Teach English Online and Make $100k Per Year With These Companies

Teach English online with one of these companies and make $100,000 per year. Thanks to the internet, it’s now possible to travel the world and make some money online at the same time. As a result, the internet allows travelers like us, to work part or full-time teaching English as a second language. Bring learning to life with a creative animation with the help of a digital learning design team.

As a speech pathologist/teacher (M.S. CCC-SLP/L), I know that teaching is both an enriching and rewarding experience. With the internet, you can now teach English online, become a social media influencer, start a travel blog, or become a YouTube sensation, anything’s possible. But first, let’s start with teaching English online.

Teach English Online & Make $100,000 → With These Companies

Generally, most companies looking for people to teach English as a second language will require applicants to have the following skills:

• Near-native English tutoring or native speaking skills.
• Currently in college or have a bachelor’s degree.
• Good internet connection with a webcam and microphone.
• TEFL certificate (sometimes required).
• Citizenship from the USA or Canada.
• Positive, passionate, and enthusiastic personality.

Most companies don’t require previous experience. However, if you have worked teaching students or tutoring in the past, you should make sure to highlight this during the application submission process.

From our experience, teaching English online is a great way for remote workers and digital nomads to make a little (or substantial) extra income. Typically, other people who seem to enjoy teaching English as a second language include retired folks and stay-at-home parents.

How Much Money Does Teaching English Online Pay?

While you’re probably not going to get rich by teaching English online, you should be able to earn enough to travel the world, like us! If you’re not willing to make it a full-time job, it can also make for a great way to earn some supplementary income. Also, if you plan on traveling to countries with a low cost of living, you might make enough to save some money too!

The pay rate will vary depending on the company, but generally, expect to make between about $11 – $25 an hour. Some will pay per minute, while others may pay hourly. In particular cases, you may be required to commit to a certain number of hours per week. Also, many of these companies will allow you to earn extra money by working holidays and through referral bonuses. Finally, if a student cancels, in most cases you’ll still receive full compensation.

Teach English Online With These Companies

It’s important to select a reputable company to work with when teaching English online. Most of these companies will only work with teachers from the USA, Canada, or the UK.

Probably the most well-thought-of is VIPKID, known for its high pay and flexibility in work hours. However, you must be eligible to work in the USA or Canada to work for VIPKID. Eligibility to work includes a temporary work visa, a green card, or citizenship.

VIPKID | Teach English Online to Children in China

VIPKID is probably the best option for North Americans who would like to teach English online to children in China. The online learning platform connects students in China with their teachers, who work through lesson plans, create tests, and update parents on their progress. Classes are typically about 25 to 30 minutes each, and there’s a potential to earn about $22 an hour.

Advantages of Working with VIPKID

• Work remotely.
• One-on-one class size.
• Pay is on the higher end of the scale.
• Extra pay for working holidays.
• Referral bonuses of about $50 to $60.
• Set your schedule.
• Highly reputable company.
• A supportive community of staff.
• Lesson plans are created for you.
• No need to be able to speak Cantonese or Mandarin.

Challenges of Working with VIPKID

• A college degree is required.
• You must be able to work in the USA or Canada.
• Dealing with the time change.
• Only teaching children from China.
• Financial penalties for having a bad internet connection.

DaDa | Teach English Online to Children in China

DaDa is a Chinese online education platform that offers American and British elementary education experiences to Chinese students aged 4–16. The company hires English Language instructors to give 30-minute, 1 by 1 online, fully immersive lessons delivered via the company’s learning platform and based on U.S. Common Core State Standards.

Advantages of Working with DaDa

• Never have to worry about not having students.
• You choose your hours.
• Good work-life balance.
• Coordinators take care of administrative duties.
• Pays about $25 an hour.
• Opportunities for bonuses and incentives.
• Open to native English speakers from all over the world.

Challenges of Working with DaDa

• Must have a bachelor’s degree.
• Must go through an interview.
• Requires 30 days of notice to change schedule.
• A teaching certificate (TEFL/TESOL/CELTA, etc.) is required.
• Proof documents for teaching experiences.
• Supporting documents of a non-criminal background check.

Qkids | Teach English Online to Children in China

Qkids connects 500,000+ Chinese children between the ages of 4 – 12 years old with you and thousands of other online teachers, tutors, educators, stay-at-home parents, and college students.

Advantages of Working with Qkids

• You must be in college or have a bachelor’s degree.
• Pay can be up to about $20 an hour.
• Qkids will train you.
• Lesson plans and materials are provided.
• The referral bonus is about $100.
• A flexible schedule is granted in most cases.
• No need to be able to speak Cantonese or Mandarin.
• A supportive community of staff.

Challenges of Working with Qkids

• You may have to work with up to four children at once.
• Must commit to at least six hours per week.
• You must be able to work in the USA or Canada.
• No opportunities for extra pay for working holidays.
• Dealing with the time change.

