Meet Claudia: Online English teacher from Brazil

In this article, we had a chat with Claudia Castelo, an online English tutor from beautiful and vibrant Brazil. She’s been kind enough to share with us her story of how she managed to find success working as a private tutor online.

With online teaching, one of the most common paths is to work for a school or platform. They’ll find the students for you, and you’ll work for them being paid depending on your performance and how many lessons you do. While this is a convenient and effective way to teach English, more and more people are making the leap to become private online tutors, working for themselves and taking home a larger portion of pay from each lesson.

Making the leap from working for an employer to starting your private online teaching career can seem like a bold move. Many teachers steer away from private tutoring as they fear that it’s too difficult to manage or that it’s too challenging to find students. These are both common misconceptions that are simply not true. Private tutoring is can be manageable if you prepare well, and there are plenty of private students waiting for you out there if you just know where to look.

If you’ve considered starting a career as a private online English teacher, then this interview is for you. Read below to find out more from Claudia in Brazil and how she privately tutors English online. Let’s hear what she has to say!

Claudia’s interview:

💬 What is your name and where do you come from?

“My name is Claudia and I come from Brazil.”

💬 How long have you been teaching English?

“I’ve been teaching English for 7 years. After I graduated from university, I started teaching children and young learners. I also had some opportunities to work at a few schools. All of these were amazing experiences that helped me prepare for my current venure, which is private online English teaching.”

💬 What made you decide to start teaching English?

“Ever since I was a child, I’ve been passionate about the English language. However, growing up, I never had the opportunity to go to a preparatory school to learn English. To get around this, I started to listen to songs in English as a way to practice.

Later when I started university, I had to study English really hard in order to keep up with the program. However, after a while, I felt that the English I was learning wasn’t enough. This is when I decided to take a preparatory course to see if I could get better results. It turned out that this wasn’t for me, as I noticed that I wasn’t learning in a way that matched my expectations. With my previous experience as a foundation, I started studying English by myself, which actually resulted in me seeing some great improvements.”

💬 Do you have any teacher training qualifications: TESOL/TEFL?

“In addition to my previous language studies in university, I now also have a 120-hour TESOL/TEFL certificate from World TESOL Academy.“

💬 Can you share some of your experiences from enrolling in a TESOL/TEFL course?

“Throughout the course, I was able to learn many new techniques and strategies that helped me enhance my teaching skills and also build confidence in my abilities. I now also have a better understanding of how to properly set up my workspace so that it is suitable for teaching English online to students of varying ages.“

💬 Would you recommend others also pursue English teaching certifications like TESOL/TEFL?

“Yes! I now know how important it is for English teachers to take a course like this. I’m a firm believer that teachers should be prepared to offer students one hundred percent of their effort.

Also, not only is the study schedule in the 120-hour TESOL/TEFL course flexible, but the price is also great if you are able to catch one of their offers.”

💬 When did you start teaching English online?

“I have been teaching English online for several years. However, it became my main focus at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

💬 Which platforms have you taught on?

“My online teaching experience is solely from private tutoring. Although I’ve considered applying to some online teaching companies, as of now, I still prefer to be my own boss.”

💬 Where are your students from, what age range are they?

“Nowadays, my students are from different states in Brazil. Their ages are mixed, ranging from young learners, to teens, and all the way up to adult learners. I often receive requests from people about tutoring their children. These are tutoring jobs that I’m very happy to accept, as I love working with children. “

💬 What does a typical private online English class/lesson look like when you teach?

“For my private online English classes I use a platform called Zoom to teach. It is the most famous one here in Brazil to offer online lessons on. I also bought study materials that I use with my students in class. For content, I teach them grammar, pronunciation, common phrasal verbs, idioms, and ways to be polite when asking questions.

I also often like to joke with my students to break the ice, and I try to be kind. In my humble opinion, this is very important as this will make them feel more comfortable and relaxed.”

💬 How did you find your private tutoring students?

“I found them through social media. Via my Instagram, they sent me direct messages asking about lessons. Another way to increase my number of students is through referrals. I’ve had success by asking people to help me share my Instagram profile, as well as having private tutoring colleagues recommend me to potential students.”

You can follow Claudia on Instagram here: Teacher Claudia.

💬 Any tips on how to retain students?

“I believe that when you love what you do, amazing things can happen. If you give it your one hundred percent when teaching, the students or maybe their parents will recommend you as great a teacher. They can tag you on social media, they can spread the word to their friends about you doing an amazing job, and you can share nice feedback that you’ve received from your lessons on your social media.

These are a few great ways to retain students and have them keep coming back for more lessons. It’s no secret that you have to enjoy the classes together with your students. This is something that I’m passionate about.”

💬 Do you have any tips for aspiring teachers on how to get started with private tutoring?

“Certainly! Here are my best tips that can help you start a successful career teaching English privately online:

1 . Use social media!

Think about how to connect with people through social media platforms such as Instagram. It can definitely be a helpful tool when it comes to finding new students around the world. It’s also a great way to display your abilities.

2. Get at least one English teaching certification.

Whether it’s a TEFL, TESOL or a CELTA certificate, the main thing is that you should get certified if you wish to teach English as a foreign language. Not only will it help you develop great teaching skills for private tutoring, but it will also make you eligible for teaching abroad and online if you wish to change it up. It is also often a requirement by a lot of employers, so having one can help you get hired more easily.

💬 Any tips for teachers that wish to explore a teaching career in Brazil?

“As I’ve mentioned before, enrolling in a TESOL/TEFL certificate course is important if you want to find good opportunties in Brazil. Another important thing is to learn Portuguese. This will help you to better understand native Brazilian speakers, which will make it easier to teach them.

You’ll have a lot of opportunities to further your career here in Brazil if you can speak Portuguese and if you are certified to teach English. The people in Brazil are very easy going, but also very charismatic, so it’s a great English teaching destination.

If you are looking to teach in person, you’ll find great opportunities in the capital. Here you’ll be able to teach corporate classes, as well as in schools and colleges. I believe that the best locations in Brazil are: Brasília, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Manaus.”

💬 What’s next in store for you? In which direction do you see your teaching career heading?

“I have a few directions in mind. Besides teaching private online English classes, I would also love to teach in a college. It would also be interesting to teach children and adults on an online platform. Another interesting path would be to pass the public exam and teach in a federal school.”

Conclusion

There are several career paths one can take as an English teacher. While some may prefer the convenience and security of working for an employer that is providing you with students, some prefer to cut out the middleman and be their own boss.

No matter which path you choose, there’s one thing that they all have in common, and that is that you should have the proper training needed to succeed. Not only is this good for yourself, as it will let you develop confidence in your abilities, but it’s also right for your students. Developing a great teaching skillset can allow you to create a thriving teaching career.

If you are brave, like Claudia, you may even dare to venture out and try private tutoring on your own. If this is the direction that you are heading toward, keep Claudia’s tips in mind, and you’ll have a great chance of having a successful career as a private online English teacher.