Teaching English Online has completely changed my life for the better! This blog will show you exactly how you can teach on Italki, become a TEFL teacher and find your freedom. You can use it to work remotely from anywhere, allowing you to earn money whilst travelling and exploring the world!

So you may be wondering, what exactly is Italki? After 11 months of both teaching and learning on this platform, I am here to give you all of the information you need to get started!

What is Italki?

Italki is an online language platform built for 1-2-1 online lessons with native and near-native teachers with over 150 languages to choose from. Teachers can be ‘Professional Teachers’ or ‘Community Tutors’. Professional Teachers must be native or near-native speakers who are professionally certified in teaching a foreign language. Community Tutors must also be native or near-native speakers that enjoy teaching a foreign language informally. Both types of teaching require candidates to be 18 years or older.

Professional Teachers

To be accepted as a professional teacher, you must demonstrate your qualifications for teaching the language(s) you intend to teach. These documents show proof of professional training or experience. Examples of acceptable documents include:

1. Accredited language teaching certificate 

• CELTA, DELTA 
• TESOL, TEFL (Minimum of 120 hours)

2. University degree in language teaching
3. Teaching license 
4. Proof of employment at a language teaching institution

Community Tutors will not need to show any qualifications to teach.

Both Professional Teachers and Community Tutors will need to produce a 1-3 minute introduction video that will appear at the top of your ‘Teacher Profile’ for potential students to view. This video is incredibly important in attracting potential students to your profile.

Introduction Video

Your introduction video can include:

1. Your name and age – You don’t have to state your age if you don’t want to
2. Where you are from and where you live – let potential students get to know you
3. Professional language qualifications (if you are applying to be a professional teacher) 
4. University education (if applicable)
5. Your interests – mine included ‘long walks, hanging out with friends, watching TV and listening to music’. Nothing too crazy!
6. Whether you are a native or near-native speaker
7. What kind of accent you have – Examples would include: Neutral British, American, New Zealand, Australian, etc.
8. A call to action – why should students take lessons with you? What can you offer them? Do you have a unique selling point?
9. What age groups and abilities you are willing to teach – are you just starting out on your teaching journey and would prefer to teach abilities from intermediate and above? Say that! I went with ‘all age ranges and abilities from beginner to advanced’
10. What kind of lessons you offer – General English, Grammar, Exam Preparation, Business English, Kids lessons, etc.
11. What tools and resources you use in your classes – these can be quizzes, presentations, games, interactive activities, homework tasks, whatever suits your teaching style and your students needs best!
12.  A quick outro – Something along the lines of: ‘Thank you for watching my video and hope to speak to you soon!’

Once you have been accepted and verified as a teacher on italki, you will then be ready to set your prices for your lessons as well as your own schedule.

Here is a carefully curated list of all of the positive and negative sides of teaching on Italki that I could think of after teaching on this platform for 11 months now. Maybe I am slightly biased, as working on Italki has allowed me to begin my dream of travelling the world whilst making money at the same time, but I truly believe that Italki gives you the potential to earn a decent wage whilst working remotely and gaining the chance to meet incredible people from all around the world.

Pros

• Set your hourly rate of pay
• You can do 30, 45, 60 and 90-minute classes. You must offer 60-minute classes but other length classes are your choice to include or not
• The minimum rate for every class is $10
• Flexibility! You set your own schedule. If you want days, weeks or months off, that’s your choice!
• Italki promotes you as a teacher
• When you first are accepted to the platform you are promoted with a ‘new teacher’ badge and appear close to the top of searches
• You can be a ‘Professional Teacher’ or a ‘Community Tutor’’
• Teach anytime, anywhere, on your own schedule
• Earn money online
• You get to meet students from all over the world, living in different countries with different cultures and backgrounds, you become more open-minded and empathetic toward others
• You can teach both adults and children
• The application process is relatively easy, record an introduction video and pass some security checks, upload certifications if you have them and then wait to be verified
• Get paid via Paypal / Hyperwallet / Payoneer / Bank Transfer via Payoneer
• You can withdraw money whenever you please but you can get paid every 2 weeks
• It is user-friendly and the interface is nice to use

Cons

• Oversaturation of English teachers, a lot of competition
• Lack of new students at times
• Not being favoyred by the algorithm 
• Italki takes 15% of every lesson
• You can’t have 15 minute breaks, only 30 mins or 1 hour. Unless a student books a 45-minute lesson, in which case you will have a 15-minute break
• The work is not necessarily consistent, especially at the beginning
• You may have to start by charging less than minimum wage in order to begin gaining a good reputation via the star rating system and reviews which then attract more students. The more experienced you are and the more lessons you complete, the more reputable you will become!

Start Teaching!

If you think Italki sounds like the right platform for you, apply to be a teacher! Or sign up and start your language learning journey, with my affiliate link you will receive $10 to get you started in your language learning journey too. I chose to take Spanish classes when I was living in Seville after not learning Spanish for 7 years! Find the right teacher for you by using the filters and watching introduction videos to find a teacher with the right style for you!