Teaching English to adults: 6 great places to teach adults

Adults can be some of the most rewarding students to teach – both in terms of salary and your own personal enjoyment. But where can you find such employment opportunities, and which ones are right for you? 

Living in an increasingly globalising world means that the need for good English is becoming more important than ever for adults. Unlike teens and young learners, that don’t have a choice but to study, adults tend to have more personal reasons for pursuing English language learning.

Things such as career advancement, higher education, self-fulfillment, etc. are all reasons why adults decide to pursue English language learning. Also, due to adults generally leading busier lives, the need for different types of language courses and learning formats are also needed. Teaching English to adult learners is a great career path with many different job opportunities.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular types of jobs you can find for teaching English to adult students.

1. General language proficiency classes

General language classes are some of the most common types of English teaching jobs you’ll come across. These types of classes cover all parts about English language learning, such as speaking, writing, reading, grammar, etc. They can also be conducted both in-class or online, which means that teaching opportunities are plenty!

For new teachers, this type of teaching job is the most common one to start out with. It’s a great way to start building up experience with teaching adults which can then later evolve into specialising in certain types of classes or areas of English language learning, such as business English or exam preparation.

2. Business English classes

For working professionals, business English classes are very popular. These are great for adults that wish to further advance their careers. If you possess the right qualifications to teach business English, then you’ll have a great chance to work with highly motivated individuals that take their learning seriously.

This is a great choice if you are interested in teaching specialised English courses that target certain types of students, and that also work with authentic real-life learning materials. Wages for teaching business professionals also tend to be on the higher side.

3. Corporate English training

Similar to business English classes, another big portion of the adult teaching market is corporate training. When multinational corporations expand and enter new foreign markets, they often have to attend meetings with their different regional offices. This creates a demand in their organisations for internal English language training. Also, as English is the default international business language, the need for a high level of English is important when conducting business with companies outside your country.

There are several companies that focus on providing English language training solutions to corporations. Similar to teaching business English, if you enjoy working in more of a corporate setting where you will be teaching working professional adults, then these types of jobs could be a good fit for you.

4. Exam preparation classes

Adult students will also often take English language classes when preparing to sit specific examinations. By learning about the kinds of exams that non-native English speakers might need to complete, you’ll be able to uncover some great teaching opportunities.

• University entrance exams

Upon graduating from secondary education (high school), many students decide to pursue higher education such as university studies. To be eligible for university studies, a lot of countries use entrance exams to decide which universities you are eligible to apply to. One of the subjects tested is typically English proficiency. 

Performing well on these exams means that the students are more likely to get accepted into better universities. Due to this, many students decide to study English in their spare time. This opens up a market where companies and private tutors focus on providing these types of classes to aspiring university students. 

• Graduate studies assessment exams

Some graduate studies also require aspiring students to take assessment tests in order to gauge their eligibility for admission. Some of the most common assessment tests are:

GMAT – Admission tests used by MBA and business programs to assess analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English.

GREBest – Admission test used for Masters and Doctorate program in the US.

TSA Tests – Used by UK universities to gauge the student’s critical thinking level and to see if they are suitable to enroll in their programs.

In order to perform well on these tests, it’s very common that aspiring graduate students enroll in English preparation classes or take private tutoring lessons.

• English proficiency test exams (IELTS/TOEFL/TOEIC)

Another popular type of test that adults take is an English proficiency test such as IELTS, TEOFL, TOEIC, etc. These types of tests are often used for job applications, university applications, visa purposes, etc. They are also usually structured in specific ways, which means that there is a need for specific preparation training in addition to English training. In order to prepare for these tests, a lot of students enroll in preparation courses or take private tutoring lessons from qualified teachers.

If you enjoy structure and teaching standardised content to adult students, then these types of teaching jobs could be just the thing for you.

5. University language classes

Upon graduating from secondary education (high school), a lot of students decide to pursue higher education such as university studies. As English is the default international language used in many fields, as well as the common need to do research using English sources, it is important that university students possess good reading, writing, and English speaking skills. It’s also not unusual for university programs to conduct classes in English. 

This creates a need for university-level English courses. Oftentimes, these courses are offered by the universities themselves which means that there are great opportunities for you to teach in a higher education setting. Due to popularity and higher pay grade, these types of teaching jobs can sometimes be a bit hard to come across, as the positions are usually quite limited, requirements are strict, and competition is high. It is nonetheless a very popular teaching gig!

6. Private tutoring

If you prefer to be your own boss, then you of course also have the option to privately tutor adult students. This provides you with complete freedom to tailor your lessons around your individual students’ needs, and you also get to set your own rates! One downside though, is that you are going to have to spend a lot of time hunting students, opposed to being assigned students through an employer.

A hybrid model would be to teach on an open platform like iTalki (link to our guide) or Preply where students are able to search and find teachers that are registered on the website. One major perk with these platforms is that you are still able to set your own rates. There are also a lot of adult students on these platforms. If you have great qualifications and are able to market yourself in an attractive way, then there’s a good chance that students will choose you.

Summary

If you are interested in teaching adult students, then you have plenty of opportunities to choose from. Just keep in mind that all of these jobs come with different qualification requirements, wages, and focus. However, if you prepare well and pursue the right qualifications, then you are on your way to starting a great career as a professional English teacher of adult students.