LINGODA REVIEW – IS LINGODA WORTH IT?! Teacher Review

This article will review what it is like for teachers to work at Lingoda including reasons to work at Lingoda, teacher’s pay salary, the application process, how to pass the interview and more!

Read this Teacher Review to discover if Lingoda is right for you!

LINGODA REVIEW

What is Lingoda?

Lingoda is an online language school that offers not only English lessons, but also lessons in other foreign languages too such as Spanish, French and German.

Online classes are taught with native speaking teachers and are interactive – Lingoda isn’t just an independent automated language app like Pimsleur or Duolingo for example.

Lessons at Lingoda are a mix of private (1 on 1) and group classes. The group classes are a maximum of 5 students when you are working at Lingoda.

Business English lessons can also be taught in addition to regular English classes. In English, classes go from A1 level to C2 level (lesson material is based on the CEFR framework).

Why Teach At Lingoda?

There are many pros about working at Lingoda:

Lingoda Classes Taught Over Zoom

Working at Lingoda, classes are conducted over Zoom so you don’t need to download and learn specific teaching platforms, such as what you will find with many other ESL Teaching companies.

This makes the teaching at Lingoda much simpler. You just share your screen with the students (very simple on Zoom!), so they can see the PDF of the lesson material.

Lessons Available 24/7

Lessons are available 24 hours a day at Lingoda – so you can teach at a time that is convenient for you, whatever time zone you live in!

This is a huge advantage compared to Chinese ESL companies for example, who only offer lessons at selected hours of the day (which could mean a 2am or 5am start if you live in the West Coast of America!).

No Minimum Hours Contract

You don’t need to teach a set minimum number of hours per week and you don’t have set classes each week. This is great if you want to have Lingoda as a side hustle, and teach during quiet periods in your schedule as it offers a lot of flexibility.

Your schedule can be different every week as you get to choose the classes you want to do.

This is in comparison to many teaching online companies where the students choose the teacher, whereas on Lingoda the teacher actually gets to choose if they want to do a class or not.

Lingoda recommends teachers teach at least 5 hours per week, but it is not written into any contract so you won’t be penalised if you don’t teach this amount of hours, for example if there are no classes available at a convenient time for you.

Lingoda also lets you ‘pause’ your account if you don’t want to teach for a period of time eg: if you are going travelling for several weeks.

Adult Students

Students at Lingoda are adults (the youngest age for students at Lingoda is 13), so if you are tired of teaching English online to young children (there’s only so much TPR one can take!), Lingoda can be a great direction to go in.

Set Curriculum & No Homework To Mark!

Teachers at Lingoda teach from a set curriculum so you don’t need to prepare any lessons materials yourself – you just need to become familiar with how you will teach the lesson material provided.

Unlike some other online ESL companies where you must follow the script and curriculum strictly and not deviate from the teaching material or questions asked at all, at Lingoda you are welcome to deviate according to the needs of the student.

For example you can stop to explain something if necessary, or spend longer on one slide if it is seeming particularly helpful for the students.

You are also free to bring in your own teaching materials if you would like – Lingoda is quite relaxed in that way.

Students at Lingoda have homework but it is all marked online by the system (usually multiple choice) so you won’t need to mark any homework, yay!

You’ll only be required to write a sentence or couple of sentences after each class to give specific feedback for each student.

And in return the students will be encouraged to fill out a quick feedback form to rate you as their teacher. Your rating for that month will be visible on your Lingoda teacher profile.

Students Have Access To Teaching Materials

What’s also great about Lingoda is that the students can download the class PDF learning materials before the class, unlike many other online ESL companies.

It’s not mandatory but many of the students and teachers like when the students do this as then the students can look up any words they are unfamiliar with before the lesson and therefore keep the flow of the lesson and even progress quicker and do extension work.

Students can also download your teacher annotations you make during the class, which can be super useful for them.

Lingoda Teacher Salary

The Lingoda teacher salary is fixed at €11 per hour, regardless of whether the class is a private class or a group class.

And if the students don’t show up for the class you’ll still receive 50% of the payment for the class (€5.50). Lessons at Lingoda are one hour long.

LINGODA REVIEW

Lingoda Teacher Requirements

The three main requirements that Lingoda requires all their teachers to have:

1. Lingoda requires that it’s teachers are native speakers of the language that they will be teaching. Native speakers from UK, USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand can apply.
2. Lingoda also requires that teachers have prior Teaching English experience of 2 years or more.
3. A TESOL/TEFL Certificate is also required to become a teacher at Lingoda.

Lingoda Teacher Application

The application form to apply to become a teacher at Lingoda is pretty straightforward. Lingoda estimates it takes about 10 minutes to fill out.

