Earn at home teaching English online through 51Talk

When Rap was born, we decided  that I quit my job in the publishing company so that I can personally care for my son. It was a big sacrifice on my part, yes, I had to depend on my husband's income even for my personal things. I'm just lucky that my husband is generous to give me an allowance for parlor time and such. Still, nakakahiya umasa sa asawa. Also, I wanted to give my parents an allowance of sorts for their maintenance medicines and other miscellaneous expenses.

This set-up went on until Rap was ready to go to a big school. Because I was able to take up my Masters in Education while I homeschooled my son, I was able to apply for a teaching position in the pre-school just blocks away from our home. Then a few years after, I discovered that I could work-at-home through online writing and the rest, so they say, is history.

With better Internet providers nowadays, moms can choose to work-at-home and earn online. One of the many options is to be an online English as Second Language (ESL) teacher to students living overseas. Last week, I have been introduced to 51Talk, the fastest growing online English Language Teaching (ELT) platform in China and the Philippines. The company has had at least 8,000 Home-Based Teachers (HBTs)  since it was established in China in 2011. Just recently, 51Talk reached a milestone by being publicly listed  on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: COE).

Watching a recorded teaching session of one 51Talk HBT with her Chinese student.

51Talk (read as five-one and not fifty-one) has been operating in the Philippines since 2012. The company does not have an employer-employee relationship with their HBTs but, rather, the teachers are treated as business partners. HBTs in 51Talk do not only come from Metro Manila but also from other parts of the Philippines. During the event, I watched a video of the testimonials of these home-based teachers and I found them so happy and proud to be part of the 51Talk Family.


So what makes 51Talk better from the other online ESL teaching platforms on the Internet? Here are just a few of them:

Free training for teachers. 51Talk promises an opportunity to teach, learn, and earn all at the same time. I got  the "teach" and "earn" parts immediately but it was only after this was explained that I understood how teachers come to learn while being part of 51Talk. The company is committed to upscale the skills of their teachers that even expensive certificate teaching courses, such as the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) course, are free. In fact, some of their teachers eventually become trainers themselves. Most importantly, there is no bond for these free trainings.

Full IT support. 51Talk has a large team of IT professionals who are ready to assist teachers and students with their technical problems round-the-clock.

Abundance of students. ESL students of 51Talk reside in China and there are still a lot of students who are signing up to learn through the platform. We all know how huge a country China is so this is quite self-explanatory.

Earn a lot. Of course, more students equal to more earnings. While 51Talk also have non-Filipino teachers, the bosses can attest that more Chinese parents and students want to book a Filipino teacher because Pinoy teachers are more patient and kind, plus we can speak in the same accent as native English speakers do. They have Elite HBTs who earn as much as 80 to 90 thousand pesos a month from bookings and incentives.

Community support for teachers. 51Talk nurtures its growing family of teachers with events and other gimmicks. They also try to hold trainings in some provinces so some of the non-Manila HBTs can meet them face-to-face.

Do you have what it takes to become a 51Talk Home-Based Teacher? Here's a list of their minimum requirements for applicants:

• College graduates
• Good command of the English language.
• Teaching experience preferred.
• Has necessary equipment such as computer, webcam, headset with mic, and wired Internet connection of at least 3 mbps.

You know, I am very eager to apply to this because I saw how pleasing the teaching platform was. I knew I could do it and my expertise is Language and Literature Education. Too bad, I still don't have a wired internet connection here in our location, boohoo!

So if you're a mom who is seriously thinking of working-at-home like me and you meet all these requirements, visit 51Talk.com to apply or check out facebook.com/51talk to know more about them. Let me know if you get in! I'd love to know how your 51Talk teaching experience goes.

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