by Laura Gruner
Updated on November 7, 2022
The truth about working for Lingoda
So you may already know that Lingoda is an online language school, but you’re probably wondering how does that work? And, more importantly, what is it really like to be working for Lingoda? What is involved? Laura, a Lingoda teacher, writer and content creator explains all.
Once you’ve reached a certain age and you meet new people, it is almost inevitable to touch on the topic of “What do you do?” While most other people are answering: “Office job, a blog about Berlin Street Art (wow, no one else is doing that…), cat sitting” I say: “I work for an online language school!” Then they usually look at me and ask: ”What do you do there?! And how is it?” Well, I love it and let me explain, why.
When I moved to France, I wanted to continue teaching, but here comes the big surprise: French people are not crazy about learning German.
Just before I decided to move to France, I had heard from a colleague in Berlin about something really new to me: online language learning. So, as soon as I arrived, I did some research and found Lingoda. I then applied to become a Lingoda teacher. Shortly after, I was contacted by the Digital Education Team, who asked me if I wanted to work for them as a Content Author. “A what?!” you might think, well I did, too. Anyway, Content Authors are these incredibly cool and creative people who work on the Lingoda course material.
In the past, I had made some materials like games, memory cards, etc. but I mostly followed a book. This time I was responsible for a whole unit of German learning materials! Luckily, Lingoda had very good guidelines and was clear about their expectations. Within these limits, I was free to be creative and come up with engaging lessons that could easily be understood by teachers and students. I really liked that: clear communication, creative freedom, working whenever I want (I’m an owl, so midnight, till 3am, is the perfect time for me) and being able to work from home. Trust me, if you can avoid going out in the typical “Brittany rain” that you almost don’t see and feel stupid to use rain clothes for, but still end up being soaked up to your Schlüpfer, you appreciate remote work! On the other hand, having colleagues around can also be quite helpful, especially when you need to get some inspiration when you’re stuck. To help, the Digital Education Team provided me with links or other materials. I was also able to speak to the team members whenever I had questions.
Then, the Teacher Team contacted me and I took a trial lesson. I passed! I suspect it was my winning smile. No, seriously, I actually studied German as a foreign language (just the master’s thesis left, yay!), so it was not too much of a challenge. Also, the Teacher Team explained everything and made sure to answer all my questions.
After that, I was finally ready to meet my first students and fell in love: Lingoda students are cool, relaxed, funny, cute and sometimes everything at the same time. I love working with them, because they are motivated, challenge me and my knowledge and have a lot of interesting stories to tell. I must say that I find it even a bit sad not being able to see them more often and have a class that I teach regularly, but this is really just my wish. My head understands that it is in their best interests to experience a variety of teaching styles, accents, and personalities as possible, but my heart…
And last but not least, about a year ago, I was offered to work for the Marketing Team. At first, I was a bit shy, because marketing is quite far from what I have done before, but the Marketing Team had faith in me, so I started writing my own blog entries instead of just translating blogs into German!
I actually do not like writing long texts at all (remember, the thesis? I could have written it seven years ago…), but the topics are so interesting and my manager, (who is called Laura too) is so supportive and nice (must be the name ) that it is actually quite easy and enjoyable to write. Of course, all the writing happens at night too, but again, I have the freedom to work whenever and wherever I want.
So, whenever people ask me, I can full-heartedly say: “It is a fascinating and funny job, that is never the same and even adapts to my preferred working hours. Yeah, it is a bit “lonely” at times, but everyone at Lingoda does their best, to make you feel welcomed and helped.
