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How do I start a language tutoring business?

Yes — a language tutoring business can be started by one trained practitioner with a laptop, and the specialist end of the market (adults preparing for exams, families seeking heritage-language maintenance, children's immersion) is one of the more durable niches an independent tutor can pick. The six decisions that actually shape whether it earns: pick a target language and demographic (your native language or one you teach fluently, plus adults vs children vs exam-prep vs heritage-language); finish the credential families expect for that language (TEFL/CELTA for English, FLE for French, ELE for Spanish, DaF for German, DITALS for Italian, CTCSOL for Mandarin — a native speaker without a teaching credential is often still hireable, but credentialed tutors command more); set your rate at the specialist band for your language and segment, not the generic one; work the referral channels language tutors convert on (diaspora communities, cultural institutes, international-school parent networks, homeschool co-ops, immigrant settlement services); line up the materials the lessons actually need (a coursebook or spine series, an authentic-media source, an SRS tool for vocabulary, optionally a licensed curriculum); and pick a platform that lets a child or adult practise the language on screen — drag letter or character tiles, read authentic material you both can click on, review their pronunciation afterwards — rather than one that only shows them your face.

Why language is a strong niche to specialise in

Four reasons an independent online language-tutoring business is a particularly good fit for a solo practitioner, in rough order of how heavily each one shows up in the tutors we actually hear from:

  • Durable demand that renews on calendar beats. Children in immersion or bilingual programmes need language support across school years. Adults preparing for proficiency exams (IELTS, TOEFL, DELE, DELF, Goethe-Zertifikat, HSK, JLPT) hit calendar deadlines and will pay for intensive coaching in the three to nine months before them. Families who want to maintain a heritage language for their children renew by terms rather than treating a tutor as a one-off purchase. The engagement arc is long by the standards of general tutoring — months to years rather than weeks.
  • Niche-by-language is a built-in moat. "I teach Mandarin to primary-aged children of Chinese heritage families" is a much shorter sentence than "I teach language" and a much easier referral to make. The specialist angle is not a constraint on your addressable market — it is what makes the market addressable to you. Families searching for a tutor for their specific language in their specific demographic are looking for exactly one person, not comparing ten.
  • Scarce supply at the specialist end for rarer languages. Trained Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and heritage-language teachers are harder to find than English or Spanish tutors in most Western markets. Online delivery unlocks families who geographically could not reach you — the only Japanese-for-children tutor in a US small town, or the only Arabic maintenance tutor in a Canadian city, can serve the whole country from a laptop.
  • Pricing holds up for credentialed adult work. Business language, exam preparation and heritage-language maintenance all tolerate specialist rates. A tutor who moves out of the generic "any-level conversation partner" slot and into "I prepare adults for the Goethe-Zertifikat C1 in Berlin" or "I run DELE B2 intensives for Spanish learners in London" earns differently from one who takes any student who turns up.

The flip side is also real: the English/ESL half of the market is extremely competitive and dominated by low-rate marketplaces where a new tutor is competing on price against workers in lower-cost-of-living countries. The non-English half of the market is thinner but less contested. A new tutor who decides on language and demographic first — and then on a platform — ends up in a very different position from one who signs up for Preply or Cambly on a whim. The first six months are quieter than you expect either way.

Pick a focus — which language, and which demographic

"Language tutoring" is not one market. The four shapes an independent language tutor usually lands in, each with different training expectations, different rate bands, and different referral channels:

