There are plenty of great ways to earn money as a digital nomad or a remote worker these days, but so many opportunities seem to revolve around the tech industry. What if that’s not your cup of tea?
What if your passion lies in personal development, a love of language and cultural immersion, and helping others reach their full potential?
Teaching a language online is one of the best ways to earn money as you travel or work remotely—and you don’t need to have a lot of experience to get started! Here are 10 benefits to teaching a language online.
You Can Work From Anywhere
All you need to get started with teaching online is a trusty laptop, a solid WiFi connection, and plenty of coffee to keep you fuelled up.
Well, that last one isn’t a necessity. But it helps.
With those tools, you can work from just about anywhere. If you’ve had a lifelong dream of working remotely from Bali in the winter months, you can. Or maybe you want to backpack around Europe, setting up shop in a new city each month. The world is your oyster when you’re working from anywhere!
Set Your Own Schedule
Picture this: mornings spent strolling the streets of Paris, pausing for a coffee and a mille-feuille at your favourite cafe. You take in the sleepy Parisian vibes before heading to your rented flat for a few hours of work. Your time is your time—no 9-5 necessary.
Or maybe your dream is a busy morning logging hours of language lessons with your students before taking off for an afternoon of exploration. Whatever works.
Not everyone works well within the confines of a typical workday slog. If that’s you, and you find yourself functioning better in the afternoon rather than the mornings (or vice versa), teaching online lets you set your own schedule. You don’t have to work eight hours a day, either.
Earn Money While Traveling
If you’re looking for a way to fund your travel addiction, teaching a language online is the ideal way to do it. Like we mentioned earlier, you can set your own schedule and work from just about anywhere…so why not get out of the country while you’re doing it?
You can set your own rates, too. For example, many English tutors have rates from $15-25 per hour. That kind of capital goes a long way on the road!
You’ll Have Lots of Guidance
Any good teaching online program will prepare you with all the tools you need to get started. For example, when you teach with Preply, you’ll have full access to their handy tools, like a smart calendar and an interactive classroom.
You’ll also get lots of guidance via training webinars, and there’s a supportive tutor community to help you navigate any obstacles you may come across in your teaching endeavours. If you’re new to teaching online, this guidance is incredibly valuable. You’ll feel like a pro in no time.
You’re Already an Expert
Think about it this way: you’re already an expert in the field of your own language.
Being fluent in a language is an absolute privilege, and being able to share that knowledge with others is a fun benefit. Whether your first language is English, French, Spanish, German or literally anything else, you inherently have the knowledge to teach others.
Of course, there’s a lot more to teaching a language than just knowing the language (e.g. excellent grammar, and lots of patience). But it’s a lot easier to teach confidently when you’re sure of your subject!
Connect With Students All Over the World
One of the greatest joys of travel is being able to connect with people from all around the world. When you’re teaching a language online, you get to do that everyday. With Preply, for example, you can teach students in over 180 countries.
These students are usually eager to show up and put their best foot forward. They’re doing these courses voluntarily, and they’re just as happy to spend time with you as you are to spend time with them. Even if you’re not currently traveling, teaching a language online is a good way to feel like you are!
Make Cultural Connections
A fun off-shoot of connecting with students all around the world is naturally making cultural connections in the process.
Unlike your typical classroom setting, your virtual classroom lets you interact with students in their home country. While you coax them along the path to fluency, learning more about their culture and background is an important way to build their trust while establishing meaningful relationships. Everybody wins!
Help Others Achieve Their Language Goals
There’s no greater reward than helping others achieve their goal of traveling internationally by teaching them to feel comfortable with a new language. By empowering students with the tools of communication, you’re literally changing their lives for the better.
And that logic applies to any reason why they’re learning a new language, whether it’s applying for jobs or even immigrating overseas. When your student shows up in a new country and is suddenly able to navigate on their own thanks to your help…well, that’s pretty magical.
Continue Your Own Personal Growth
It’s not just your students benefiting from your teaching—you’re experiencing personal growth and development in the process as well. As you’re honing your teaching skills, you’re also working on your leadership abilities and opening yourself up to a whole new realm of possibilities.
Leading students toward fluency is a pretty impressive thing to put on a resume. But even if you’re not interested in boosting your future job prospects, you’ll be rewarded with a sense of accomplishment when your students set out into the world on their own.
Have Fun Doing It!
Teaching is one of the best professions for letting your creative side shine through, and teaching a language is no exception. All those favorite things you enjoyed about grade school—Spelling Bees, word games, icebreakers—now you get to apply them in your everyday work setting.
(And if you didn’t enjoy those activities in school…well, here’s your opportunity to let your nerdy side shine through.)
It’s true that if you want to be an excellent and memorable language teacher, you’ll have to be passionate about it. It’s meaningful work, and you should want to put your heart into it. Your students will thank you, and you’ll be rewarded tenfold when you see their lives change!