Facebook Instagram Linkedin
Whatsapp
Menú
Menú

Etiqueta: teaching online

Categorías
Teach English Online in Barcelona

5 Things You Need To Successfully Teach English Online in Barcelona

English teacher standing at whiteboard, posing at camera
English teacher standing at whiteboard, posing at camera

The technical requirements:

1. A Laptop/Computer (or iPad) with a camera: You will need a computer with a camera in order to teach online. Be sure you have a camera, as you’ll need it to videoconference with your students.

2. Strong Internet Connection: Be sure you have a solid Internet connection, wherever you are. When I travel and teach online I often book Airbnb’s so I can teach from home, and I ask my hosts to check the Internet speed for me beforehand so I know its strong. You can check your speed for free at SpeedTest.net. The company you apply for will tell you what the minimum speed requirement is.

3. Headphones: You will be required to use headphones or a headset to teach.

To think about:

4. Props: Online teaching requires A LOT of TPR (Total Physical Response). With that being said, I like to have a lot of props to help me in case I have a shy student. I made my own alphabet flashcards, reward system, and purchased animal puppets. Flying Tiger is a great and cheap store for props in Barcelona.

5. Quiet Location: I recommend having a quiet room to teach from. The less distractions/noise, the better for your student and your class.

Lastly, be sure to take it seriously. Teaching online may be fun, but it’s a job. The students and families take it very seriously and have high expectations and you should too. This means, never miss a class if you are booked (However, emergencies happen, each company has their own cancelation policy), and don’t show up late. Since I live in Barcelona, I sometimes stay out late, and will make sure I don’t give myself an early schedule the next day.

Now, be sure you do your research on companies; they all have different requirements/obligations for teachers, contracts for hours, Internet speed requirements, etc. But, once you get started, you won’t regret it!

A few companies to check out:
–https://t.vipkid.com.cn/?_version=2
–https://www.dadaabc.com/teacher/job/
–http://51talk.ph/
–https://www.cambly.com/english?lang=en
–https://www.abc360.com/Teacher/Teacher/index
–https://teacher.landi.com/

Categorías
Teach English Online in Barcelona

6 Reasons Why You Should Teach English Online While Living in Barcelona

  1. Work from home:

    No commute, need I say more?

  2. Make your own schedule & No minimum hours:

    Now, I will say there are so many different companies to choose from, each have different requirements and contracts. Some give you a set schedule and require you work a minimum amount of hours a week- each company is different. I specifically chose my company because they have no requirements; I make my own schedule and work as much (or less) as I want. My classes are each 25 minutes, and I get paid $10 a class.

  1. Payment is in your local currency:

    I was very happy to hear that my company was going to pay me in American dollars, directly deposited into my American bank account each month.

  1. Can’t beat the working schedule:

    While there are many companies to choose from, they almost all have one thing in common: you are teaching Chinese kids (maybe adults) in the China time zone. But, living in Barcelona, this works out great for me.. I can start teaching as early as 6am (technically 3am if you want), and the last class of the day is at 3:30pm. This means you’re working mornings and early afternoons, done by 4:00pm latest. I love this schedule, and having the rest of the day off to do whatever I want.

  1. Now this one should be #1- TRAVEL:

    With my flexible schedule, I am able to travel and teach online! I recently went to SE Asia for three months, which meant I was in the same time zone as my students. I was able to teach from my Airbnb in the morning, and go explore for the rest of the day! I was making money while traveling abroad, and on travel days, I just closed my schedule.

  1. Minimal lesson planning:

    Most online teaching companies provide you with all the material and slides to teach. You are able to review them ahead of time and prepare, but this means minimal lesson planning (which we all know can be dreadful sometimes). Once you’ve taught the same lesson a few times, you know it like the back of your hand.

Categorías
Teach English Online in Barcelona

Teaching English Online While Based in Barcelona

You finish your TEFL course at International TEFL Academy  Barcelona TEFL, receive your official certificate, and then you’re faced with the difficult task of deciding where to teach. Should I go to Europe, Asia, Latin America? I decided to stay and teach English in Barcelona, Spain?

It’s exciting, yet nerve-wracking, to dive right into a full schedule of teaching after your TEFL class. It’s not hard to find private clients to teach in Barcelona. There are many tools to help you find students & tutor groups (websites/Facebook groups, primarily), and ITA will help you here.

As a new teacher, I really wanted to put together a teaching schedule that was realistic and manageable to avoid burn-out or stress. I had heard about teaching English online and I was very intrigued about the possibility of having more control over my schedule and not having to commute. A guest speaker came in to talk about her experience teaching online being based in Barcelona. Who doesn’t want to work from home? I talked to friends who had experience teaching English online, and from there I was sold, and started the process of interviewing and vetting out online teaching companies.

I was surprised by how official the interview process was for these online teaching jobs. It wasn’t easy by any means and the entire process was very professional from start to finish. It took me about one and a half weeks from when I first applied online to being offered a job.

Fast-forward six months later and I’m still living in Barcelona, teaching English online to Chinese students, and loving every second of it! Sometimes I still can’t believe that I’m living in Barcelona – the longer I’m here, the more I love this city. I truly think Barcelona is one of the best cities for teaching English abroad, especially if you’re teaching English online.

Schedule & Travel Time

I’m teaching in the Chinese time-zone, so my main working hours are from 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. I can wake up even earlier and work, which means I’m done working every day by 3:30 p.m.! So I have a lot of time for exploring, traveling, and experiencing everything Barcelona has to offer. Barcelona has plenty of activities to keep you busy- beaches, parks, restaurants/bars, shopping, and more.

Another great thing about teaching English online is the flexibility to travel while still working. I can hop over to other European cities in a matter of hours for the weekend and be back on Monday for work. In fact, I even left Barcelona for three months, went to SE Asia, and travelled while continuing to teach online. I chose SE Asia because I would be almost in the same time zone as my students so I could teach from 8:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m. As Asia was still on my «countries to visit» list, it was a great way to make money while traveling, and I worked every two weeks for one week, while still having a flexible schedule to explore. Best of all, I was able to pay for most of my trip while continuing to keep my regular students and teach.

When I returned to Barcelona, I started working a more regular schedule and picked up right where I left off! I definitely knew I wanted to return to Barcelona after traveling; the city is magical and with summer just around the corner, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be!

Subscribe to our newsletter

Links
Follow ITA Barcelona on Facebook
Where are we?

Request a

Callback

Copyright 2023 © Itabarcelona
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Youtube