  • English as a Second Language (ESL/EFL). By far the largest segment globally, especially for teachers of children in East Asia and adult professionals worldwide. Rates on tutor marketplaces (Preply, Italki, Cambly, Verbling) commonly start below the generic new-tutor band because of international supply; independent tutors who build their own student base typically earn $30-$60/hr once established, with business-English and exam-prep specialists reaching $60-$120/hr. If this is your choice, read the dedicated how to teach English online hub for the ESL-specific depth on finding first students, structuring packages, teaching reading, teaching exam prep, and the business-English specialty — this page covers the business-starter decisions that apply to any language, and the ESL hub covers the pedagogy and operations specific to teaching English.
  • European languages (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese). Mixed market of adult hobbyists, high-school and university students preparing for proficiency exams (DELE, DELF/DALF, Goethe-Zertifikat, CELI, CAPLE), professionals learning for work or relocation, and families seeking heritage-language maintenance for their children. Rates for credentialed specialists typically sit $40-$80/hr for adult conversation and exam prep, higher for business-focused work. Referral mix: Alliance Française / Instituto Cervantes / Goethe-Institut / Istituto Italiano di Cultura networks, university continuing-education programs, expatriate family communities, international-school parent networks.
  • East Asian languages (Mandarin, Japanese, Korean). Strong child-learner demand from heritage families in diaspora communities, plus adult hobbyists and professionals needing the language for work or culture. Children's Mandarin programs for ages 5-12 are a particularly durable niche in US, UK, Canada and Australia. Rates typically sit $35-$80/hr for credentialed native speakers teaching adults; children's programs sit similarly, often packaged in weekly recurring slots. Referral mix: heritage-family parent networks (WeChat groups for Mandarin, specific Facebook / forum communities for Japanese and Korean), Chinese community schools, local cultural associations.
  • Specialist / rare / classical languages (Arabic, Russian, Hebrew, Latin, Classical Greek, specific dialects). Smaller markets per language but less contested. Latin and Classical Greek for school exam prep (GCSE / A-level / Common Entrance in the UK, AP Latin in the US) command specialist rates with motivated families. Arabic maintenance for heritage families and Modern Standard Arabic for adult learners pay similarly. Referral mix: faith communities, independent school networks, specialist tutoring directories, academic networks.

You can run two of these shapes side by side (adult conversation plus children's heritage work in the same language is common); three is usually a mistake. The marketing message is sharper the fewer student profiles you claim. If you are not sure which to pick, start with the language you teach most fluently and the demographic you most enjoy teaching — a bored tutor is a losing tutor, and students pick up on it inside two sessions. A language-tutoring niche is also distinct from the general tutoring business the how-to-start-an-online-tutoring-business guide covers — reach for that page for the business basics (home-office setup, incorporation, generic payment stack, website) this one does not restate.

The training families expect you to have

Families shopping for a language tutor ask about credentials differently depending on the language. The names most commonly recognised by target language:

  • English (ESL/EFL). TEFL (120-hour standard commonly accepted), TESOL, Cambridge CELTA (the gold-standard entry teaching qualification) and Cambridge DELTA (the senior one). Trinity CertTESOL is Cambridge's main rival. Independent English tutors routinely combine TEFL/CELTA with specialist exam-prep credentials (Cambridge, IELTS examiner training) for the business and exam-prep niches. For the full ESL credential discussion see what qualifications do I need to teach English online?.
  • Spanish. ELE (Español Lengua Extranjera) teaching diplomas, run through Instituto Cervantes and partner universities. Formación ELE and the Instituto Cervantes Formación de Profesores programs are the widely-recognised teacher-training path. DELE and SIELE are the student-side proficiency exams — being an examiner-trained tutor for either is a credible specialisation. A native speaker without a formal ELE diploma is still hireable; the credential helps you charge more.
  • French. FLE (Français Langue Étrangère) teaching diplomas; Alliance Française runs teacher training in most major cities worldwide. DELF/DALF are the student-side proficiency exams (named here to clarify they are not teaching credentials). TEF/TEFAQ are the Québec-specific exams and have their own examiner-training paths.
  • German. DaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache) teaching diplomas; Goethe-Institut runs teacher training. Goethe-Zertifikat is the student exam suite; examiner training for specific levels is a visible specialisation.
  • Italian. DITALS (Certificazione di Competenza in Didattica dell'Italiano a Stranieri) from the University for Foreigners Siena, and the parallel DILS-PG from Perugia, are the two widely-recognised Italian-teaching credentials. The CELI (student exam) has its own examiner track.
  • Mandarin. CTCSOL (Certificate for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages) is the formal Chinese-teaching credential, successor to the earlier Hanban certification. Many practising Mandarin tutors — especially native speakers — teach without a formal credential, and the children's-family market in diaspora communities often cares more about demonstrated experience with children than certification. The adult / exam-prep (HSK) end of the market credentials more rigorously.
  • Japanese, Korean. Formal teaching credentials exist (Japanese Language Teaching Competency Test; TKSOL for Korean) but are less widely held than the European-language certifications. Native speakers with teaching experience are the common profile; a demonstrated track record often weighs more than a certificate. Exam-prep tutors (JLPT for Japanese, TOPIK for Korean) credential more carefully.
  • CEFR levels. The Common European Framework of Reference (A1 beginner through C2 near-native) is the shared vocabulary language tutors and students use for proficiency. Being able to place a student on the CEFR scale and talk about where they are and where they want to be is table-stakes for serious language work. The framework applies to most non-English languages taught in Europe and increasingly worldwide; US and East Asian contexts sometimes use national equivalents (ACTFL Novice through Distinguished in the US, HSK 1-6 for Chinese, JLPT N5-N1 for Japanese).

