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How to become an online English teacher
Have you ever thought of becoming an online English teacher? Imagine meeting students from around the world, helping them to grow and ultimately change their lives - and all from the comfort of your own home.
Our global pool of students means lessons take place throughout the day, meaning you can teach at a time that suits you. We take care of matching teachers to students based on your availability so you can easily maximize your earning potential.
Does this sound interesting? Or are you still unsure if it’s right for you? Well, let’s look at the requirements an online teacher has to fulfill.
Who can become an online English teacher
There are several requirements to becoming an online English teacher with EF Teach Online.
You must be a fully fluent English speaker (C2 level)
TEFL certification - find out more below.
Our adult teachers can be based (almost) anywhere.
You must be educated to degree level. A bachelor’s degree in any field is fine - it doesn’t have to be English or teaching
You’ll need a quiet place to work with a desktop or laptop computer.
Finally, when you teach online, a stable internet connection is your best friend - learn more below.
TEFL requirements
TEFL stands for “Teaching English as a Foreign Language”, and it is a standard certification for English as a second language (ESL) teachers. If you’ve taught English before you probably already have this. If you don’t, you’ll need to complete a certified TEFL course to obtain one. There are many different types of certifications available from part-time online courses to intensive weekend course and even full time 30 days in school qualifications.
The course will teach you all the basics an English as a second language teacher should know. Alongside a grammar and parts of speech refresh, you will also get a practical foundation, starting with how to engage learners and how to help them gain knowledge to specialist techniques of teaching in online settings.
We have accumulated a lot of experience helping our candidates acquiring their TEFL certifications. If you decide to apply to teach with us and don’t have a TEFL our team can help guide you through the process of obtaining your qualification.
Preparation for your online class
How does preparation for a class work?
You will need to give us information about your availability as students book their classes in advance.
We provide all the necessary materials for you to deliver a successful class. However, no parts of the lessons should be a surprise to you. We recommend setting aside some time at the beginning of your teaching session to read over the materials and familiarize yourself with upcoming lessons.
Deliver a great lesson. Of course, everything has its ups and downs, but with passion and practice, you will be delivering a great teaching experience to your students every time.
Technical requirements
Setting up for an online class may seem like a daunting task, but not to worry. Our sophisticated yet straightforward online teaching platform is easy to use, but you do need a few pieces of equipment.
Desktop computer or a laptop with a webcam. Our online classroom works with either PC or Mac-based machines.
High-speed internet connection. In an online environment, having a good connection is everything, so we require teachers to use cable internet connection. Wifi, dial-up, or mobile internet connections do not provide quality sufficient enough for an online class.
We require teachers to use headsets, as built-in microphones and speakers do not provide enough quality for smooth communication with students.
Most of the laptops nowadays come with a built-in webcam. If you use a desktop computer or your laptop doesn’t have one, you will have to purchase and install one.