How to Teach French Online: Where to Find Students & Tips for Planning Lessons
Want a job that can be done in the comfort of your own home?
Teaching French online can be a fun and financially rewarding experience.
Using modern technology tools, you can connect with motivated French learners all over the world.
If you’re used to teaching French in a classroom, though, there are some adjustments you’ll have to make to your teaching style.
Here you’ll find four top tips for successfully teaching private French lessons online, plus the best online teaching platforms available today.
Contents
- The Benefits of Teaching French Online
- Considerations Before You Teach French Online
- Where to Teach French Online
- Other Websites to Find Students
- 4 Insider Tips for Successfully Teaching French Online from Home
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
The Benefits of Teaching French Online
- It’s a flexible gig. You can set your own schedule and work as often (or as little) as you want, plus as late (or as early) as you want, any time of the year.
- It’s helpful and interesting. Teaching French online can be an awesome opportunity to reach students from all over the world and learn about their cultures.
- It’s inexpensive to start. Little equipment is needed as long as you have a working computer with a webcam and microphone, a reliable Internet connection and a headset.
Considerations Before You Teach French Online
Start by finding a platform that works for you and take the time to really work on your profile. Include a friendly picture, details about yourself and your teaching experience, what to expect during lessons, location and time zone and general availabilities.
It’s best to concentrate your efforts on sites with strong visibility that can send you real business. Also, it’s a good idea to compare the terms of services before deciding on a platform.
Common factors that can help you decide on whether or not a platform is good for you include site exposure, competition, level of protection offered and payment terms.
Where to Teach French Online
Varsity Tutors
Teaching platform: Varsity Tutors
Pay: $15-30 an hour
Varsity Tutors connects you to students in your area and also offers online face-to-face tutoring, expanding your reach to students living across the United States.
To teach on their platform, you must apply and pass a rigorous skills-based test and a background check. They also encourage tutors to use their own personal lesson plans and curriculum, so you may want to start creating materials that can differentiate you from other online teachers.
If you join Varsity Tutor, you will be asked to sign a private contractor agreement. Tutors typically earn $20 an hour, with rates ranging between $15-30 an hour.
Lingoda
Teaching platform: Skype
Pay: Approx. $12 an hour
If you’re a native French speaker, you might want to consider Lingoda to sell your services. The platform is popular with students from all over the world and from all walks of life, which is a plus if you’re looking for a stimulating teaching experience.
Lessons are held exclusively online through virtual classrooms and Skype. Lingoda also offers classes 24/7, which allows you to set a flexible schedule and organize your workload more efficiently.
Verbling
Teaching platform: Google Hangouts
Pay: You can set your own rate (Verbling takes 15% commission)
If your goal is to reach a vast community of students, you’ll love Verbling. The platform works as a reputation-building tool, which is ideal if you’re also interested in gaining followers while building your brand and identity.
To get started, submit your teaching application. You don’t have to be a native French speaker to teach on Verbling, but a high level of proficiency and teaching experience is strongly recommended. You can teach as many hours as you want on the platform.
In terms of compensation, you’re in full control! Verbling lets you set your own hourly rates and cash out your earnings anytime you want via PayPal or Skrill.
Verbal Planet
Teaching platform: Skype
Pay: Average $10-20 per hour
Verbal Planet connects you with students from all over the world. The site is completely free to use for teachers, and there are no membership fees or commissions associated with using the service.
To help you manage your classes, Verbal Planet offers tools to better support your students’ progress, including scheduling, online feedback and payment processing.
You’re able to offer free introductory classes, but can set your own rates individually. Payments are made by PayPal exclusively, so check that you’re able to create an account in your country. You must be approved prior to listing your services on Verbal Planet by showing relevant qualifications and experience.
Italki
Teaching platform: Skype/italki
Pay: You can set your own rate (italki takes 15% commission)
Italki is a solid platform to offer your one-on-one online French tutoring services. Their community boasts over 2 million students and 1,000 language teachers.
Lessons are taught via italki Classroom, Skype or your preferred video chat software. You’re responsible for creating your own lesson plans, so be sure to customize them based on each student’s level of fluency and interests.
The site uses its own Italki Talking Currency to book lessons; students pay for credits and transfer them to you when they confirm a lesson. To receive your funds, you should submit a withdrawal request. It’s up to you to set your own prices and find your students, so be sure to create a compelling profile to stand out from the competition!
Tutor.com
Teaching platform: Tutor.com (only runs with Windows)
Pay: Set rate chosen by subjects you tutor
This site offers one-on-one French learning solutions for students and professionals. Submit your application for an online teaching position and start offering your services right away.
The application process is quite detailed. Tutors must pass a screening process with subject exams, mock tutoring sessions, mentor review and a third-party background check.
You’ll also be asked to confirm your fluency level and any other languages you speak if you wish to reach students who aren’t native English speakers. Also, because this site works 24/7, you’ll be asked to type in your general availability. You don’t have to be available every day or every hour listed, but make sure you’re able to conduct a session if you commit to a time period.
