomy in managing their workload and rates.
- Pros: Flexible schedule, set your own hourly rate, and access to a wide student base. Great for teachers looking to build their own brand.
- Cons: Preply takes a commission from your earnings (18-33%), and competition can be high when starting out.
- Average Pay: $15-$25 per hour depending on experience and demand.
2. Qkids Teacher
Teach English online to Chinese students with ages ranging from 4 to 12, in a fun and dynamic way, through animated and engaging stories with Qkids! Teach on an interactive gaming platform with original characters, and fun props to make a 30 minutes class the best class for your students. You can have up to 4 students per lesson, AND you don’t have to communicate with the parents, because the staff has it all covered. Give this new way of teaching English a shot!
- Pros: Very fun and unique way of using games as a teaching English system to students.
- Cons: Currently the company only hires teachers from U.S and Canada and the schedule is set weekly.
- Average pay per hour: $18+
Teach English online to Korean students
Just as the popularity of k-pop and k-drama is growing all over the world, so is the need for English teachers, thus making teaching English jobs online in Korea one of the most popular ways for Koreans to improve their English skills. Check out some of the most popular companies that you can apply for today!
4. PAGODA
Teach English online to Korean students from the comfort of your own home with PAGODA, a leading company in the industry for over 30 years. You will not be instructing your normal teenage students, but adults from large corporations or government employees that want to perfect their business English skills. You can work as a full time teacher, Monday through Friday, but as a new teacher you’ll start with a split shift, where you teach in the morning until 11 am and then come back in the evening around 6 pm. In between is up to you how you spend your time, but the more you teach, the more you get paid.
- Pros: You can teach full time or part-time, and you can even do it in the weekends if you want the extra cash.
- Cons: To qualify for the position, you have to be an English native speaker with a neutral accent and pass an oral exam.
- Average pay per hour: $15
5. GMNY
GMNY (Global Mate New York) is a Global Educational Call Center in the US that gives ESL teachers the opportunity to teach English online to Korean students from home. Most classes you will be teaching will be about 20 minutes long, and in time your number of classes may increase. Also, depending on the quality of your work, you can get different bonuses and increase your income. Working with GMNY you will mostly be teaching South Korean professionals or students ages 19-50.
- Pros: Before you start teaching, you will receive free training, practice with a mock class, and get a renewable 6 months contract. This gives you enough time to decide if you want to continue working with them or consider other possibilities.
- Cons: At the moment the company only hires native English speaker from U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K., New Zealand etc. and they must reside in the U.S.
- Average pay per hour: $12
5. Eine Teacher
If you’re passionate about teaching and are a native English speaker, or speak English at a native level with an American accent, you can start teaching English online to Korean students today. Eine Teacher offers flexible class schedules to suit both the teachers and the students, but you will most likely be teaching early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The classes have a one-on-one format and last around 25 minutes and your students will be at an age anywhere from 5-60 years old. Some of the students are beginners, some are at an intermediate level and very few are advance English learners. Also, there is no limit as to how many hours you can teach per month, so the more, the better for your pocket.
- Pros: No matter what level you are teaching at, the company provides you with the teaching lesson plan and required materials.
- Cons: The pay is pretty low, starting at $1.4 per 25 minutes, with a chance of salary increase after 7 months of working for the company. This of course depends of your performance, popularity and good reputation with your students.
- Average pay per hour: $5
6. XploreAsia
If you’re interested in a non-conventional way of teaching English online to Korean students (and others), you might want to take a look at XploreAsia. To qualify, participants will need to first enroll in this company's TEFL/TESOL course. XploreAsia focuses on language and culture exchange through chats, videos, audio calls, etc. The schedule is pretty flexible, you can create your own lesson plan, and manage your own students! You'll also receive assistance, guidance, and mentoring on the teacher demo process with their overseas team.
- Pros: Full flexibility with working hours. Anyone between the ages of 20-40 can qualify.
- Cons: A Bachelor's degree is required, as is enrollment in their TEFL/TESOL course.
- Average pay per hour: $10
Teach English online to Japanese students
You feel like you might want to diversity your students’, and maybe learn a thing or two about Japan, then check out some of the best online English teaching jobs in Japan. You’ll find that these companies offer a diverse and unique teaching experience both for the teachers and their students.
7. English Hunt
If your ideal job has been to teach English online to Japanese students, then English Hunt, a leader in English education in Japan and South Korea, should be where you start your new career. You will be teaching in a virtual classroom, where all the tools that you need are already built-in for sharing images, videos, webpages, messages, etc., and you will interact with your students in this online space. You students will range from young elementary to adults and young professionals. Classes range from 10 to 20 minutes, there is no need for you to have any prior knowledge of Japanese, and the schedule is based on your availability.
- Pros: English Hunt has different arrangements with different clients, so your compensation will be on a case-to-case basis, which means that you can earn a lot more than you might anticipate.
- Cons: Currently the company only hires teachers from the U.S.A.
- Average pay per hour: varies
8. Cafe Talk
Japanese students are very serious when it comes to their own education and improving their skills. While going to a prep school after normal school hours is very popular in Japan, learning English online has also grown in popularity. And not just that! With Cafe Talk, Japanese students can take classes in music,art, design, fashion, sports, chess and so much more, just with the help of a PC, fast Wifi and skype. So you can teach anything you want, but in English, helping your students to improve on 2 skills at once. Classes can last anywhere from 10 to 120 minutes, and you can even work during weekends and holiday seasons if you and your students want.
- Pros: Multitude of diverse, unique and engaging lessons.
- Cons: High competition between tutors, especially those from or that have lived in East Asia and speak Japanese, Chinese or Korean.
- Average pay per hour: $20+
9. Eigo Biz
Work directly for a Japanese company and teach English online to Japanese students on skype, in your free time, from your home —wherever that may be. With EigoBiz you can create your own schedule and your own lessons for 25 minutes according to your students’ choice of learning methods. Each class will be different, as some students like and want to learn through conversational English, thus having to prepare lessons for topics like hobbies, travel, life, sports, music etc. That being said, each class should be a different adventure for both you and your student to explore.
- Pros: Diversity on the topics you can teach.
- Cons: Due to the time change difference, you might have classes at midnight.
- Average pay per hour: $20+
These online English language teaching jobs RULE
These are the best online English teaching jobs available, period.
Feeling overwhelmed by all of the options? Some companies allow you to work for multiple agencies if you can balance your schedule. In this case, you may be able to pick and choose which one is best for you to continue with after being hired on. So go and apply for those jobs and get the cash rolling in from the comfort of your own personalized classroom.
Teaching online English definitely comes with its advantages, but it also comes with great personal responsibility, dedication and self management. If you feel like you do not meet these requirements, then you might want to rethink your decision. However, we’re here to tell you that there’s nothing better out there than being able to do what you love, from your sofa and on your own time. At least give it a try!
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