So, like many others, I had my year all planned out. In March, I was going to move to China for a year to teach English to school children, before Covid-19 struck and put a stop to all my plans! So, I pulled forward my online teaching journey and here we are!
I completed my TEFL qualification in November 2019, then in January started working with Paper Airplanes. They are an amazing charity who work with refugees based across the MENA region, and place students with English teachers to help them with their English language skills so they can progress at school or work. With Paper Airplanes, I provide weekly 1-2-1 lessons with a student on different topics depending on their level. It’s a great platform where you can build relationships and see the student’s confidence grow each week when they are using English. It’s a great programme and one I really enjoy being a part of.
In March I signed up to Palfish – a Chinese based teaching app, teaching English to children aged 3-12 in 25 minute 1-2-1 sessions. Lessons are fun and high energy, especially keeping the younger children engaged for the full 25minutes! Palfish is a great platform and has a great online community where all the teachers share their knowledge and experience and support each other. All lesson material is provided in advance so you don’t have to worry about preparing lesson plans, and you can just concentrate on teaching. There are also lots of opportunities to earn bonuses, with being a freelancer, you can choose your own hours, so the more you work the more you can earn!
Along with Paper Airplanes & Palfish, I started teaching online English classes through my website with 1-2-1 and small group classes with people from around the world who want to learn or improve their English. For my own students, I teach a range of different English classes and topics, from conversation practice, grammar lessons, business English and job interview preparation. Each student has a tailor-made lesson plan, so I always arrange a call before their first lesson to find out their requirements and interests so I can plan the best and most relevant lesson content for their needs. I love teaching people of all ages and hearing their different reasons for wanting to learn English. It is a great way to build relationships and learn about other countries and cultures at the same time.
In July I partnered with Oxinity, a mainly Spanish based platform, to extend my teaching experience. This is a great online platform where teachers collaborate in providing well-structured lessons that cover all ages and levels. Teaching students from across Spain, and recently expanding their client base across Europe, students range from children and teens to adults. Again, each lesson is tailored around the students’ learning needs and the lesson material is already provided and checked by the other teachers on the platform in advance. It is a great community to be a part of, where we all support each other as teachers to provide the best teaching experience for all our students!
The most recent addition to my teaching portfolio is another Spanish based company, teaching students the Cambridge English curriculum. These lessons are great fun and combine Cambridge English content, conversation questions and practice, and games! I find it’s a great mix to keep students engaged throughout the 1-hour lessons. I can also use my, albeit little Spanish, to help with any translations and it’s a great chance to brush up on my Spanish language skills too.
I am now 7 months in on my teaching journey, Covid-19 is still here, and after a slow start, my teaching hours have dramatically increased over the last few months. Hard work and dedication has definitely paid off! I love teaching all my students across the different platforms as each lesson is totally different and no 2 days are the same. I love speaking to each student and making sure the lesson content is fun and interactive, and they are enjoying their lessons and getting the most out of each class. It’s great to see their improvements week on week and see the students thrive in the (online) classroom!