5 Creative Ideas for Boosting Results and Adding Fun in Your Online Language Lessons

One-to-one language lessons are a favourite resource in any successful learner’s arsenal, and most smart learners have long discovered that they can easily meet tutors online (check out italki if you haven't tried it yet).

But for many learners and tutors, it’s not always easy to stay excited about lessons...

…if all you ever do is talk about last week, language lessons quickly get boring

…if you don’t feel like you’re spending your money on a good tutor, you might give up

And teachers, beware: If there’s no creativity in online lessons, no one gets to have the results or the fun that they should have.

Be sure to check out my blog post on 13 essential online language teaching tools that will help elevate your lessons and make them more fun and engaging!

So what can you do to make sure you’re on to a winner?

In today’s blog post, we will talk about 5 online language lesson ideas that you can use no matter if you’re a learner or a teacher. As long as you are hanging out with someone to practice your target language, these ideas will really kick you into gear.

Ready? Then let’s discover how to improve your language lessons right now.

Contents

1) Create a Study Plan Together
2) Boost Your Listening Skills on Togethertube
3) Let the Student Correct the Language Tutor
4) Tired of Talking About Your Day in Language Lessons?
5) Write a TripAdvisor Review
Frequently Asked Questions
Need Support On Your Language Learning Journey?

1) Create a Study Plan Together

If you are in the market and looking for a new tutor right now, chances are you’ll want to know what you’re getting for your money. And if you’re a tutor taking on a new student, you’re keen to reassure them that they’ve made an awesome choice.

You simply get together and talk about where you want to be and what your language goals are for the next weeks and months (Create Vision and Path Goals from the Language Habit System® ), and it’s the tutor’s job to help break down these goals and outline which resources you will be using.

Lesson planning takes 30-60 minutes, and I definitely recommend doing this activity together as a solid start to your student-tutor partnership.

2) Boost Your Listening Skills on Togethertube

One of the biggest risks of relying on a single person to be your regular language practice partner is over-reliance on their accent and voice. You may find that weekly conversations get easier, but it takes a multitude of voices for you to understand language at native speed.

I recommend watching online videos together using Togethertube. You can easily control the player, stop the video and discuss what’s going to happen next.

I was super excited about this tip because I had no idea Togethertube existed, and especially because it plays Dailymotion videos…and Dailymotion is the home of Deutsch Plus, my favourite cheesy 90s German learner soap.

3) Let the Student Correct the Language Tutor

You’re probably used to being corrected all the time by your tutor, so how cool would it be to turn that around? The next online language lesson idea is for teachers to finally allow learners to correct them! The tutor prepares a text containing mistakes like wrong words, grammar errors, or a punctuation mistake. The student’s job is finding and correcting each mistake.

I’ve used this idea in my own lessons. It works with groups and individuals, and the challenge always helps to create a productive and focused lesson. After all, who can resist showing off their knowledge?

If you want more fun ways to engage students, check out my blog post on language learning games that you can easily incorporate into your lessons.

4) Tired of Talking About Your Day in Language Lessons?

Nothing can kill a good language lesson quicker than running out of things to talk about. You’re likely working with a tutor to improve your speaking skill, and if you’re nervous about starting to talk the following tip is guaranteed to help you loosen up.

Select a range of pictures that inspire conversation (you can find great pictures on Unsplash or Pixabay). You can ask your tutor to select them with you, or to surprise you with something really weird. It’s the student’s job to describe what’s happening, what might be shown in the photo, and what the people in the picture might be saying.

Take it to the next level with AI

In AI Language Club, we have created a library of easy ideas for spicing up your studies with AI tools. One of our most popular ideas is creating an image with AI. You can do this in tools like ChatGPT, Dall-E, and Copilot, and in a language lesson it’s fun to come up with multilingual descriptions and ideas.

