Teach English in Berlin

Berlin: An overview

Berlin may be full of musicians, architecture buffs and amateur historians, but it’s also full of people with an interest in education. Berlin is the academic heart of Germany, and though it has an excellent public education system, it’s also packed with colleges, universities and community colleges for adults. 

If you’re keen on teaching English in Germany, Berlin is an extremely safe bet in terms of work opportunities. For one thing, the tourism and culture industries require a decent standard of English, so tutoring opportunities exist from Kreuzberg to Hellersdorf. Private language schools are also plentiful, as are aforementioned community colleges where English is taught to a high standard. You’ll find, particularly if you want to teach English in Europe, that Berlin represents great travel links and opportunities for English teachers. 

International schools are also pretty common in Berlin, though these don’t necessarily offer traditional jobs for teaching English as a foreign language, and the entry requirements are lofty. 

German students expect quality, and they also expect teachers to be able to speak German, even at a basic level. When you teach English in Germany, you're going to want to earn the trust of both young learners and adult learners, and having a little bit of German language knowledge goes a long way.

Salary, Benefits and Cost of Living

Salary

So, what kind of salary is being offered in Berlin? If you’re able to secure full-time work - which can be difficult - you’re looking at an average salary of €1,400 to €2,200 (£1,200-£1,885/$1,506-$2,367). 

In a city like Berlin, where there are so many opportunities for tutoring, part-time work or freelance work more generally, you can charge German students around €12-€16 (£11-£15/$13-17) for a 45-minute lesson if you’re relatively new to TEFL teaching. If you’re more experienced, you can command up to €18-€30 (£17-£28/$19-$32).

Read more about TEFL salaries in Germany.

Benefits

Many schools and language institutes offer additional benefits such as housing allowances, health insurance, and contract completion bonuses. Some employers also provide airfare reimbursement and paid vacation days, especially for contracts that are one year or longer.

Cost of living

What about the cost of living while teaching English in Berlin? Surely living and working somewhere as popular and metropolitan as London or New York means it’s prohibitively expensive? Well, no, not really. According to Numbeo, rents are on average half of what you’d pay in London. A one-bedroom apartment in central Berlin costs approximately £1,110/$1,355 per month, but if you’re willing to live outside the main hub of the city, rent of around £770/$964 is commonplace.

Your basic utilities cost about £285/$357, and there’s a robust, inexpensive public transportation system which costs about £42/$52 to use on a monthly pass basis. A three-course meal in a mid-range restaurant is about £55/$70 - comparable to most major cities in Europe.