How To Travel & Teach Your Skills Online
This article about how to travel and teach online may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see my disclaimer here.
Travelling is one of the most satisfying things you can do on this planet. However, many of us are still looking for ways to travel full-time and make money online to keep you on the road. One of the income streams you can establish to become a full-time traveller (at least for some time) is to teach languages online. English is one of the most popular languages to teach. If you don’t want to become an English language teacher, you can also teach other languages (including your native language) and skills you have.
This article will introduce you to how you can travel and teach online. It’ll mainly focus on teaching foreign languages. In the end, I’ll reveal some platforms, where you can teach any other skill you have. So let’s get round to it.
What Should You Teach Online?
As I mentioned above, you don’t only have to stick to teaching English. The field is, anyways, quite saturated. You can even choose to teach your native language. But I’m sure you also have other skills. So try to teach them, too.
Whether it’s photography, cooking, writing, maths, or history. You can teach it all. The only important thing is to start putting yourself out there.
Another essential thing is to choose a profitable niche to teach. It needs to be something people look for and are willing to spend money for. By teaching skills within these niches, you’ll create an income that will keep you on the road.
Here are some profitable niche ideas for what you can teach online:
- English language (ESL)
- Foreign languages
- Native language
- Photography & Photo Editing
- Video Editing
- Writing & Grammar
- History
- Personal Finance
- Lifestyle
- Food & Nutrition
- Parenting
How To Travel & Teach Foreign Languages Online?
In the next section, I’ll reveal everything you need to know about teaching foreign languages online. You’ll learn whether you need a qualification to do so, where to find a teaching job, and how to apply for it. I’ll also tell you how much you can earn online teaching foreign languages.
Ready? Let’s see how you can teach any foreign language online and travel.
Do You Need A Qualification To Teach Online?
One of the good things is that you don’t even have to be qualified to teach online.
When it comes to teaching foreign languages, it’s possible to do so without a course or a prior education in teaching. What is more important is your passion for teaching the language, how you can engage with students, and what you can give the students.
You have to be confident in teaching the language and be passionate about it. That’s it. Don’t worry about qualifications if that’s what you don’t like to do. Maybe you don’t have money right now to pay for a course and get qualified. It doesn’t matter. You can travel and teach online languages even without a course. Just remember that the things I mentioned above are the most important.
Can I Teach Online With A Tourist Visa?
Yes, you can. If you pay taxes in your home country, it doesn’t matter that you’re located in a different country abroad. You can just get a tourist visa and teach from anywhere in the world.
Pay attention to how long your tourist visa can be and whether you even need one. Some countries allow you to spend up to 3 months without a visa. In the meantime, you can travel and teach online within the country.
If you want to check whether you need a tourist visa and for how long it’s possible, check out the Online Visa website.
What Equipment Do You Need To Teach Online?
Another great thing about teaching languages online is that you don’t need anything extra. Only a laptop, headphones (when teaching in an open area), and a good internet connection. You don’t necessarily need that giant professional microphone to teach.
Also, make yourself look presentable. You don’t have to dress up, wear a tie and suit. But definitely don’t teach in pyjamas. Smile and bring good energy to the lesson. Students will appreciate it.
How Can You Become A Digital Nomad Teacher
If you want to teach languages online, many platforms offer you the possibilities. With some, you don’t even have to be qualified to teach your native language online (or any other language). Below, I am giving you ideas for platforms and businesses where you can teach your language.
1.iTalki
iTalki is one of the best platforms where you can teach languages online. You can teach as a professional teacher or a so-called community teacher. The difference between the two is simple. If you want to be a professional teacher, you have to provide some sort of a certificate or a qualification that you can teach the language. This way, you can teach whatever you want, including grammar, language structure, and more difficult parts of the language.
As a community teacher, you don’t have to be certified to teach. You only need to have a passion for it. As a community teacher, you can mainly have a conversation with students and teach them vocabulary. You’ll also often set lower rates than professional teachers.
Another difference is the rate you can set. iTalki doesn’t restrict you in setting them, but you have to look at your competitors. Make your own strategy and set the rate for what you’re worth. Also, look what other professional/community teachers ask for in terms of the price and make your rate reasonable.
How To Apply To Be A Teacher At iTalki
You can apply to teach on iTalki in their online interface and fill up their online application. Before you start with the application, you need to have the following things prepared:
1. Check if your language is open for the application – in a certain period, the language might be already closed because of too many applicants, so check it out. In case it is closed, you can apply at a different time. You can see the status of each language on their platform.
2. Know if you want to be a community or a professional teacher
3. Have your video introduction – you’ll have to record a short video (2 minutes), talking about yourself, why you want to become a teacher on iTalki, your experience teaching, motivation to teach, how you would teach, and your passions. Have it ready for your application to submit.