Cambly | Tutoring Online to Worldwide Students

From my experience, Cambly seems to be a bit more relaxed than VIPKID and Qkids. Cambly’s teachers are typically native speakers from the USA, Canada, the U.K., and Australia, etc. Most of the people you’ll be working with already speak some English, and are looking to practice their conversational skills. Finally, many of the students come from rich countries like Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Advantages of Working with Cambly

• No experience is necessary.
• Remote work gives you flexibility.
• Create your schedule.
• A TEFL certificate and a degree are not required.
• An informal setting makes it less stressful.
• Easier to start than with most companies.
• Lesson plans are available through Cambly.
• No need to sign a contract.

Challenges of Working with Cambly

• The pay is about $10 an hour or $0.17 per minute.
• It may be difficult to create a conversation for up to an hour.
• No guaranteed amount of work.
• Female teachers may be prone to verbal sexual abuse and/or stalkers.
• It may be difficult to relate to other cultures.
• Free trials may encourage riffraff to join.

Italki | Teach English and Any Other Language Online

Italki is a global language learning community that connects students and teachers for one-on-one online language lessons. With over 5 million students and 10,000 high-quality teachers teaching more than 130 languages, Italki helps everyone with their journey to fluency. Italki allows you, the teacher, to set the rate that you will charge students.

Unlike some of the other companies, the lesson plan will need to be created by you, and the platform used will be one of your preferred video conferencing apps, such as FaceTime, Skype, or Google Hangouts.

The rates you charge should be based upon your previous experience and the going market rate. Right now, expert teachers are charging about $25 an hour and beginner tutors are charging about $13 an hour.

Advantages of Working with Italki

• One-on-one class size.
• You create the lesson plan so you decide what to teach.
• Freedom to set your own schedule.
• Italki manages payments and student issues.

Challenges of Working with Italki

• The lesson plan is now your responsibility.
• A 15% commission fee is charged by Italki for using the platform.

EnglishHunt Inc. | Teach English Online Or By Phone) to Children in Korea Japan and China

Englishunt Inc. was founded in Seoul, Korea in December 2000 and offers live video and live phone classes. Furthermore, Englishunt Inc. is an educational publisher with a focus on the creation of English education content and is the largest provider of live video classes for English language education in South Korea. It’s recently expanded its service to Japan and China.

All live video class instructors must hold a four-year degree, and many of the teachers are required to have a teaching or substitute teaching certificate (current or expired). On the other hand, live phone classes don’t require any previous teaching experience. However, instructors need to have at least a two-year degree from an accredited institution. Instructors are not required to have a teaching certificate for a live phone class.

Advantages of Working with EnglishHunt Inc.

• You can teach through video conferencing or by phone.
• Lesson plans are provided.
• Two shifts are available.
• You’ll be teaching adults.

Challenges of Working with EnglishHunt Inc.

• The pay is a bit lower. For example, online video tutors start at $14.00 per hour.
• Shifts are typically afternoon Korean Time. Busy times are from 1 a.m. EST to 3 a.m. EST.
• Teachers must have a bachelor’s degree in any subject to qualify.
  • ESL Degree preferred (TEFL/TESOL etc).
• Need a headset with an attached microphone.
• You must be a U.S. Citizen to qualify (can live abroad).
• You must have a U.S. bank account to receive payment.

EF English Live | Teach ESL Online to Chinese Children

Founded in 1996, EF English Live has been at the cutting edge of language learning for nearly two decades, having been the first to pioneer a 24-hour teacher-led online English course. Furthermore, EF English Live’s academic experts have divided language learning into 16 levels from beginner to advanced proficiency. Each level contains six study units with instructions in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, Japanese, Korean, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Arabic, and Turkish.

Advantages of Working with EF English Live

• Ability to work remotely.
• A flexible schedule provides freedom.
• Paid training is available.
• One-on-one class size.
• Earn up to about $20 an hour.
• Lesson plans are created for you.
• Easy to use platform.
• 24/7 helpdesk for troubleshooting.

Challenges of Working with EF English Live

• You must be a U.S. or U.K. Citizen to qualify (cannot live abroad).
• Must have a 40-hour minimum TEFL certificate.
• Teachers must have a bachelor’s degree in any subject to qualify.
• Dealing with the time change.

Teach Away | Online Teaching Positions Job Board

Teach Away’s job board allows you to quickly search for K-12 online teaching jobs, online English teaching jobs, online elementary teaching jobs, and adjunct online teaching jobs for certified teachers, ESL instructors, and non-educators alike.

Teaching English as a second language (ESL) can not only be extremely gratifying but also very lucrative, especially while traveling. Also, if you’re serious about teaching ESL, we’d suggest you begin applying with one of the companies listed above. It’s a good idea to select the company based on your current skill level and on well you believe the organization will fit into your lifestyle.