Being a teacher is an extremely rewarding career path. However, it’s also a particularly challenging one, with long hours and fewer avenues for advancement. In some cases, leaving the classroom might be the answer. For teachers, becoming a homestay host can unlock a plethora of opportunities.
At Lingoo, we help to connect homestay hosts with people who are equally as passionate about language learning. Our homestay hosts and families come from all walks of life, with diverse backgrounds that help them provide an even better, more enjoyable experience to foreign guests.
There are several career paths you can take and job options you can explore after obtaining an education degree. There are in turn many reasons why becoming a homestay host is a great choice of career after teaching. Read on to find out why life as a homestay host is a great step up after teaching.
Make use of your skills and qualifications
Whilst you don’t need any formal teaching qualifications or experience to host through the Lingoo network registering as a homestay teacher offers the perfect route to making use of your skills and qualifications. All the skills and qualities you’ve honed while studying and practicing as a teacher are fully transferable. Even a teaching qualification in a non-language based subject can come in handy when hosting students at your home.
Thanks to your teaching qualifications and experience, you have the skills to accelerate learning for the foreign students staying with you. Your teacher training will help you deliver tailored mentoring, arrange relevant experiences to aid language learning outside of the home and improve the quality of education provided.
Teach from your own home on your own terms
Traditional classroom environments aren’t the most creative spaces to teach in, but as a homestay teacher you have the freedom to craft your own teaching experience. As well as being able to deliver your language lessons from your own home, in this career after teaching you’ll get to work on your own terms.
There are no quotas or targets to hit, and you work flexibly at a time and in a way that suits you. Through Lingoo, you even have the freedom to select your own students. So you can make choices based on the interests and abilities that best fit the content of your lessons and courses, not the other way round.
Teaching students doesn’t have to be confined to your home either. As this career after teaching allows you to take lessons outside to ensure a more immersive learning experience. This will ultimately help your foreign guests connect with the country and culture that inspired them to study the language in the first place.
Boost your earning potential by setting your own rates
Teaching on your own terms doesn’t end there. You could be financially better off by becoming a homestay host in a career after teaching. As a homestay host you get to set your own rates as well as your work schedule, meaning you can boost your earning potential and achieve that desired work-life balance.
Depending on location and property type, homestay hosts with a teaching degree can expect to make a minimum of £400 per week as a career after teaching. UK residents can also earn up to £7,500 per year tax free as a homestay host.
To become a homestay teacher with Lingoo you will need to hold a recognised EFL or ESL qualification to teach English, such as TEFL, CELTA, DELTA, or TESOL and have relevant practical experience.
So if you’re a former teacher or looking for a change in career path check out our frequently asked questions section here for further advice on becoming a homestay language teacher.
