The 2010’s sparked the age of the digital nomad. Everyone was effectively quitting their jobs to travel the world and many were taking remote jobs in order to make this dream a reality. One job that was quite popular was teaching English online, and it is still an option today. However, in 2021 many of these job opportunities disappeared, and their respective online English companies closed with them. But why? If teaching online seem like a great remedy to continuing education while adhering to social distancing, then what happened to teaching English online?
Photo Credits: Vitaly Gariev
China’s New Private Tutoring Policy
In July 2021, China enacted a "double-reduction policy" that put a ban on private, for-profit tutoring, including English. The goal of this policy was to reduce the academic burden on Chinese students who were consistently in the classroom and give their parents a break from the financial burden of these extracurricular activities. This meant that online ESL classes would no longer be an option for Chinese citizens.
The Impact of China's Policy on Teachers and Students
A big problem is that the ESL market was China. China's demand to learn English from native English speakers, combined with their high population, created a need for ESL language learning opportunities. These opportunities came in the form of ESL online companies that hired native English speakers. When China enacted this new policy it banned their citizens from utilizing these classes. Since the majority of these companies's students were Chinese citizens, that meant the majority of their cliental was now gone. In turn, English teachers were out of the job.
While the policy was meant to protect Chinese students, it may not have necessarily worked the way they hoped. Chinese public schools started offering extracurricular classes for their students and facilitating extra lessons, thus defeating the point of lessening the student's academic load. Families that still wanted extra tutoring just did so behind closed doors. Overall, students continue to face the stress of falling behind their peers in China's consistent race to academia and this stress only gets worse without easy access to extra support. So, this policy did not create a positive noticeable change for Chinese students.
Online ESL Companies that Effectively Closed Down
Due to lack of cliental, a handful of online ESL companies shut down. Some still have a valid website you can visit, but they are no longer hiring and have not been for some time. You can still find many popular videos and reviews of teachers who worked with these companies. It is possible they may start up again at some point down the road, but for now it does not seem likely.
ESL online companies no longer active as of 2024;
Whales English
Dada English
Say ABC
Landi English
Gogo Kid
Magic Ears
Zebra English
How Other ESL Online Companies Survived
China's policy shook almost every online ESL company, but that does not mean they all closed down. Some are still trying to push through and others are going strong. In order to survive China's teaching ban they branched out to other countries and focused on obtaining students from outside of China. Now, with the year 2025 just around the corner, there are big companies that are still offering ESL lessons and hiring teachers.
ESL online companies still active as of 2024;
VIP Kid
Palfish
QKids
51Talk
English Hunt
Engoo
FluentBe
Italki
NIL English
Open English
Teaching English Online Today
Let me be clear: Teaching English online is still a thing. It has not disappeared entirely and due to demand it probably isn't going anywhere any time soon. For someone who has the necessary qualifications and wants to make some money on the side, it can be a good option. However, unless you have dedicated a lot of time to building up a long list of consistent students/classes, it is not a full time job option.
Currently, there are two different ways to teach English online. The first is by signing on with an ESL company, such as VIP Kid, and facilitating classes via their curriculum. The second is by working as a freelance tutor via websites such as CafeTalk or Skooli.
Current Issues with Teaching English Online
The main concern I usually see is that there is an over abundance of teachers and not enough students. With multiple teachers offering the same lesson slots, it stands to reason that not every teacher is going to have their lessons fully booked. Student's can also cancel their lessons last minute without allowing time for the teacher to fill the slot. This means less work opportunities and inconsistent income for online teachers. So, for most, it's currently more beneficial to find a more sustainable online job.
The Future of TEFL Online
We don’t exactly know what the future of online teaching will look like in the next few years. Even if China’s policy remains, there is still a demand to learn English from people in other countries. It is also a mutually beneficial business, creating jobs for educators and providing access to students looking to learn the English language. Hopefully this is a student resource and job opportunity that will remain, but we will see what that means for 2025.
Conclusion
So, what happened to teaching English online? To sum it up, China's policy outlawed private tutoring, causing many online ESL companies to loose their cliental and force them to permanently shut down. While you can still teach English online, jobs are a bit fewer and further between. Hopefully ESL online will bounce back in the upcoming years, but what will happen to the industry remains to be seen. What's your experience with online teaching? Let us know in the comments below!