Can you teach English online with no experience?
Well, teaching English online is a great way to get experience (and put your TEFL certificate to good use if you have one!)
Good news! Many online English teaching jobs let you teach online with no experience!
It gets better:
There are tons of platforms out there that let online teachers make a nice wage teaching online. And you’ll have full control over your schedule and get to work from home.
So, if you’re a fluent English speaker looking to make extra income or get teaching experience, becoming an online ESL teacher could be the perfect gig for you!
We found 11 companies that will hire you without any experience. Plus, we’ll provide pay rates and schedule expectations, so you can start applying to teach English online today.
- Cambly
- VIPKid
- GoGoKid
- Palfish
- Magic Ears
- Skooli
- Whales English
- QKids
- Topica Native
- Landi English
- Skimatalk
1. Cambly
Cambly pays fluent English speakers to have short, 20-minute conversations with adult ESL students located around the world.
The platform mainly hires tutors from the United States, Canada, U.K., Australia and a few other English-speaking countries.
As an online ESL teaching platform, Cambly is a fun, low-pressure way to chat with language learners in a casual environment and assist them with their English skills.
Pay: As a Cambly tutor, you earn $0.17 USD per minute, which evens out to $10.20 USD per hour. Every Monday, you’ll receive your weekly payment over PayPal.
Hours: Working for Cambly, you set your hours and schedule, allowing you total flexibility. Simply log in whenever you have availability or pre-book appointments with students. The decision is yours!
2. VIPKid
Teach English online to children in China with VIPKid, an online platform that provides ESL teachers with full lesson plans.
While VIPKid doesn’t require teaching credentials, they specify that applicants must have a bachelor’s degree.
To become an online ESL teacher, you also need to complete an interview and a demo lesson. If VIPKid likes what they see, they invite you to sign a 6-month contract with them.
Pay: VIPKid teachers earn $14-22 USD per hour and receive payment between the 10th and 15th of every month.
Just remember, your hourly rate will set by the skills demonstrated in the interview and demo lesson. The good news is that every time your contract is up for renewal, you can negotiate a raise.
Hours: While English teachers schedule their hours on VIPKid, the company suggests that you set your availability when students won’t be asleep or in school, based on Beijing standard time. You’re also required to submit your weekly availability a month in advance.
3. GoGoKid
Connect with students all over China as an online GoGoKid teacher. GoGoKid offers 1-1 virtual teaching sessions based on American English and the Chinese standard curriculum. The students you’ll teach are around ages 4-12, so it’s a bonus if you’re good with kids!
This platform doesn’t require prior teaching experience, but teaching experience is preferred.
Don’t worry if you don’t. If you have any experience with children (think babysitting or camp counseling), that should work too. Highlight this on your application!
Qualifications wise, as long as you have a bachelor’s degree and have/are willing to get a TEFL certificate, you’ll be good.
Looking to make good money as an online English teacher? Then you’ll love to hear about GoGoKids great wage and incentives.
Pay: You can earn up to $25 USD per hour! GoGoKid also offers incentives for referrals, peak time teaching, holidays and hosting mini-workshops. Plus, they almost always have signup incentives.
Hours: You choose your schedule. Each class needs to be 25 min in length, but each time slot is for 30 mins, giving you a 5 min buffer between sessions. The hours are similar to all other peak teaching hours in China: 7-9 pm on weekdays and 9 am-9 pm on weekends.
4. Palfish
For on-the-go teachers, the app Palfish is an excellent option.
Available to use on both iOS (Apple) and Google cellphones, Palfish connects Chinese students of varying ages and English-speaking teachers. As you’ll see, after downloading the app, the interface is written in both Mandarin and English.
Palfish allows ESL students to phone you whenever the app shows that you’re online.
During the call, you can teach them a short lesson using pre-made slides or simply have a conversation.
Or teachers can opt to conduct one-on-one conversations or broadcast to a small group of up to 6 students.
While Palfish recommends that its ESL teachers have a TEFL certificate, it’s not mandatory. And the company also doesn’t discourage non-fluent English speakers from becoming teachers.
Pay: ESL teachers on Palfish also set their own pay rates. The payment average is around $10 USD to $18 USD per hour, but many successful instructors can charge $30 USD or more per hour. Palfish does take a 20% cut, so set your rates accordingly, and they pay through Payoneer (an alternative to PayPal).
Hours: One of the nice things about Palfish is its complete flexibility. You can use it when you want, where you want, and as much as you want—all the company requests is a four-hour commitment per week.
5. Magic Ears
Magic Ears is a kid-friendly platform that pairs Chinese children with an ESL teacher. If you enjoy interacting with children, you’ll be great for this opportunity.
As an English teacher for Magic Ears, you teach a group of four children who will be between the ages of 4 to 12.
The only thing is you must be a fluent English speaker from the U.S.A. or Canada and hold a bachelor’s degree to qualify for a position.
The great thing is that no prior teaching experience is needed. The company provides online training sessions for its new ESL teachers.
The application process to Magic Ears is very similar to VIPKid.
Applicants are required to present a demo lesson, along with a filmed interview, and pass a background check. If your application is successful, the company asks you to sign a 6-month contract.