5) Write a TripAdvisor Review

Everyone loves creating reviews, and especially getting to share their travel experiences, so this is perfect. In Lindsay’s book, she gives 3 great scenarios and ideas that tutors can use to write those ideas with you right now. For example, why not go all out and describe your dream trip, somewhere you’ve always wanted to stay, and write about the hotel from heaven?

This activity is awesome because it encourages writing, but it’s so easy to combine it with reading real trip reviews online and even watching hotel promo clips. I love this so much, and I know my students are into travel and have a lot to share…can’t wait to read their holiday experiences!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Teach Languages Online?

To explore my full guide to becoming a language tutor working from anywhere, check out this course: Live Lessons Strategies for Online Teachers and Tutors for practical tips and resources.

When it comes to online language teaching, setting yourself up for success starts with a few key principles:

Understand Your Audience: Identify who your students are and what their goals are. Tailoring your lessons to their needs will make your teaching more effective.

Set Clear Objectives: Define what you want your students to achieve by the end of each lesson. Clear goals help keep both you and your students focused.

Choose the Right Platform: There are many platforms available for online teaching, such as Zoom, Google Meet, or specialized language teaching platforms like Languatalk and italki. Choose one that suits your teaching style and technical needs.

Can You Teach Yourself a Language Online?

To successfully teach yourself a language online, start by setting clear goals and defining what you want to achieve with realistic milestones. Another crucial part of learning a language by yourself is expanding your vocabulary. You can incorporate effective techniques for memorizing and using new words to boost your fluency by checking our blog post on the best vocabulary learning techniques.

Consistency is key, so aim to practice regularly even if it’s just for a few minutes each day!

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Make a Living Online With These 13 Online Language Teaching Tools

If the start of the 2020s has taught the world anything besides the importance of vaccinations, it has to be how fantastic it is to learn online.

But have you thought about teaching languages online before?

There are lots of great reasons to teach languages online:

🛋 It’s super convenient to teach from your home or office..

🚙 …and adventure is open to you because you can teach languages online when you’re on the road

💰 You can save money on class materials like outdated books and CDs.

⚖️ And it’s a super flexible job, which puts you in control of your time!

All this becomes much easier when you have the right tools, so today we’re rounding up the tools that we think you absolutely need to start your business.

Best Video Conferencing Tools for Teachers

As an online language teacher, you need fast internet and a stable connection, so the first important thing is to check your speed using something like Speedtest so you can be sure your internet is reliable.

Next, you need a video conferencing app. Here are 3 to try:

1. Zoom, one of the most popular video conferencing tools for online teachers that want to have meetings with high security, a cool whiteboard, and great video quality. The app is not entirely free, but if you go for it you can get group meetings included.

2. Google Meet has one big advantage: No need to download an app! You can easily screen share and chat in your browser or on your phone, and it works super well with Google Calendar. This is great when you want your students to make sure they show up for lessons. SMS invitations are easy now!

3. Whereby is a newer video platform. You can bring colour to your teaching life with its many custom options, and it never requires any software downloads. The free plan allows unlimited 1:1 meetings, though you only get one meeting room URL to share.

Best Online Tools to Teach Vocabulary

When you are teaching your students online, you will often want to share new words and expressions that come up in conversation.

The majority of online teachers use the in-built chat function in Zoom for this, and many will also type words into Google Docs as they go.

Here’s how to make it more fun:

As an online language teacher I provide many touch points so the student benefits from natural review and repetition. The following tools can make teaching vocabulary into a game:

1. Memrise is a vocabulary learning app with in-built courses and options to make your own vocabulary sets for students to use. The courses are built around CEFR levels (A1-C2). Memrise is easy to use and its feature of “mems” helps students make words sticky.

2. Quizlet is very popular with teachers, especially if you base your lessons on resources that you use many times. It’s a simple flashcard app, allowing students to review on the go. You can create a custom set of vocabulary phrases and words for them, or use pre-created sets from other users.

3. Kahoot is an amazing tool for creating super fun quiz games. Best for when you are teaching groups of students, because they can compete to get the right answers just like on a quiz show!