Two honest notes. First, no one credential is "the" credential for most languages — different markets, families and student exam targets recognise different programmes. If you are picking training from scratch, pick the one most used in the families and geographies you plan to work with, not the one with the fanciest name. Second, whether a credential is required to teach the language privately in your jurisdiction, and whether there are visa or work-permit implications for teaching students who are citizens of another country, varies by country and situation. Check your local rules before you commit. We do not give that advice here, because it changes, and because the wrong answer causes real problems.

Setting your rate

New online tutors in the US and UK typically charge $25-$45/hr when they start, and language tutors who stay in that band for the specialist niches usually leave money on the table. The rate reality for a trained language tutor in 2026:

  • $25-$45/hr — a generalist / conversation-partner tutor, or an ESL tutor on a tutor marketplace competing against international supply. Starting here while you build references is fine; staying here five years in is usually a signal to niche down or move off marketplaces.
  • $40-$80/hr — a credentialed European-language or specialty-language tutor working with adults, mid-career, with references. This is the heart of the specialist band for most non-English language work in US and UK markets.
  • $50-$120/hr — business English, exam preparation (IELTS, TOEFL, DELE, DELF/DALF, Goethe-Zertifikat C1/C2, HSK, JLPT), credentialed specialists working with professional adults. Business-focused and exam-focused work holds the strongest premium because the outcomes are measurable and the deadlines create urgency.
  • Rarer languages and heritage-language specialists often command rates above the generic band for their family demographic, especially when the supply of credentialed native speakers in the student's geography is thin. A sole Japanese-for-children tutor who serves a national diaspora from a laptop sets a different rate from a Spanish conversation partner on a crowded marketplace.

Three practical rules we hear from the language tutors we talk to. One, pricing cheaply on your own website reads to an adult professional family as under-qualification, not value — the same adult who happily pays $25/hr for a casual tutor on Italki expects to pay $60-$80/hr when they are preparing for a C1 Goethe exam that affects a job offer. Two, publish your rate on your website rather than negotiating per inquiry; the energy you save on each sales conversation funds another lesson. Three, review your rate on a calendar (one month a year, non-negotiable) rather than when you work up the nerve — the general how-to-start guide covers the mechanics of a yearly rate review in more depth, and the mechanics are the same for a language tutor as for anyone else. For the hour-by-hour pricing math — annual revenue, taxes, teaching hours per week — the sibling how much should I charge for online tutoring? page is where the calculator lives.

Finding your first students (the channels language tutors actually convert on)

Language-tutor acquisition splits sharply by segment. ESL on marketplaces runs on marketplace mechanics (profile quality, review volume, response speed); independent language tutoring runs on referral networks and community visibility. The channels that actually work for a new independent practice, in rough order of how reliably they feed intake:

  • Diaspora and heritage-family community groups. The single highest-converting channel for children's heritage-language work. Chinese family WeChat groups and Facebook pages for Mandarin; Spanish-speaking parent groups in US school districts; Italian heritage associations in Boston or Toronto; Russian-speaking parent networks in New York or London; Japanese-American family communities on the US west coast; Korean parent groups in LA and Seoul expat networks. Participate as a native-speaker tutor who happens to be visible, not as an advertiser. One or two sustained-presence relationships can carry a solo practice.
  • Cultural institutes. Alliance Française, Instituto Cervantes, Goethe-Institut, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Dante Alighieri Society, Confucius Institutes, Japan Foundation branches, Russian cultural centres. These host events, run classes, and often maintain informal referral networks between their staff teachers and private tutors — a group-class student who has outgrown the group often needs 1-on-1 continuation. Introduce yourself in person at an event; a short email with your credentials, lesson shape, and references follows well.
  • International schools and bilingual programmes. Parents of children attending French-immersion, Spanish-English dual-language, Mandarin-immersion, or International Baccalaureate programmes often look for supplementary tutoring. Learning-support coordinators and language-department teachers at these schools are referral partners; a short email outlining what you do and offering to meet lands more consistently than you expect.
  • Homeschool co-ops and homeschooling parent networks. Language electives are a frequent homeschool gap, and co-ops contract private tutors for small-group work. Facebook homeschool-mom groups by region are a cold-but-warming channel.
  • University continuing education, local community colleges, adult-education catalogues. Teaching a short-run language class there is one of the cleaner ways to build a reputation locally; motivated students from those classes often look for continuation privately after the term ends. Early-career move more than a mature-practice move.
  • Language exchange apps (Tandem, HelloTalk) and language-learning communities. Not primarily tutor-marketing channels, but places where you are visible as a knowledgeable native speaker. A tutor who is active and helpful can convert a few committed students a year from these communities without being salesy.
  • Immigrant settlement services and language-support charities. New-arrival families often need a private language tutor for the children (host-country language) or want to maintain the heritage language. Settlement workers refer when they can.
  • Current families' extended networks. One happy family with teenaged children can refer three or four other families; ask explicitly for a referral when a student graduates a milestone (passed B2, started high school, moved to the next grade).

