Independent guide · English and German
Your career as a language teacher, from first certificate to your own students.
Which qualification you actually need, how tutoring platforms pay, what to charge, where to work abroad and how to keep growing. Written for teachers of English, German and other languages, without hype.
Sections
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5 pages
Teaching certificates
TEFL, CELTA and qualifications for teaching German as a foreign language: what each one is, what employers ask for and how to choose a course without overpaying.
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6 pages
Teach languages online
How to start as an online language tutor: tutoring platforms and their fees, setting your rates, the equipment you need and the admin tools for running your own lessons.
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6 pages
Careers in language teaching
Jobs abroad, CVs that schools read, taxes as a freelance tutor and specialisms such as Business English and exam preparation: how language teachers build a career.
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4 pages
Professional development
Personal learning networks, peer mentoring, online CPD courses and using social media professionally: how language teachers keep learning after their first certificate.
Where most teachers start
Six questions we hear in every staffroom
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TEFL Certification Explained: Hours, Accreditation, Cost
What a TEFL certificate is, what 120 or 168 hours really mean, how to read accreditation claims and what to check on price before you book a course.
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TEFL vs CELTA: Which Certificate Do You Need?
TEFL or CELTA? A decision table by goal: online tutoring, schools abroad, Business English or a long-term career, with the real differences in format and cost.
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How to Become an Online Language Tutor: Step by Step
How to become an online language tutor in six steps: qualification, platform choice, profile and video, trial lessons, first regular students, own clients.
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Tutoring Platforms for Teachers: Preply, italki, Lingoda
Preply, italki and Lingoda from the teacher’s side: admission, commission models, who sets the price, payouts and whether you work freely or to a curriculum.
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Teaching English Abroad: Jobs, Visas and Requirements
What you need to teach English abroad: degrees, TEFL or CELTA, visas and how hiring differs between Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
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Building a Personal Learning Network as a Teacher
What a personal learning network is for language teachers, which building blocks it can include and how to grow and maintain one in a few hours a month.
Courses and platforms
This is where we will list course providers and platforms we have assessed against fixed criteria. Until that assessment is done, the space stays empty.
Partner links are marked as such.
What this site covers
Careers, not classroom methods
Lingo Staffroom is about the job around the lessons: qualifications, platforms, prices, applications, taxes and professional growth. Teaching methods, lesson planning and classroom tools are deliberately left out.
When learners ask you for a practice app to use at home, this comparison of language learning apps (in German) helps you give an honest recommendation. And if you are planning a master's degree in German as a foreign language or linguistics after your bachelor's, the guide to master's programmes (in German) explains entry routes, deadlines and applications.
A private guide, not an EU project
This address once belonged to a different website. Lingo Staffroom is new, independent and privately run, with no connection to earlier owners of the domain and no public funding. How we work.
Auf Deutsch
Alle Ratgeber gibt es auch auf Deutsch, mit DaF/DaZ-Qualifikationen, Steuern für freiberufliche Lehrkräfte und Jobs für Deutschlehrkräfte im Ausland.
Zum deutschen Bereich