They are interested to check your internet connection speed, so fill out the application form where you will be conducting your classes from (eg: at home) and on the computer you will be using.

Lingoda will ask you to fill out an online form with basic information like your personal information and contact information and add a profile photo.

They will then ask about your teaching experience: how many years you have, if you have experience teaching online, and they will ask you to upload your teaching online certificate.

Your internet speed will then be checked (very easy – just type in the numbers you see on the link) and you’ll be asked how many hours you are available to teach each week (roughly).

The Lingoda application process is very straight forward which is great, just make sure you review all your information before you press submit! Once you’ve submitted the application you’ll get a confirmation email of your application.

In the email they do state that only candidates who make it through to the next stage (interview and short demo class) will be contacted.

About 5 weeks after I had submitted my Lingoda application I received an email back from them saying they would like to conduct an interview with me.

So don’t worry if you don’t hear back from them straight away! It’s hard to say how long it will take to get a reply, as it ca be due to student/teacher demand. It could be longer than my experience, it could be shorter.

Lingoda Invite For Interview Email

If you make it though to the Interview stage, you will receive an Invitation for Interview email from Lingoda. The interview is of course done online.

In the email you receive, they will include a link to the demo class material that you will need to prepare for, as well as a link to a Calendly calendar where you can book a time slot that is convenient for you to do the interview.

The Lingoda Interview lasts 30 minutes long and is conducted over Zoom (the same as the lessons will be done). It is a very relaxed interview.

The interviewer will first ask you about your previous teaching experience, then they will give you some information about teaching at Lingoda, as well as give you a chance to ask any questions.

They’ll also ask if you are able to work on weekends, and roughly how many hours do you think you would be able to work each week.

You’ll then do a 5-10 minute demonstration of the lesson materials supplied in the email (you being the teacher and the interviewer pretending to be the student).

Make sure your Zoom is already set to be able to share your screen, as you must share the teaching materials in the demo class. You usually have to go into System Preferences in your computer/Mac to enable screen share on Zoom.

How To Pass The Lingoda Teacher Interview

The most important thing you can do to prepare for your Lingoda Teacher Interview is to review the demo lesson material beforehand and make sure you are familiar with it.

The link to the demo class slides is included in the Initial Interview Invitation Email. Be sure to spend some time going over the slides, reading and understanding everything before your interview.

There is an answer key at the end, so make sure you know all the correct answers. Spend some time thinking how you can deliver the slides and how you can ensure that there is maximum Student Talk Time (it should always be above 50%!).

For example, get the student to read out loud as much as possible, as opposed to you reading out loud.

My interviewer told me I could start the demo class at whichever point of the lesson I wished, but I would still make sure you have gone through and prepared all the slides incase your interviewer chooses a slide for you to start from!

You want to make sure you are fully prepared to teach any slide of the demo lesson straight away!

The Lingoda Assessors are looking for enthusiastic teachers, as well as those that focus on Student Talk Time (STT).

Praise the student (it will be the assessor pretending to be the student in the interview) on specific things – for example don’t just say ‘Good job Timmy!’, but be more specific eg: ‘Great pronunciation Timmy!’ so the student knows what they will be doing well.

Preparation is the key to a successful interview. Once you are confident with the demo class material, and you are able to talk about your prior teaching experience you are good to go!

In regards to your prior teaching experience, be sure to mention if you have taught mainly private or group classes (or both), as well as children or adults, as well as online or in brick and mortar classrooms.

You also want to make sure you have a tidy background behind you – usually sit with a wall behind you so there are no distractions behind you that might distract the student.

Also try to have some possible questions ready for the interviewer.

Don’t worry if you don’t have any questions beforehand as the assessor will give you some information about Lingoda during the interview, and questions may arise as your interviewer gives this information.

Usually you will receive feedback instantly as to whether you have passed the Lingoda interview or not.

Lingoda New Teacher Test Email

A day or so after your successful Lingoda interview you will then receive an email titled ‘New Teacher Test at Lingoda’. In this email you will find a link to a quiz that you need to pass 100% in to be able to teach at Lingoda.

The New Teacher Test features 35 questions that are all about knowing what to do on the Lingoda Teaching Platform such as how to book and cancel classes etc.

All the answers can be found in the Teacher Support Centre link you are sent in the same email, so you should look at this beforehand.

Don’t worry if you fail to get 100% in the test on the first time – you can repeat the test as many times as you need until you achieve 100%, and you’ll be able to see which questions you got wrong.

Lingoda Teacher Login

A couple of hours after you have successfully completed the Lingoda New Teacher Test you’ll be sent your login credentials in a separate email, and then you are officially a Lingoda teacher!