What usually does not work for a new independent language-specialist practice: paid Google / Facebook ads at scale (CPCs are high and intent for private language tutoring is diffuse), broad tutor marketplaces for anything other than ESL at marketplace rates, and generic "I'll teach any language" positioning (the specialist angle is the whole marketing message). If ESL on marketplaces is your plan, the dynamics there are different and are covered in more depth on the how to teach English online hub and on the Preply whiteboard explainer for the Preply-tutor case specifically.

Materials: coursebook, authentic media, vocabulary tool

A language tutor needs three material categories lined up before the first paying lesson:

  • A coursebook or spine series. Something that structures your lesson sequence and gives a student a visible arc. Widely-used series by language: Spanish (¿Qué chévere!, Realidades, Vista Higher Learning's Descubre, Aventuras); French (Alter Ego, Édito, Discovering French, D'accord); German (Menschen, Begegnungen, Klasse!); Italian (Nuovo Progetto Italiano, Nuovo Espresso); Mandarin (Integrated Chinese, New Practical Chinese Reader); Japanese (Genki, Minna no Nihongo); Korean (Integrated Korean, Sogang Korean); English (Headway, English File, Cambridge English Empower). You do not have to use a coursebook — strong tutors assemble sequences — but a new tutor who tries to assemble is usually trying to do pedagogy and curriculum design simultaneously, and it is harder than it sounds.
  • An authentic-media source. News sites in the target language, YouTube channels at appropriate levels, graded readers, podcasts, songs with transcribed lyrics, foreign-language film libraries. Students at any level above complete beginner need exposure to actual language use, not just the coursebook. Having one trusted source per level in your pocket (DW Deutsch Lernen for German; TV5Monde Apprendre for French; Chinese Pod and the HSK-graded readers for Mandarin; NHK Easy News for Japanese; VOA Learning English for English) saves you hunting at lesson time.
  • A vocabulary and review tool. Spaced-repetition flashcards are how vocabulary actually sticks. Anki (free, open-source, deep customisation) is the serious choice; Quizlet is the friendly one students actually open; Memrise and Drops are option for younger learners. You do not have to make all the decks — the Anki shared-deck library covers most target languages well — but you do need to make a specific recommendation and show the student how to use it. "Just use flashcards" is advice that fails; "install Anki, I will share a deck with you, we will do 10 new cards per day" works.

Two notes. First, coursebook licensing varies — some series let a tutor use the book with a student, some require a per-student license, some are freely downloadable. Check before you build a term's worth of lessons around pages the publisher will later ask you to pay for. Second, the Koala Go Marketplace at marketplace.teachwithkoala.com is a growing library of lesson activities other working tutors have published and shared, including some language-tagged ones (ESL phonics, children's letter-formation, alphabet practice with heritage-language diacritics). These are peer-made, not Koala-produced; evaluate each on its merits. As a starting pool to pull from when you do not want to build every slide from scratch, it is a real resource worth checking.

