Teaching English as a Foreign Language has proven to be a great way to make money online as a source of income or to supplement current income.
It is no doubt that you can make a ton of money online from teaching English on different platforms that I am about to share with you. But I do think it’s important for you to know that it is a more saturated industry compared to years back when most of us didn’t know about it. Let it be known that there are many other platforms that will not be mentioned in this article but they are still worth checking out.
1. Preply
2. iTalki
3. BlingABC
4. Cambly
5. OETJOBS
First, if you want to break into teaching English online you need to get a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate. There are plenty of websites where you can get a TEFL for free. I got mine at a discount from daddysdeals.com. If you don’t mind spending a little bit on this investment you can go that route as well. Although some platforms don’t require you to have a TEFL it is advisable that you get one so that you can have an advantage over others.
Remember this is still a way to seek jobs, so you need all the help you can get to be ahead of your competition. And just to put it out there, other platforms require you to have a Bachelor’s degree, and some require a teaching qualification and teaching experience. This is not to discourage you, because some platforms don’t require anything at all. So, let’s get into it.
Preply is by far the best beginner platform you can get into if you want to teach English and make some money online. It does have its advantages and disadvantages. It does not require any teaching experience or a degree. You just need to speak good English, have a stable internet connection, and have a laptop. You can’t conduct classes on your phone with Preply.
For my personal experience with Preply, I have been with them for two years now. And I enjoyed the first couple of months with them until I felt like it was time for me to increase my rates per hour. (You set your own rates on Preply). When I take my rates high, I don’t get bookings anymore, so I feel forced to keep my rates low so that I can get new students to book classes with me.
That is frustrating. Also for every first class you have with a new student, you work for free. Literally, you don’t get paid for that class and the student may not return to have paid classes with you. That is just one of the few cons, but everything else is great. And they rarely discriminate. If you apply, chances are they will approve your application. So go on and give it a try on www.preply.com
iTalki is another great platform that many people are raving about. Personally, I have applied on iTalki for over twenty times, no kidding. And they didn’t accept any of my applications. I also think luck has a lot to do with it and maybe I am just unlucky, at this point. So I can’t share the pros and cons personally because I was never accepted into the platform. All I know is that as soon you receive a rejection email they allow you to re-apply immediately; that is why I was able to apply over twenty times. For the requirements; to be a professional teacher they do need a TEFL (unless you apply to be a community tutor) and they need a bachelor’s degree. But you can give it a shot here: www.italki.com
Bling ABC is a Chinese teaching platform and so far it has the best pay rates of all of them. I have personally been accepted at Bling ABC and I will gladly start with the cons. I applied in November 2021 and I got an email that my application was approved in November 2022. TWELVE MONTHS WAITING PERIOD?! Am I waiting for a kidney? So the time frame definitely threw me off. But I did go through their five-part interview process. Which took place from the beginning of December 2022 until the end of January 2023. Everything takes so long. So prepare to have your patience tested.
Now on to the good part. Their classes last for 30 minutes and they have a base rate of 7.5 USD; which in comparison to the rates I put for myself on Preply, damn, I was getting peanuts. I was getting paid 2 USD for a ‘One Hour’ session on Preply. (You can cry with me).
After waiting for three more weeks on Bling ABC I was assigned 52 classes at one go and I was very excited to start. But after 3 days, they cancelled all of my classes with no clear explanation to me. That was disappointing. I’m still waiting to hear back from their admin as to what has transpired.
As for the requirements, they need you to have a TEFL or TESOL and they also need you to have a bachelor’s degree. So, if you have twelve months to spare you can apply here on: www.blingabc.com
People on the internet rave about Cambly and the perks of being on the Cambly platform. First, about their requirements; they don’t need a degree or experience. You just have to be a native English speaker. They have a base rate of 10 USD. Of course, I wanted to be a part of that. So I applied. They didn’t respond for months. I have three personal emails. My Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud. When I tell you that I have utilized all of those emails to apply for Cambly and I was ignored on all of them. Rude! Upon doing more research about the platform, I saw that a lot of people don’t get a response from Cambly. I don’t know how long the silence is going to go on for, but if you want to try your luck, by all means, apply here www.cambly.com
This is a website that lists all of the platforms for teaching English online. But be aware that some jobs are for teaching Online and some are for teaching Abroad. If you are interested in teaching English abroad you can give it a try. I personally have not tried it, so I can’t comment much about it.
Good luck and let’s make some money!
I want to give this a try
by all means! just use the links provided 🙂