Pay: At Magic Ears, English teachers earn $19-26 USD per hour and are paid on the 10th of every month through PayPal or bank transfer.
Hours: Choose your own hours! The classes last for 25 minutes each and the company provides the teaching materials. You will need to review lesson plans before the lesson and prepare the relevant props.
6.Skooli
Tutor kids or adults from anywhere in the world on the world’s leading tutoring platform Skooli! You’ll get to teach students English in an innovative and interactive virtual classroom with fun tools and everything.
Students can schedule a tutoring session with you in advance or request instant help when you’re online. Tutor on the go from your phone, laptop or tablet.
To become a Skooli English tutor, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree (preferably with a major in English or a related field).
Online tutoring with no experience required! But of course, like other platforms, a few years of teaching experience is considered an asset. Bonus points if you’re digitally literate.
Pay: The pay is competitive. The more experience you have, the better!
Hours: Tutor on Skooli anytime, 24/7. You can work as many hours per week as you want! The hours are 100% flexible and up to you and your students. You won’t need to follow any general hour schedules like other online teaching positions.
7. Whales English
Teach English language learners in an interactive virtual learning platform with Whales English! You’ll offer full English immersion for learners from the ages of 3-18 with one-on-two 50-minute sessions.
Every 50-minute virtual class is designed to allow students to interact with the teacher and learn from other students.
Good news! They don’t require ESL teaching experience, but it’s considered an asset if you have any. To become a Whales English teacher, you need a bachelor’s degree.
What about the money?
You won’t be disappointed!
Pay: You can make $18-26 USD per hour, making Whales English one of the highest paying online teaching gigs. Plus, they offer performance bonuses and will bump up your hours every month.
Hours: You’ll need to commit to at least 8 hours minimum during peak hours. The hours are weekdays 6:55 pm – 9:00 pm Beijing time and weekends 9:10 am – 12:30 pm plus 6:55 pm to 9:00 pm Beijing time.
8. QKids
If you enjoy working with kids, you can connect with thousands of young Chinese learners from 4 to 12 years old at QKids.
You’ll get to teach 30-minute lessons with 1-4 kids in a super cute virtual class and use cute characters and funny stories to elevate your teaching.
Plus, you can engage your learners with interactive games.
You don’t need any ESL teaching experience to get started, but you will need both a bachelor’s degree and a TEFL certificate to qualify.
Pay: You’ll start with a base pay of $8 ($16/hour) for full lessons and $4 USD for standby lessons (approx 10 minutes with no teaching required). But you get incentives based on your reviews and attendance.
Hours: Like other online teaching companies, there are specific time slots with peak hours, summer and winter hours to be mindful of. Qkids will provide you a schedule every week, so there’s no need to build your own schedule.
9. Topica Native
Get the chance to teach students all over Southeast Asia in countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. And if you prefer working with adults, this gig is for you!
You can apply to this online ESL job with no experience! But while you don’t need prior teaching experience, you must have a bachelor’s degree.
They also prefer an ESL teaching certificate like a TEFL, TESOL, etc.
With Topica Nativa, you’ll be teaching conversational English to adults with provided lesson plans.
Pay: The pay is provided in USD and is competitive/negotiable.
Hours: Flexible online teaching schedule! You pick your hours, but preferably, you would work during the hours of 8 am – 11 pm GMT+7.
10. Landi English
Landi English is a company based in China that will connect you with young Chinese learners eager to learn English.
How does online teaching with no experience sound? Great! Because to become a Landi English teacher, all you’ll need is an ESL teaching certificate like a TEFL/TESOL/CELTA and a college degree at the minimum.
And, of course, you’ll need to speak English at a high level.
Pay: You’ll get to earn anywhere from $10 – 18 USD/hour.
Hours: If a fixed and stable schedule is more your cup of tea, this will be perfect for you because they pick your schedule! You’ll be expected to work at least 12 hours per week from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm (Beijing time), with 3 hours and 4 days each week.
11. SkimaTalk
If you’re looking to teach ESL students worldwide, check out the online ESL platform SkimaTalk.
On SkimaTalk, English teachers are expected to deliver one-on-one lessons to students, who are generally adults.
Each class lasts 25 minutes, although students are encouraged to book back-to-back lessons with you to maximize their learning.
Teachers can either use the SkimaTalk teaching materials or create their lesson plans.
After each lesson, your ESL student will rate you. Successful teachers on SkimaTalk receive high ratings for their teaching skills and their punctuality and reliability.
To become an ESL teacher on SkimaTalk, you don’t need to have any teaching experience.
The platform is open to fluent English speakers from Canada, U.S.A., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand who are over 18 years old and complete the application tests.
Pay: English teachers on SkimaTalk set their rates, from which the company takes a 20% cut. So, it’s essential to set your rates accordingly. Payday for SkimaTalk teachers occurs once a month through PayPal.
Hours: The hours are flexible. Students can book sessions with you as needed.
Hooray! You can start teaching online without any experience.
So there you have it, all the platforms that let you teach English online without experience.
Just remember, a TEFL certificate is a requirement for most reputable online teaching jobs.
If you’re ready to explore some opportunities, check out our online teaching job board today.