A platform that supports the language-tutor workflow

The platform decision matters more for a language tutor than for a general tutor, because the pedagogy depends on specific capabilities: the student has to produce language — not just hear it — and both sides need to be touching real text and real media together. A plain video call plus a screen share breaks on this. The surface capabilities we would look for in any platform you shortlist:

  • Shared canvas with drag-and-drop objects both sides can touch. Sentence-building with word cards. Matching letters, characters or kanji to their sounds. Verb-conjugation drills where the student drags the correct ending into place. Vocabulary pairing. On Koala Go the whiteboard is a Fabric.js canvas with Sticky-note objects, Stamp images and Text tools that both tutor and student can drag live; group-select on the canvas lets you build or tear down a layout mid-lesson, which matters when a 45-minute lesson cycles through five different drill shapes.
  • Smooth drawing for character and letter formation. Essential for Mandarin, Japanese and Arabic — stroke order is pedagogy, not decoration. A pen tool that keeps up with a stylus or trackpad so you can model a character and the student can copy underneath in the same canvas. Also useful for European-language diacritics and for younger learners of any alphabetic language.
  • Live shared browser for authentic materials. Foreign news sites, publisher-hosted graded readers, YouTube videos in the target language, a Spanish Netflix episode with subtitles, Duolingo-style practice sites, an exam-board sample paper hosted on their own website. Koala Go's cobrowser is a live shared webpage: you and the student are both on the same real site and either of you can point, click, scroll and type. The free tier gives 10 minutes at a time with a 20-minute cooldown; the full session comes with Koala Pro. Works with any public web page — DW Deutsch Lernen, TV5Monde Apprendre, Chinese Pod, NHK Easy News, HSK sample tests, the Goethe-Institut practice pages.
  • PDF and PowerPoint upload for your coursebook library. Any language tutor who has been teaching for more than a year has a folder of coursebook pages, dictation sheets, exam past-papers and grammar reference cards. A platform that takes those files as uploads (on Koala Pro) and lets you annotate on top of them preserves the library instead of asking you to rebuild it.
  • Lesson recording for pronunciation review and parent updates. Short clips of the student speaking are among the most useful material a language tutor can send home — a parent of a heritage-language child wants to see progress they can hear, and an adult exam-prep student benefits from reviewing their own speaking attempts between lessons. Koala Pro records to your own machine; Koala Platinum adds cloud recordings that can be shared per lesson. Both capture the shared canvas alongside the video, so the review surface is the drill plus the voice, not just the face. The recording explainer covers consent and sharing.
  • An engagement layer for younger students and heritage-family children. Children in weekly heritage-language sessions often come to the lesson tired, bored, or reluctant — the pedagogy depends on keeping them engaged across weeks and months of sessions that compete with the easier draw of their first language. Koala Go's per-student Gems (teacher gives 1-100 gems at a tap, with a visible, auditory response) is one way to reinforce effort; the 3D Playground is a second (useful for a two-minute movement break between drill segments, or for an end-of-lesson reward beat where the child can describe the scene in the target language). Neither is magic — the point is that the tutor has a lightweight second channel for the reinforcement work the pedagogy requires. One ESL tutor framed it simply as "It is the most engaging tutoring platform for kids. No Zoom burnout!" — not a feature list, just the honest read of what matters for the young-learner case.
  • Worldwide invoicing with the payment rails families actually use. Teaching Mandarin to families in mainland China or Chinese-heritage families outside it means WeChat Pay matters. Teaching Spanish to a family in Mexico means handling MXN. Koala Go's built-in invoicing accepts payments from any country (including WeChat Pay) and families outside your home currency pay in theirs via the payment rail's conversion. See teaching students in mainland China for the China-specific notes, which apply to Mandarin tutors as much as to ESL tutors.

Koala Go's free plan is a real virtual classroom (not a trial), capped at four students per session, with the whiteboard, Gems, Playground, and short cobrowser sessions available. Koala Pro is $25.99/month monthly, or $21.99/month billed annually, and is where the unlimited cobrowser, lesson scheduling, PDF/PowerPoint upload, and local lesson recording unlock. The practical read for anyone considering it: open classroom.teachwithkoala.com, run a real 45-minute lesson with a candidate student on their own device in your target language, and feel whether the drag-and-drop, the cobrowser on your usual authentic-media source, and the recording side hold up for the pedagogy you teach. The best fit test is one real lesson, not a demo.