They’ll include the link to the Lingoda Teacher account for you to log in to. You can fill in your profile information on the platform and then start selecting classes to teach!

After your first 25 lessons teaching you’ll receive your first feedback session with Lingoda.

Lessons are picked up by the teachers on a first come first served basis, so the more frequently you check the system, the more likely you’ll be able to be able to teach more classes!

Lingoda Review – Is Lingoda Worth It?

In my opinion, Lingoda seems a good company to work for to make a supplementary income. 

The Lingoda teacher salary is a little lower than other online ESL companies, but it is still not a bad amount, especially if you are just teaching English as a side hustle for some extra cash or you live in a country with a low cost of living.

With Lingoda you are paid at the beginning of the month either into your bank account or Paypal – whichever is easiest for you. Payments are always very reliable.

Penalties apply at Lingoda if you cancel classes last minute or fail to show up for classes as this impacts the student’s learning.

These penalties at Lingoda however are no way as severe as the penalties that Chinese ESL companies have – Chinese ESL companies will actually deduct money from you if you aren’t in the class or you arrive even one second late for class!!

At Lingoda, a penalty just means you are blocked from picking up classes for a few days (similar to at Cambly), but no money is ever deducted from you.

And of course, if it was a one-off and it couldn’t be helped, just email the Lingoda Teacher Support Team and they will usually remove you penalty.

So far, I am happy with Lingoda, the teacher support, the lesson material and the students. I find it a very easy platform to work with, and an easy company to work with.

Lingoda Sprint Review

Periodically, Lingoda offers the Lingoda Sprint and Super Sprint campaigns. This is basically a 3 month intensive language course in a group class setting.

Instead of students paying for classes month by month (which is the regular way with Lingoda), they pay for a 3 month block of classes where there are classes every day (Lingoda Super Sprint) or classes every other day (Lingoda Sprint).

If the student attends all the classes in the Lingoda Sprint they get a 50% refund, and they get a 100% refund if they attend all the classes in the Super Sprint! What a great motivation to learn a new language!

Students choose which is the right sprint for them – the Sprint or the Super Sprint.

The Lingoda Super Sprint is sometimes called the Lingoda Full Sprint (as you can get your full money back if you complete it), and the Lingoda Sprint sometimes called the Lingoda Half Sprint (as you can get half your money back if you complete it).

As a Lingoda teacher, it won’t affect you at all whether the students are on a regular monthly course or on the Sprint or Super Sprint, but it is useful to know what they are.

During these Lingoda Sprint periods it will mean that schedules are busier especially at the beginning of the campaigns as the campaigns often get booked out. Therefore you’ll be able to teach more classes and there will be more availability.

Also it means that if you wish to undertake a Sprint or Super Sprint yourself as a student in a foreign language, you must use a different email to the one you use for your Lingoda teaching.

The Lingoda Language Marathon is a similar campaign to the Sprint and Super Sprint, just not as intense, and designed to be continued over a longer period of time.

Like the Lingoda Sprint and Super Sprint, with the Lingoda Language Marathon the students can get a percentage of their money back if they complete a certain amount of their allocated classes.

The Lingoda Language Marathon can be completed over a 3, 6 or 12 month period (quarter, half and full marathons respectively), and they can get up to €400 cash back if they attend 90% of their classes.

What If Lingoda Isn’t For Me?

If after reading this review you don’t think working for Lingoda is right for you – that’s fine as there are plenty of other online Teaching English Schools you can apply to that could be more suited to you.

Teaching English Online is a really great way to make money online from anywhere in the world and you’ll find many great online ESL companies. 

If you are new to the ESL Teaching world, I would strongly advise you to stay away from Chinese Online ESL Schools due to the Chinese Government making it in effect illegal and many of them shutting down overnight.

There are plenty of non-Chinese ESL Teaching companies hiring, including several Korean and Japanese ESL companies as well as more well known ones such as Rosetta Stone, or Cambly based in the USA.

Cambly is more focused on conversational English and free talking as opposed to structural lessons.

Like Lingoda, students are online at Cambly 24/7 so you can teach at a time that suits you, whatever time zone you live in so you can literally log on and make an income online whenever you feel like it.

There are also no minimum hours to teach per week, but the pay is lower than at Lingoda. The only requirement to join Cambly however, is to be a native speaker.

No Degree or TEFL/TESOL Certificate or prior teaching experience is necessary, so it is a great way to get into the ESL Teaching space for beginners!

 

Hopefully this Lingoda Teacher Review article was useful for you. If you have any questions about this Lingoda review do not hesitate to contact me!

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