5 ways to keep earning throughout the TEFL summer break
You don’t have to watch the income dry up when term time ends for the summer break. TEFL teachers have skills that can keep them in the money throughout the warmer part of the season until classes begin again. Yep, there are oodles of positions to choose from, ranging from teaching-related jobs that are 100% remote to short-term seasonal jobs that make use of interpersonal skills and that sense of adventure. Let’s take a look…
Teach English online
Online TEFL teaching has been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the past five years or so. First, it was booming in no small part thanks to the onset of the pandemic. Then the Chinese government moved to outlaw online teaching jobs and there was a big dip in the number of available positions. These days, online teaching has once again stabilized and there are a growing number of jobs on offer in schools that don’t work within China. Wages have also stabilized at around the $15-20/hour mark for natives and a little less for non-native teachers. The other good news is that demand for online teaching doesn’t dry up in the summer months. There’s still plenty of students on the hunt for quality English practice willing to hire on both formally and informally.
TEFL summer camps
When the weather warms up and the official school term ends for the year, TEFL summer programs start in earnest. They’ve long been popular throughout Europe but are becoming increasingly common in Southeast Asia and South America, too. They are basically residential vacation camps for kids that involve active pursuits and English tuition. Seasonal positions for between two and six weeks as both teachers and camp leaders can pay pretty competitively, and you’ll often get board and lodging thrown in. Good places to look for TEFL camps are Italy, Switzerland, France, and Germany.
Blogging
There’s money to be made in blogging, you know. It’s a slow burner but if you’ve a passion for writing and something to say – and most TEFL teachers have some pretty good stories to tell! – then this could be the summertime cash cow you’ve been searching for. To start, you need to launch your own website and start publishing. The main challenge is in getting an audience in the first place. Once that starts happening then you can make money by throwing some display ads into the mix or even partnering up with TEFL companies to make affiliate income from recommending products and courses.
Become a tour guide
Do you have a deep knowledge of ancient Rome? Have you got a penchant for Spanish cooking? Enjoy German craft beer? All of these could be a good reason to become a guide in a popular travel destination. You could run food tours or history walks around major landmarks, or do something more outdoorsy like guided treks or surf camps. The great thing about it is that the summer break coincides with peak tourist time across much of Europe and North America, so there should be plenty of opportunity to make it work.
Be a house sitter
Because we’ve already seen how summer is the time when most people in Europe and the US go on holiday, it should hardly come as a surprise that it’s also the time when there’s the highest demand for house sitters in the Northern Hemisphere. What’s house sitting, you ask? Well…it’s like babysitting only you’re looking after a building not a child, although sometimes there’s a dog or a cat thrown in the mix. Most house sitting gigs aren’t paid but some are. The real saving will come because you get to live somewhere new and exciting totally rent free.
If you can think of any more ways to keep making money throughout the TEFL summer break, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. If you’re ready to start teaching English in person or online, be sure to check out our courses page right now.