How to Teach a Language Online in 2023 [Updated]

The online coaching industry is growing from strength to strength. Where languages perennially stay a popular choice for students, teaching one online can be a great career move. If you are wondering how to teach a language online, this guide will help you summarise its most important elements.

Table of Contents

Choosing a Platform to Teach a Language Online

Your first step should ideally be choosing an online course platform where you can conduct language classes. Thanks to technology, there are plenty of options available online. If you want to get a comprehensive insight into the various course platforms & their suitability, I have covered them all here.

Make sure you do your bit of research & finalize a platform which has the following features, to say the least:

Helps you in building your brand.
Allows you flexibility.
Convenient to use for you & your learners.
Supports multimedia course content.
In-built marketing & engagement tools.

Graphy, for example, is one such course platform which allows you to build your branded online course website within minutes. It has all the other important features which would help you scale your online language classes.

Related Blog: Teaching Aids - Ideas for Teachers to Use in the Classroom

Creating Online Learning Materials

Once you are clear with a course platform suitable for you, you need to plan your course outline. Make sure you keep a healthy mix of videos, live lectures & other online resources. And not to forget, make sure they are fun and valuable.

There are basically four main areas that you should focus on, in order to teach a language online:

Listening: Videos, podcasts, and music

With the whole online world at your fingertips, make sure you make the most of it. Watch videos & listen to podcasts with your learners, in the language you teach. Tailor your materials every class & discuss with them about the learning afterwards.

Reading: News articles, short stories, and blogs

To instill reading habits in your learners, you could either send articles as assignments, or you can then discuss them during the live class. Make sure you gradually include variety of reading materials like blogs, news articles & stories.

Speaking: Discussion topics and presentations

Many of the above-mentioned course exercises will spark discussion in the language you are teaching. Towards the conclusion of the course, ask them to prepare a short presentation in the language to make the course more interactive.

Writing Assignments

You can incorporate simple grammar assignments & live tests on your online course. Honestly, with a little bit of research, you will find tons of inspiration online. Just focus on providing the best possible value & your work will be 10 times easier.

Get Prepared for your Online Lectures

If you have planned drip content for the course, your job is to make sure it goes smoothly without any technical glitch & minced words. Plan your lectures. Plan what you are going to talk about every 2 minutes.

Get ready for doubts that you might encounter during the class.

Make sure your class smoothly functions, remove the distraction, double-check the platform you are using & prepare a lecture outline.

You can include the following:

A lesson outline with sectional time duration.
Example sentences that might help you.
Grammar rules and their exceptions.
Funny stories & interesting sidebars.
Potential doubts.
Questions you would throw at your learners.
Upcoming Assignments

Graphy has an interactive online live class platform, make sure you make the most out of it.

Related: How to build your online education empire.

Finally, Love What You’re Doing

If you love what you are doing, you will be able to teach that language to someone in several time zones. If you are genuinely interested in this language or teaching it, it will show through your lectures.

Don’t worry too much about the nuances. If you have made up your mind this is a good place to begin.

To get an elaborated guide on marketing your online course, head here.