One last thing: Their classroom only runs with a Windows operating system. If you’re a Mac user, a good solution is to use software such as Parallels or Boot Camp.
Wyzant
Teaching Platform: Online/in person
Pay: You can set your own rate. You will receive 75% of the hourly rate.
This site puts your profile in front of a wide range of French students looking for classes both online and in your area.
The key to excelling on this site is to complete as many French questionnaires as possible, such as French, AP French, homeschooling, etc. That’s because they won’t allow you to send the students your cover letter if you haven’t completed certain tests.
Wyzant will notify you of any in-person French teaching jobs in your area and will encourage you to apply, but they won’t do so with online jobs.
Myngle
Teaching platform: Skype
Pay: Around $20 (18% commission)
This site offers online French lessons for business professionals. If you love teaching adults and wish to carve a niche in business French, this is the way to go. To start, you’ll need to create a profile, list your availability and offer custom lesson plans. Depending on students’ needs, they may also provide you with their own lesson plans
A great reason to use the site is that you have access to advanced analytics and reporting tools to understand your students’ pain points and make lessons more efficient.
Myngle tends to favor native French speakers with a strong command of technical jargon, but may accept certified teachers with a master’s degree or more.
Teachers who apply must provide a valid Skype ID along with a PayPal or Skrill account. You won’t be hired as an employee, but will have a freelance contractor status. Each month, you’ll receive a tuition fee paid by the student minus an 18 percent commission.
Google Hangouts / Skype
I recommend either of these tools if you’re looking to teach lessons on your own, without a middleman to collect a cut of each lesson.
Google Hangouts lets you conference in up to 10 users for free (15 if you have a Google+ Premium account). Skype, however, only offers group videoconferencing as a paid feature.
You may also prefer Google Hangouts if you use Google Docs intensively during your classes, since the services are integrated, which makes it easier to edit and discuss documents in real-time.
Keep in mind that these are video chatting platforms, not marketplaces. If you’re using these tools, be sure to advertise your services on popular classifieds or freelancer sites, such as Craigslist or Upwork.
Other Websites to Find Students
Thumbtack
Teaching platform: Online/in person
Thumbtack is used used by all types of freelancers and contractors, not just tutors. Rather than being commission-based, teachers here bid for students using Thumbtack credits. That means that no, you don’t have to pay the site a commission for any lesson.
Each bid is worth various numbers of credits, so you should only bid on the jobs that interest you the most if you have limited funds. Keep in mind that students can receive at least five bids from French teachers, but aren’t obligated to hire any.
To win bids, a good strategy is to create an attractive profile replete with a friendly profile picture, a detailed bio listing your skills and credentials, a description of what makes your method unique and your contact information.
Upwork
Teaching platform: Online/in person
In a few short years, this site has established itself as a leading platform for freelancers. And if you’re an online French teacher looking for flexibility, signing up for an account may be worth your while.
Here, you’ll have access to students from all over the world looking specifically for remote French teachers. Certain job postings have a set budget, sometimes negotiable, while others let you bid. Keep in mind that Upwork charges a fee on all transactions, so bid accordingly!
The key to really making it on this site is to have a stellar profile and to work your way up the rank. The longer your work history, the more reviews you’ll have and the higher your rates can be. It’s also important to start off by completing tests successfully. The more tests you take, the more credits you have to bid on jobs.
FlexJobs
Teaching platform: Online/in person
If you don’t know where to start with your online job searches, FlexJobs is a good place. This site specializes in telecommuting job offers across the country, and they have a large supply of interesting positions for online French teachers.
Their teams of researchers scour hundreds of online job resources every day to help you find vetted, quality positions.
You can research jobs by company, salary and more. Anyone can access an abridged version of a given posting to get a sense of the job, but only paid members are able to view the entire listing, including the recruiter’s contact information. This may be a good investment if you’re actively looking for reliable freelance remote teaching positions.
In addition, they offer a variety of topics and information about job seeking on their blog.
Teaching platform: Online/in person
There are numerous high-quality online French teaching jobs on LinkedIn, and the cherry on top is that you’re also able to contact the recruiter directly on LinkedIn. To find them, type in your search in the search bar and select “Jobs” on the result page.
You can then simply click on the job posting to view the profile of the job’s poster and send them an invitation to connect. If you choose to do so, be sure that your profile is up to date with attention-grabbing information about yourself.
It can be a good strategy to vet companies you’re interested in and learn more about their work cultures. If you do decide to apply, again, LinkedIn makes it easy to upload information from your profile, such as job positions, responsibilities, certifications and more. This can help you save considerable time if you expect to have to fill out multiple candidacies online.
Indeed
Teaching platform: Online/in person
If you’ve spent any time looking for traditional French teaching jobs, you may be well acquainted with Indeed, a leading marketplace for job seekers. But did you know that Indeed also offers a wealth of online French teaching jobs?