4. Teaching Qualification – in case you want to be a professional teacher, you’ll also need to upload your certificates and documents stating that you’re qualified to teach
Once you have these things ready, you can start with your online application.
After, you’ll wait approx. 10 business days until they let you know. Once you get the pre-approval email, you’ll have to do the following tasks:
- upload your identity document
- watch teacher success video
- answer a quiz
- book a group video call with iTalki Teacher Services & attend the video
The entire process is quite intuitive. Once you get the pre-approval email after 10 business days from submitting your application, you’ll have all these instructions in the email.
And that’s it. It’s that easy. Once you manage to do all these steps, you’ll be able to travel and teach online your chosen language. Of course, you can also teach more languages if you want to.
2.Preply
Preply is one of the easiest platforms to apply if you want to travel and teach online. Simply because they don’t require any qualifications from you. The only thing you need to have is a passion for teaching. Preply wants to know that you love what you do and you’ll transfer your knowledge to its students in a fun and easy way.
Another great thing about Preply is that it focuses not only on English and other languages. You can also teach various subjects (school or University), some hobbies, and arts.
The great thing about Preply is that it focuses not only on English and other languages. You can also teach various subjects (school or University), some hobbies, and arts.
Applying for a tutor at Preply is much easier than with iTalki. At Preply, you’ll submit basic information about yourself, upload a profile photo, describe your strengths as a teacher, record a short video introduction (max. 2 minutes).
Take your time for your application as they are pretty strict with it. However, if you follow all the instructions, you don’t have to be afraid of not being approved. Don’t mention any lesson prices or your contact information in the description or video.
3. Verbling
Another great platform to teach languages online is Verbling. Unfortunately, the platform is quite selective when it comes to tutors. You need to have previous experience with tutoring/teaching. If you don’t have, try to gain some experience and then apply.
You’ll also need a certificate to teach. In case you’re not qualified and want to teach English, check out my article about how to get ESL certified and teach English. If you want to tutor other languages, see what certification you can obtain in your country.
Once you have everything prepared (have some experience teaching and your qualification), you can simply apply to teach on Verbling on their online platforms.
Once your application gets approved, you can set your own rates and start teaching.
These are the top platforms where you can teach online languages and other skills. What is great with all of them is that you don’t have to be a native speaker to tutor. You just have to have a good command of the language (be on the C2 level).
How Can You Teach Your Skills Online?
If you really want to travel and teach online, but languages aren’t your thing, you can also teach any other skills you have. Share your knowledge and expertise with others. This will also enable you to travel and teach online. Below, I am giving you 2 more ideas for platforms where you can teach your skills online.
Skillshare
Skillshare is one of the best platforms offering online courses for various topics. You can create your online course and put it on Skillshare while travelling and making money with it. They accept courses in any field such as marketing, graphic design, art, Web, writing, business, video & photography, and more. So if you are an expert in some field and have an idea to share your skills, create an online course.
If you want to create a course, follow their guidelines and learn what they expect to publish it.
Share Your Skills On Skillshare
Teachable
Another great platform to create an online course or a coaching business and share your skills online while making money. You can basically teach anything you want, from gardening to painting, pottery, drone flying, videography, and anything else that comes to your mind.
Teachable works with plans. You can start for free, and after, if you want to get the additional features, you’ll have to pay a monthly subscription. Discover their plans and start creating your online course today.
Share Your Skills On Teachable
Create Your Website
Creating a website is one of the best opportunities for you to teach your skills online. It’ll be the most difficult of these steps due to the time it takes to build one and start running. However, once you set it up, it’ll be the best place for you to teach online.
Once you create your own website, you can start writing articles. There are plenty of opportunities. I recommend writing blog posts so your audience can read about what you teach.
After, it’s a good idea to start an online consultation. Let your clients book a call with you and teach them online while travelling. This is the best way to create more trust with your audience and spread your knowledge.
Finally, create an online shop on the website and sell some digital products. This way, you’ll create passive income and can travel more.
If you want to learn how to set up your own website, check out my article about how to start a travel blog without travelling. It’ll walk you through the steps for building your website.
More Tips On Making Money Online While Traveling
These are the top way for how to travel and teach online foreign languages or your skills. So be creative and look for all options on how you can make your travel dream come true. This is one of the best ways to make money online while travelling if you have a strong passion for something.
Check out my other articles about how you can make money online while travelling if this article doesn’t resonate with you. There are other ways to earn a living online, so check it out. You’ll find something that interests you for sure.
If you want to teach English and become an ESL teacher, read my article about how to get ESL certified. It’ll give you all the information you need to start, best courses to get the qualification, practicum information, and tips for your career as an ESL teacher.
