The Complete Guide to Teaching Online with Lingo Live

If you’re on the hunt for an online teaching job, you’ve probably seen a lot of opportunities to work for Chinese companies like Dada or SayABC. These companies focus on teaching basic English to Chinese children and they make up a fair percentage of the online teaching market.  

However, this doesn’t represent the whole industry, and there are some companies that offer online lessons in business English and communication. If you think your skill set is more suited to teaching business English or communication skills to adults then the company we’re going to talk about in this article –Lingo Live– could be the right choice for you.

About Lingo Live 

Lingo Live is a North American company that focuses on helping business people improve their communication skills. Although a lot of the focus is on helping non-native speakers improve their English skills, the company offers lessons to anybody that feels as though their communication needs to be improved. This could be non-native English speakers or simply business managers that find it difficult to communicate with their employees effectively.

Due to the type of clientele that Lingo Live markets themselves to, the requirements to teach for the company are quite different from the average online teaching job. Let’s take an in-depth look at what it takes to become a Lingo Live Coach.

What are the requirements to teach for Lingo Live?

Lingo Live has a fairly unique set of teacher requirements. Although you don’t necessarily need a degree or a TEFL certificate, that doesn’t mean that it’s an easy job to get. 

The requirements to become a Lingo Live ‘Coach’ are as follows: 

• A proven history of impact in teaching, coaching, or management  (Associated higher education/certifications or 5+ years of career experience),
• An articulate and curated approach to goal-setting and progress-tracking,
• An established skillset in designing situated, task-based learning experiences for their clients,
• Practice applying language and communication concepts to workplace performance, growth, and excellence.

Some of the requirements above seem fairly abstract, but I think the company basically requires its coaches to have experience teaching English and communication to higher-level students in a business capacity. 

If you can demonstrate this type of experience through either your qualifications or your past work, you should be able to progress to the next stage of the application process.

What does Lingo Live pay?

Lingo Live doesn’t advertise it’s exact pay rates on its website or on the Coach application form. After searching on teacher forums and job ads it seems that most Lingo Live coaches earn somewhere between $15 and $18 per 45-minute session.

After looking at the application form, I think that the rate you are quoted will depend on your qualifications and experience. On the application, teachers are given an option to tell the company what fees they usually charge on other platforms so it’s likely that this will play a part in the rate that you are offered. 

What is the interview process for Lingo Live?

The first step to applying to become a Lingo Live coach involves filling out a fairly extensive application form that can be submitted online. The form includes sections such as:

• Personal Details 
• Information about what languages you speak and would like to teach 
• Details about your experience teaching pronunciation, presentation, interpersonal skills, writing, and leadership
• A 250-word essay on how you would deliver  “task-based situated learning that drives impact in the workplace?” 
• Your Skype contact details 
• Your tax and location details

Once your application is complete you can submit it for review. If the company is currently hiring and you meet the requirements then someone from the company will contact you regarding the next steps. 

If the company is not hiring right now, your application will be filed and you may be contacted when positions open up.

What is it like teaching for Lingo Live?

So now you know what Lingo Live pays and how to apply, let’s talk about what it’s like to teach for the company. Below are some details about the schedule, platform, and students you can expect to work with on Lingo Live.

Schedule

Lingo Live is based in North America, and a lot of the company’s clients are too. This means that lessons could take place during regular North American business hours. However, the platform is available to clients 24/7 so depending on which clients you’re paired with, your schedule may vary and could be unsociable. 

Lingo Live teaching platform

Lingo Live has a dedicated learning platform for delivering lessons, but the application form does advise that some clients prefer not to use it. For this reason, they ask that all coaches also have a Skype profile just in case.

Lingo Live students

As mentioned earlier in the article, Lingo Live is specifically designed for business people to improve their communication. As such, all the students that you will teach on the platform will be adults. 

Lingo Live works with major companies like Microsoft, Eventbrite, Zillow, Dell, and Slack, so you can expect that the students you work with will already have a decent level of English. It’s likely that you will mostly work with non-native speakers to improve their overall communication skills and help them to build on their language skills to be used in the workplace.

Lingo Live reviews

Well, we’ve covered just about all the important details about working with Lingo Live, but it’s always important to find out about other teachers’ experiences with the company. 

Lingo Live gets extremely good reviews on Glassdoor and it scores an overall rating of 4.7 out 5. 

Due to the specificity of teacher requirements, it seems that Lingo Live coaches enjoy their work a lot more than the average online ESL teacher. According to reviews online, the company offers good support to teachers. 

One teacher said: 

“There is great flexibility in students from a worldwide base (I have taught students from Taiwan, Quebec, China, Japan, and the USA … The staff is very supportive and usually gets back to you within 48 hours, even during the holidays they were great. You don’t feel out on your own.”

On the whole, negative comments about the company focus on the efficiency of the teaching software. One teacher said: 

“Right now their scheduling software is quite buggy, scheduling students for multiple lessons and then they miss their lessons, only to learn that the person stopped their lessons months ago. Sometimes you sit through the 45-minute class period with nothing to do.”

Overall, it seems that the Lingo Live coaches are happy with their experiences and the company just needs to make some minor changes in order to improve the system for both their clients and their coaches.

Resources & FAQs

So, there you have it. A full rundown of everything you need to know about becoming a Lingo Live coach. If you want to know more about the company, check out the Lingo Live website. It’s pretty extensive and you can also check out the Coach application form. 

You can also find more teacher reviews on Facebook groups like Hired Online ESL Teachers with Job Reviews. Below are some FAQ’s that you might want to check out. If you can’t find the answers you’re looking for, feel free to drop us a comment! 

Can you teach without a degree?

Yes. However, you will need to evidence extensive experience working in the business English and communication niche.

Do you have to be a native speaker? 

Yes, if you want to teach in English. However, the company does offer support in other languages such as Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish and even sign language

Do you need a TEFL? 

No, a TEFL certificate is not required to become a Lingo Live Coach.