The key is to simply start using the keywords “online French teacher” in your searches and apply for the jobs you like. To save yourself time, you may want to upload your resume into their database and submit it to every job that peaks your interest.
This will also allow potential recruiters to access your information and contact you when a need arises. Another smart tip is to set up email alerts to be notified when new online French teaching jobs become available.
SimplyHired
Teaching platform: Online/in person
This is another popular job post aggregator that features millions of ads from trusted job boards, including hundreds of ads aimed at those wishing to teach French online. It’s an efficient way to find interesting online French teaching positions in one place, without scouring the web.
The real value of this site, however, is that it lets you find salary information for the job in question and at the company where you’re applying.
To retrieve salary data, simply type in the position and view the results for this and similar jobs. This can help you quickly seize or eliminate certain listings depending on where they fall.
4 Insider Tips for Successfully Teaching French Online from Home
Teaching via video in real-time is quite different from teaching a classroom of students, or even from teaching one-on-one classes in person. Here are some teaching ideas and tips for to help you ace your online French classes.
1. Design a curriculum that works for the online environment
Reshape your lesson plans to make them fit for a virtual classroom. You should be mindful of the specificities and limitations of teaching online. That’s especially the case for project-based learning.
- Suggest “try it yourself” projects. If it fits with your student’s learning goals, identify a few interesting activities that they can do at home. For example, if you know where they live, look up a good French bakery and ask them to try a croissant. Circle back in your next lesson and use it as a discussion opportunity.
- Be mindful of the challenges of teaching virtually. Online classes add a level of difficulty that you won’t encounter offline. Conversation can be more difficult to understand for some students. Do your best to address this inefficiency by speaking slowly, and writing difficult words using chat messaging features.
- Play an observation game. Prepare your lesson by gathering several objects and arranging them so your students will see them in your video frame. It can be anything from flowers to a sandwich. Tell your student that during your hourly session, you will mention these objects in your conversation.
For example, you may randomly say: “Paul aime manger des sandwiches” (Paul likes to eat sandwiches). Their goal is to stop you immediately once they notice the word, and say: “sandwich!” Keep track of their score and make it competitive.
2. Make classes more efficient
It goes without saying, but preparing your classes goes a long way! Here are some online tools that make classes more efficient:
- Reading online. Use online reading libraries such as Lire en ligne. The site gives you and your students free access to a vast database of books and audiobooks in French.
- Email reminders. You may also want to send various email reminders before your classes, such as schedule reminders to notify your students about upcoming classes to make sure that they haven’t forgotten about the sessions.
- Audio reminders. Use interactive audio reminders with Audioboom. This free audio file-sharing program lets you create and send 3-minute voice broadcasts to your students from your iPhone or Android smartphone. This can be a clever way to give them a heads-up about your next classes.
- Collecting payments. Don’t be bashful about sending reminders about payment. It’s totally up to you to decide on terms, and whether you want to be paid upfront or after a class.
3. Use interactive teaching tools
For most online teachers, you will find that Skype and Google Hangouts are more than enough to keep your lessons lively and efficient.
But, if you’re looking to step things up a notch you could incorporate interactive technology into your lessons and organization:
- E-lecta. Try the E-lecta teaching software to make your classes more efficient and fun. Among their many features, this high-quality software incorporates a digital teaching whiteboard that you can write on and erase in real time, perfect to recreate the feeling of a classroom.
- TakeLessons for Teachers. The TakeLessons for teachers app lets you manage and market your teaching business in one place. Track your students’ attendance, payments and keep their contact info handy. Manage your schedule, communicate with your students, receive alerts if they cancel and more.
4. Make homework work for you
A critical element of French online tutoring is to motivate students and help them achieve desired results.
Here are some tools to help you give appropriate homework:
- FluentU. Encourage your students to watch authentic French videos to stimulate their listening skills and overall comprehension of the French language and culture. FluentU features a vast library of authentic content with interactive subtitles to help your students achieve fluency quickly. You can assign your favorite content to your students using the “share” feature.
- 1 Jour 1 Actu. 1 Jour 1 Actu offers approachable news articles, comics and in-depth content about news topics in French. The site is suitable for French children, so you can be sure that your students will not be overwhelmed with material that’s too difficult to understand.
- Classmarker. If you want to bring more structure to your classes, you could also give personalized tests and use grading and assessment systems. Use Classmarker to create and send your own tests and quizzes that your students can easily take online.
- Quizstar. Try Quizstar to create and assign online quizzes to your students. The site lets you manage your classes, design exams and even attach multimedia content to your quizzes.
- Typeform. Another free option with lots of flexibility is Typeform. It’s very simple to use, and there are tons of ways you could use this intuitive tool to enhance your lessons.
- Google Drive. If you plan on using essays as homework and assignments, opt for Word or Google Drive. Both allow you to insert your own comments alongside the paper, and are fairly accommodating and intuitive.
With these tips and teaching platforms, you’re now ready to get started. Don’t forget to have a good time!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
