Can Australians teach English online with no experience?

Many new teachers ask me if they can teach English online with no experience and my answer is “Yes” – but the quicker that you gain experience, the better – in my opinion.

Why is teaching English online experience important?

Teaching English online experience is important for multiple reasons:

• Experience gives you more job opportunities; or ‘gets you in the door’;
• Experience gives you an understanding of teaching (and more importantly – students);
• Experience gives you the tools and frameworks to ‘build’ lessons with solid foundations.

While you can teach English online with no experience, some experience makes the process less scary, makes you a more effective teacher and helps you earn more money.

• Experience provides you with successful and fun activities and lesson plans that work;
• Experience provides confidence and the strength to charge higher rates;
• Experience guides you towards the students/subjects that are most enjoyable for you.

How to gain teaching English online experience

I hear you asking “…but, how do I gain teaching English online experience…?” Well, you have a few options; including completing a TESOL / TEFL certificate, volunteering and/or applying for ‘no experience’ jobs. Let’s look at these in detail.

A TESOL or TEFL certificate course

I began to teach English over a decade ago, so it’s been a while since I gained my first tentative steps in the classroom, but I remember the feeling of being inexperienced and overwhelmed clearly. Luckily, I signed up for a great TESOL certificate, a part-time course that I completed with a small group of future teachers and tutors, for A$2500. If you want experience, this is an excellent option. After 20 or so hours of practice teaching during my TESOL certificate, I was still green, but I had some idea of what to expect and what to do once I opened the classroom door and walked inside. But, that might be more than you can currently afford.

If you are on a tight budget, read my post about where you can study for a TESOL / TEFL certificate in a few weeks from A$250.

In addition to an accredited TESOL / TEFL certificate, there are lots of free online courses that you can take to better understand the basics of teaching and how to manage a classroom. See my post on 50+ free TESOL courses for teachers here.

Volunteer to gain online English teaching experience

If you’ve already completed a TESOL/TEFL certificate and want to know how to teach English online with little to no experience, consider volunteering. Many organisations are looking for volunteers. It’s a great way to gain experience. For a full list of volunteer organisations that accept Australasians, click here.

Apply for an entry-level online teaching job with training

Buy my Job List and easily sort the top 50 jobs by experience requirements and find a job that will train you as you go. If you are determined to start without experience, you can begin applying for jobs that don’t require experience. Just remember, you will likely be earning a lower rate to start. Experience is a bonus and generally leads to higher hourly rates of pay.

Finally, should Australians teach English online with no experience?

While you can teach English online without experience, the more experience and knowledge gained through volunteering, an entry-level job and/or studying a TESOL certificate, the more confident, effective and well-paid you’ll be.

Even in a digital era with no physical classroom door, opening a site or app to ‘teach’ English requires experience and, more importantly, an understanding of the structures of effective learning to be successful for students …and enjoyable for you.

While Australians can teach English online without experience, the more that you teach, the easier the process becomes and the more you can offer your students. Remember, it can be intimidating to start but you can improve with time. Make notes of what works and what doesn’t. Do as much training as you can. Most importantly, learn by doing. Before long, you’ll be on your way!

Have you considered freelance teaching? If you have skills from another field, you can slowly build your experience with students directly or via an online English teaching platform and learn as you go. Read more about 1:1 coaching.

Kate Zarb

Kate (GradCertEd TESOL) studied a TESOL certificate in 2010 and has been teaching English ever since. Tutoring ‘freelance’ for many years before starting an independent teaching business, she began Teach English Online to support Australians and New Zealanders to do the same. Just starting out, want to apply to one of the 300+ global companies or build your own small independent teaching business? She can help.