Teaching English Online Archives

VIPKid provides online English lessons to 800,000+ students from ChinaFounded by Cindy Mi in 2013VIPKid has more than 100,000 teachers teaching all over the worldOne of the fastest growing online English teaching communities Teachers are paid an average hourly rate between $14 - $22 per hour to teach Students range from ages 3-14 years oldEach class is 25-minutes in lengthEach class is one-on-one with the studentTeachers interact with their students via video and text chatProvides a unique curriculum so that teachers need only minimal prep timeOffer full English immersion so teachers do not need to know the Chinese languageTeachers can choose their own hours and days to work (no minimum)Teachers also have the opportunity for bonuses VIPKid is an online teaching platform that connects 3-14 year old students from China with native English-speaking teachers for 25-minute lessons. Since it was founded in 2013 by Cindy Mi, this innovative company has seen a lot of success and is diligently working to expand to other languages in the near future. With over 100,000 teachers, VIPKid is working to provide the best possible education for their students, so they offer a full English immersion-based curriculum. That just means that teachers don’t need to know a single word of Chinese! The VIPKid curriculum also provides teachers with the proper materials necessary for each lesson so that there is no need for extensive planning. Please note that not just anyone can teach for VIPKid. Here's the detailed (and recently updated) VIPKid teacher requirements. VIPKid has skyrocketed to success over the past few years. As a result, it has perhaps the biggest (and most active) online ESL teacher communities. VIPKid teachers, and hopeful-hires, are able to communicate within this community to answer questions, bring up new ideas, and vent when frustrations may arise. No matter the industry, it's good for individuals to be able to communicate with others who are in the same field. VIPKid offers competitive pay that typically ranges from $14-22/hr based on varying criteria. It is known, however, that VIPKid does tend to change up its pay structure as the online ESL industry evolves. For more on that, check the updated pay structure post. With a staggering 800,000+ students, VIPKid is one of the largest ESL teaching platforms out there. Teachers teach one-on-one with their students via VIPKid's unique video chat technology. There are no minimum hours required for teachers, nor is there a maximum. VIPKid allows teachers to open any slot that fits their schedule as long as it falls within the hours of 9am-10pm Beijing Time (BJT). This means that United States teachers will have to teach on a third shift schedule if they plan to teach full-time. Teachers that wish to teach only a few hours per week tend to open up the early morning hours or just on the weekends overnight. However, it is not guaranteed that teachers will have all of their slots booked with students. No matter how many, or how little, that they open. This is because the parents of VIPKid students can pick and choose the teacher. It is important to note that teachers create their own teacher profile that includes pictures, an intro-video, and a bio that sheds light on who they are, shows a bit of their personality, and possibly explains more about their own teaching methods within the classroom. (There will be a post on Standing Out as a VIPKid Teacher coming soon.) As long as VIPKid teachers have access to reliable Internet, there is technically no restrictions on where teachers can live, or travel, while teaching. That being said, people who claim permanent residence in the states of California, Washington, and New York cannot be hired as VIPKid teachers due to each state's legislation changes regarding "gig" workers. This is because VIPKid does not hire their teachers as employees, but as independent contractors instead. Teachers are required to withhold their own taxes because VIPKid does not deduct them from the teacher's income. VIPKid teachers must also cover their own health insurance expenses as the company does not offer such plans. One could think of working for VIPKid as an entrepreneur ESL teacher working under a corporate umbrella. VIPKid teachers handle their own taxes, must somewhat "sell" themselves to the parents of the students, and commit as much time as necessary to become successful on the platform. However, that shouldn't deter qualified people from working with VIPKid because it is absolutely possible to teach and earn. Some teachers are able to jump right in and have their open slots fully booked while others may only get a handful of their slots booked. The biggest thing to understand when it comes to teaching for VIPKid is that it isn't guaranteed income, but it can become a full-time earner with patience and trial/error when it comes to your teacher profile. Key advice, when you do have a class... be on time, show that you're excited to teach the student, and provide that student with as great of an experience as you can. If you meet the teacher qualifications for VIPKid, and you'd like one-on-one guidance through the hiring process, you can apply via my referral link here (link opens in new tab).