What else to figure out before your first paying lesson

The business plumbing that is easy to put off and painful to ship late:

  • Placement and intake. A short intake form (student age, prior learning, target language, specific goals, exam date if any, CEFR self-placement) and a 20-30 minute first conversation in the target language where you can hear the student speak gives you a working CEFR estimate and the shape of the engagement arc. A tutor who takes on every student without placement is a tutor whose first few weeks are a surprise for both sides.
  • Trial lesson vs placement lesson. Many language tutors run a paid or reduced-rate placement lesson rather than a free trial — the parent / adult needs the diagnostic conversation and a lesson plan more than they need a sales demo. The sibling page how do I run a good trial lesson? covers the generic trial-lesson shape; adapt it to a placement-lesson one.
  • Parent / student communication rhythm. For children's language work, a one-paragraph session recap in English (or the parent's language) after every lesson plus one longer monthly progress note is the most common pattern. For adults, a short written recap in the target language becomes a vocabulary-review resource. Short recording clips carry weight for both. The sibling page how do I share progress updates with parents? covers templates.
  • Scheduling and cancellation policy. Weekly recurring slots convert and retain much better than ad-hoc booking, especially for a language that compounds across sessions. A clear cancellation window (24-48 hours is standard) with a makeup-vs-charge policy, written on your intake form, prevents the eventual awkward conversation. The sibling how do I schedule online tutoring lessons? page covers the scheduling-tool side.
  • Recording consent. If you plan to record and share clips, get written parent (or adult student) consent on the intake form and verbal confirmation at the start of each recorded session. What is required legally varies by jurisdiction; check your local situation.
  • Payment flow and currency. A monthly package or term invoice works better than per-lesson billing for a long language arc — the family treats it as a committed programme rather than an open-ended series of transactions. If you teach across borders (common for diaspora families and adult professionals), confirm up-front which payment rails and currencies you support — presenting the parent with "I bill in USD, your card will settle in your local currency at your bank's rate" prevents the end-of-term surprise.
  • A simple website. One page: which language you teach, which students you work with, what credential you hold, what a typical arc looks like, where you are based, what families pay, and a contact form. A Notion page, a Carrd, or a one-page template on your own domain is enough until well into double-digit students.

Honest limits — Koala Go gaps a language tutor should know about

Three gaps worth naming before you commit:

  • No built-in spaced-repetition flashcard system. Koala Go is a lesson-delivery classroom, not a vocabulary-review platform. You will keep whatever SRS tool you use (Anki, Quizlet, Memrise) alongside Koala — assign cards for between-lesson practice, review them inside the lesson by sharing the SRS tool through the cobrowser or by rebuilding a quick drill on the whiteboard. A combined classroom-plus-SRS platform does not exist in the industry we know; running two tools is the normal shape.
  • No built-in dictionary, translation, or CEFR placement tool. Language-specific utilities (a Pleco Chinese dictionary, Linguee for parallel-text lookup, DeepL for translation) sit outside Koala — open them in your own browser or share them through the cobrowser when needed. We do not try to be a dictionary; your students will have better ones.
  • iPad is workable but not best for character languages. Koala Go runs in an iPad browser and many students use it that way, but the pen precision and drag-and-drop feel are better on a Mac / Windows laptop with a mouse or a graphics tablet. If stroke-order teaching for Mandarin, Japanese or Arabic is central to your lessons, that matters.

A short decision rule for whether to launch now

  1. Do you have a credential appropriate to your target language, or a clear plan to get it in the next 6-12 months? If yes, you are a credible tutor to the families who need one — start building. If no and you are not a native speaker, start the credential first. If you are a native speaker in an under-credentialed market (Mandarin and most East Asian languages), lived experience plus demonstrated teaching track record can carry you — but prepare an answer for the credential question families will ask.
  2. Have you taught at least a few students in your target language, even unpaid? One sibling, one neighbour's child, a volunteer stint at a community-language programme. The confidence from "I have done this ten times" is what makes the first paid lesson not fall apart.
  3. Do you have one visible community foothold? One cultural institute you attend, one diaspora Facebook group you contribute to, one school whose parents know what you do. One is enough to seed the practice; two or three accelerates it meaningfully; zero means a longer and quieter first six months.
  4. Can your intended platform do the six things the pedagogy requires? Drag-and-drop tiles both sides can touch, a smooth pen for character / letter work, a cobrowser or equivalent for authentic materials, PDF upload for your coursebook library, lesson recording for pronunciation review, and a reinforcement mechanic for younger students. If yes, build the practice. If no, change the platform before you take the first paying family — switching tools six months in is a much worse day than switching tools now.

If you want to walk any of this through with us — the Koala side specifically, or the language-tutor-business side generally — write to koala@teachwithkoala.com with a sentence about the language and student population you plan to serve and the credential you already have. We will give you our honest read. We are a small team of techies from families of teachers; a lot of what we build, we build because an independent language tutor asked us to.

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