Tutoring English Online with Voxy

Voxy: An Overview

Don’t be fooled into thinking that Business English means drier lessons, less inspiring vocabulary or lessons that, simply put, aren’t as fun. If anything, the Voxy approach puts real-world events and practical learning at the forefront of its language teaching methodology.

Since forming in 2010, Voxy has been seen as something of a “disruptor” in Educational Technology circles. Using an integrated mobile and web platform, the company has utilised new media and new technology to create lesson plans that students can take both in a classroom setting and in their own time. With novel ideas like karaoke-style music programmes, using news stories from the Associated Press, and utilising real-life scenarios, Voxy aims to cut through any superfluous learning and get users ready to converse and work in English. It's also quite fun for employees!

Voxy boasts that it can provide learners with 100+ new language lessons per month, based on their own preferences, their specific abilities and what they’re most interested in. A teacher, then, becomes something of a coach, helping users to empower themselves. It’s a very modern, helpful and specific approach to English teaching. Still, given the millions of users and the several rounds of investment that Voxy has received to date, it’s obviously one that works.

Job description 

As far as English teaching jobs go, Voxy is an interesting proposition. When students first start with the company, they are onboarded onto a specific teaching platform. It’s a software that’s available both on a mobile app, and on a student’s browser; a central system where lessons can be booked and material can be studied.

When the student first uses the software, they are asked about their current level of English proficiency, their preferences and what they’re interested in learning. The whole course is algorithmically tailored to the student’s preferences and desired learning outcomes. The teacher, then, has all their materials and curricula prepared for them, with help from Pearson. 

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing for an English teacher to do on Voxy, though. Far from it. Having another language is key, as it helps to ease the transition into English learning. You have to teach a student in a task-based style, helping them to navigate particular language scenarios and describe situations.

Essentially, it’s a tutoring job, but with the bonus of having an advanced technological infrastructure there to help a tutor teach English and a student learn English. Yes, the classes are designed for you, but you've still got to review a student's progress, provide helpful feedback, and generally keep the classes moving. A student's course is updated daily, so make sure to review the next lesson in advance.

Assignment

If you match Voxy’s job specifications, the company will reach out to you and ask you to complete an assignment. Normally, you’ll be asked to design a lesson plan which reflects the task-based education that Voxy uses to help clients learn English. You’ll be given a specific example of a task, for example, booking a haircut or taking a car to the garage, and your lesson plan must be about how a student would negotiate this situation.

You’ll be given a date for finishing the assignment, which is usually two days after it’s sent. Pass that, and you’ll be called for an interview.

Interview 2

If you’ve passed the first interview, you’ll be given a date for a second and final interview with Voxy. This time, it’s all about your methodology to help clients learn English. Specifically, you’ll be asked to show off your expertise in crafting real-life, situational scenarios for learners. You’ll also need to show how you would support a client who is making grammatical mistakes, and how you’d fix any problems, teaching phrases as you go.

If you pass this interview, you’ll receive an offer to join the company and help support English learners to become fluent speakers.

Pros

• Flexibility: You have to teach 10 hours a week. Beyond that, your ability to earn and teach is pretty much yours to decide.
• Non-native speakers: Fluent speakers of English, whether native to an English-speaking country or not, are welcome.
• Training and support: If you’re looking to upskill and take on some career development, Voxy will let you do that.
• Networking: As far as connections go, you could be rubbing shoulders with some big names in world economics before long. If you have plans to freelance later on, this could be crucial networking.
• Infrastructure: Lesson plans are updated daily, there’s an app for clients, and the software for booking lessons is industry-leading. Voxy's learners study their way to proficiency via private tutoring and group lessons, all supported by a helpful infrastructure which makes organising classes super easy.