Online English teaching is a great way to diversify your streams of income and can even serve as a full-time job! You don’t need to quit your current career to pursue online teaching, but it can be a fun side gig. Also, having the skills and experience in this field will guarantee that you have a source of income no matter where you are in the world and no matter what happens to your regular job.

If you’re debating about getting into or staying in this industry, but aren’t sure if online English classes will remain in demand, take a look at these six reasons why online English teaching is here to stay!

Reason #1: Despite English being the universal language in business and travel, only 18% of the world currently speak English. Hundreds of millions, if not billions of people, have a goal of learning English for reasons of work, studies, personal development, travel, etc., so the student-base is large and constantly expanding. 

Reason #2: As companies are becoming more international, many will pay for English classes for their employees. People across the world are realizing the importance of learning English for career opportunities and development, thus the need for English teachers will continue to grow. Developing countries are advancing quickly and moving into the global arena, so many of their citizens are taking English classes to have a better future for themselves and their families.

Reason #3: Traditional classes have slowly extended into online learning over the past decade and this was greatly accelerated by the COVID19 pandemic. As English teaching can be done 1-1 or in small groups, it is very convenient for students to take classes online and for teachers to teach students from anywhere around the world. 

Reason #4: People are travelling more nowadays as travel has become easier and cheaper. In 2010, there were 940 million international tourists and by 2019, that number reached 1.47 billion! Most countries tend to accommodate travellers who can speak English, so this is another source of motivation for people to take English classes. 

Reason #5: The internet is in English. More than half of the homepages on the internet are written in English or can be translated to English. As we live in an era of technology, knowing the English language can better help people navigate the internet and use it to their advantage. 

Reason #6: Online English teaching is hardly affected by global uncertainty. During COVID19, when many people lost their jobs and had to stay home due to lockdowns, online English teachers were still able to keep their jobs and have a steady stream of income. So despite external factors, English teaching will always be a viable option as long as you have good WiFi, a laptop and microphone. 

In short, the answer is “yes”. Online English teaching is here to stay. Not only is it a dependable source of income, but it can be a very rewarding job as you’re helping students across the world get closer to their dreams and open up more opportunities in the future.