For more ideas to use as an online language teacher, click here and discover 6 vocabulary learning techniques.

The Best Online Tools to Teach Grammar

Let’s face it, teaching grammar is an art in itself. I do not advise teaching grammar by reading out rules to students, instead I use a curiosity-based method that is perfect for adult learners.

1. Online whiteboards like Limnu can help you and your student understand grammar through visual explanations.

2. Whimsical is a great place for more visual explanations, for example through flow charts and mind maps.

3. If you want to encourage speaking, why not ask your students to answer questions or record sentences where they practice new grammar structures! Tools like Speakpipe are fantastic for this, and personally I’d consider using Voxer or Whatsapp (it’s where I do my coaching sessions!).

4. Finally don’t underestimate the power of playing games with your language learners. Gamified apps are nice, but they will love it so much more when you can engage them in a game so they don’t even know you’re teaching grammar! Here are 5 games that will help you teach a language in lessons, online and offline.

The Best Platforms to Find Students as an Online Language Teacher

Languatalk’s listing page where you can find students

There is a BIG market of platforms for online language lessons, but beware because they are not all the same. Some platforms are MUCH more fair to teachers. My advice is that you should not feel pressured to price yourself cheaply.

If you’re a quality, creative language teacher (here are a few great ideas!), your students will benefit from your lessons and you can earn good money through your work.

So let’s see..here are a few platforms that make finding online students easy.

1. Languatalk are a new language learning platform who have been a big hit with teachers. The teachers on Languatalk love how easy it is to set up and adjust your profile and how there are no hidden fees. The team is also very available for supporting new tutors. Recommended for any online teacher with experience or qualifications.

2. italki are one of the big names in language learning, and they stand out for their HUGE range of languages. You will find students here no matter which language you want to teach, but be aware that the market is very busy. Italki don’t always accept new teachers for every language. Recommended if you teach a rare language.

Apart from those two platforms, I don’t recommend that you rely on the big marketplaces too much. Use them to get started and only continue if you find you’re getting great students at great rates. In my experience, the best way to get great work as an online is to build lasting relationships with great students.

Here’s The Full List of Tools for Online Language Teaching

I hope this list was helpful for you and that you found the tool you were looking for! Here’s a quick reference list of what they were:

For Online Video Conferencing: Zoom, Google Meet, Whereby

For Teaching Vocabulary Online: Memrise, Quizlet, Kahoot

For Teaching Grammar Online: Limnu, Whimsical, Speakpipe, Voxer, Games

For Finding Online Language Students: Languatalk, italki

If you would like to bookmark this article, here is the address:

https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/online-teaching-tools

Frequently Asked Language Teacher Questions

How do I become a language tutor?

Anyone can start tutoring languages,

1. Advertise yourself locally with flyers in local venues like cafés and libraries.

2. Contact local schools and let them know that you offer tutoring services.

3. Find students online! In this article, you will learn about my top recommended platforms where you can make a profile and start teaching online.

4. Find a good location to teach, for example your home or a café.

5. Set yourself up for taking payments. This can be cash, by card, or via online platforms.

What qualifications do I need to teach languages?

This varies depending on the learner and the platform. Sometimes they will look for someone to practice conversations, and you can be that partner even without qualifications. At other times, you will need specific qualifications such as

• Teaching diplomas like CELTA

• Language degrees like Masters or Bachelor

• Experience working in schools or tutoring environments

If you want to tutor young people in person, you might also need a criminal records check.

How do I become a freelance language teacher?

You will usually need to set yourself up as a self-employed person in your country, so that you are legally allowed to earn money. Please check this with your local government so you’re above board when it comes to tax.

To teach online, you need good internet, a microphone, and video conferencing software like you can read in this article.

Finally, if you want more experience you can offer to participate in free language exchanges. Here are some great tips for making language exchanges work for you.

Got More Questions About Teaching Online?

I have over a decade of online teaching experience, from 1:1 language lessons all the way to creating a hit language course.

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