Job Discussion Forums

leretif9 · Joined: 24 Mar 2013 Posts: 152

Hi there,

Does anyone out there have experience teaching ESL to Chinese students over the internet?

If so, can you share the pluses and minuses of your experiences here? Companies to recommend or warn against?

I'm on the East Coast of the U.S., and one drawback I'd imagine is the difference in the hours between where I'm at and Shanghai/Beijing. I assume this might be aimed at little kids who I doubt they will be up to learning English at 8 to 10 p.m.

My qualifications are: native Speaker of English from the U.S., BA in English and a TEFL certificate.

Thanks.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

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creeper1 · Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 11:35 am Post subject:

Here is an extremely long thread with posters detailing their experiences.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=102710

OhBudPowellWhereArtThou · Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 1168 Location: Since 2003

Something that I'm not getting from browsing through the advertisements for these online outfits is what sort of support I'll get from the company. Though I have hundreds (if not thousands) of original written materials, I have nothing to use as a visual aid. Is the tutor expected to produce his own Powerpoints?

How about conversational English? Is the teacher given some sort of help in structuring the tutorial to the supposed tests? Scripts? Outlines? Syllabi?

BadBeagleBad · Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:23 am Post subject:

I will tell you about the companies I either work for, have worked for, or know about first hand from a close friend. Open English gives you everything, the lessons are prepared and loaded into the classes, you are free to add extra questions and personalize them as you see fit. Little to no prep time if you are an experienced teacher. Ditto for Open English Jr, the kid division. Learnlight allows students to give you an idea of what they would like to do and then you can select from their large catalog of lessons. Some prep time (unpaid) but great, motivated students. English Town is very similar to Open English, lessons are prepared and they want them taught a certain way. The last place I know about is VIPKids, lessons are prepared and there is little to do prep once you are familiar with the lessons. I would completely avoid Cambly, very low pay and most of the male students are just looking for cute young things to be inappropriate with.