Meet Onyinye – Online ESL Teacher from Nigeria

In this article, we’ve had a chat with Onyinye, who is an online ESL teacher from Nigeria. She’s given us a glimpse of what teaching English online can look like, along with her best tips on how you too can build a successful teaching career.

Onyinye is a dedicated ESL teacher who is currently living and working remotely as an online English teacher in Lagos, Nigeria. She began working full-time as an online English teacher in 2019 after finishing her internship as a business administrator in a tech startup firm.

Since then, she’s been working diligently to build a successful career teaching English online. Let’s join her as she shares what life as an online English teacher in Nigeria can look like, and her best tips on what you should keep in mind if you too wish to build a successful teaching career.

How it all started

I had no specific reason to intern as a business administrator after bagging a Bachelor’s in Animal and Environmental Biology at the university. I just needed a job and found an opening. The pay was low and it was quite tasking but that was all I could find around that time.

During my time there, I was introduced to a medical student who had returned to Nigeria after studying in Ukraine. Let’s call her E. E had studied and worked part-time as an ESL teacher online to make ends meet in a country where she was without family and friends. I was intrigued by the job description and was more than interested in becoming a teacher.

Entering the ESL teaching industry

One time, she asked me to ghostwrite some educational articles and stories targeted at young learners for the company she was working with as they needed to upgrade their learning syllabus. It was for a little fee but I jumped at the offer and delivered. It fetched me some extra money which was “cool cash” to me at the time because I was paid in US dollars.

My interest in becoming an ESL teacher heightened and I started to apply randomly to companies that I found online using Google search. None of my applications were successful, which was to be expected as I had limited relevant qualifications at the time, and barely a clue on how to apply.

Fortunately, E was informed by her company that they needed more teachers as they were expanding. She was to be given a referral bonus for every teacher they could successfully hire. It was a huge opportunity for her and me as well because my internship was ending and I had lost interest in that field.

Getting my teacher qualification

E was able to organize a boot camp for interested aspiring teachers in her city. I flew to her city and was immersed in the program where I learned how to teach English.

The next steps included writing a CV tailored for teaching, studying for my TESOL/TEFL certificate, and shooting my first introduction video (which is cringe-worthy to watch at this present time). Finally, I applied to her company.

In the end, it paid off because, later that year, I started working part-time with my first ESL company where I taught kids with some of the articles I wrote. It was a dream job come true. It didn’t matter that my students were 7 hours ahead of me (GMT +8), and my peak work hours were from 2 am to 5 am (GMT +1); I was still able to teach kids with zest.

This was the pivot of my new life as a remote worker, and it was the beginning of a small network of Nigerian ESL teachers.

Life as an online teacher

When I first started teaching, I was quick to think that I had already gained the experience I needed for better pay in just a few months. I was already open to working with multiple companies at a time to increase my income. Within a few months, I had already updated my CV and applied to many other companies I could find.

I was met with a brick wall most of the time and I couldn’t help but feel a bit of frustration. In retrospect, I wasn’t ready to advance because being a teacher is a lot more than just teaching students. Other aspects needed a few more months to improve. These other aspects were as important as my teaching skills.

They were time management, creating a work-life balance, knowing the best internet services that best suited the online platform I was working with, and most importantly, learning about each student’s needs and tailoring my classes to suit each of them. All of these mattered at the beginning of my career as a teacher because when I truly desired to earn more, I couldn’t find companies that were willing to offer good hourly rates that matched my skill level.

Four years of long hours and hard work gaining experience, extensively searching for better opportunities, and fine-tuning my job application materials have resulted in me earning a spot in two top ESL companies with significantly better work policies and time zones. Most importantly, the native and non-native barriers didn’t affect my employment contracts with these two establishments.

Currently, I’m satisfied with my pay, although I am still aiming for better in the future. I work less for more and I daresay I have achieved a satisfactory work-life balance.

Teaching time

My first class of the day usually starts at 7 a.m. With this company, 60% of the students are based in Russia ( Moscow time GMT +3). Each class per individual is for 30 minutes with a 10-minute break in between. I have classes until 11 a.m then I go on a compulsory break set by the company’s booking manager for me because of my timezone. Between 11 a.m to 3p.m, I dash to the gym for a quick workout, take a cold shower, microwave and eat my lunch.

I usually resume teaching a one-hour group class known as “Speaking Club” where I am an anchor for a class of 3-4 people who get to practice their speaking skills on certain topics assigned to them. Then after a 10-minute break, I resume my 30-minute classes with other students until 6:50 p.m.

On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I have to take a compulsory nap from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. because I have to teach a group class from 11 p.m. to midnight with the second company. The students are based in Vietnam (GMT +8) and their classes begin at 5 a.m. Vietnamese time. Their lessons, which are held on the ClassIn app, are based on interesting topics that I brush up on beforehand. Afterward, I write a report on each student’s performance before going to bed around 1 a.m.

Final thoughts

What I’ve discovered over the years teaching online is that it’s more than possible to make a comfortable living as an online English teacher despite the challenges of working in different time zones and navigating language barriers.

To help prepare yourself for a teaching career online, I recommend pursuing the necessary training and qualifications for the job role, watching YouTube tutorials on how to become a good teacher, and connecting with other teachers.

It’s a worthwhile early investment that can give you a head start in building a solid foundation for a successful online teaching career!

As we thank Onyinye for sharing her insights, her story shows that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible as long as you set your mind to it.