How To Teach Young Learners From Asia Online Effectively

If you’ve been looking for a job teaching English as a foreign language online, chances are you’ve seen an ad for a position teaching English to Young Learners from Asia.

It’s no surprise. It’s a big market.

So let’s make sure you’re properly equipped to teach Young Learners from Asia online effectively. 

We asked TTA alum Yasmien for her quick takes on what it’s really like to teach Young Learners from Asia online. Yasmien is a TEFL teacher trainer and qualified teacher with three years of experience teaching in South Korean classrooms and another three as an online English teacher. 

What follows is real talk, based on Yasmien’s first-hand experience of what’s worked.

🧠 Understanding Young Learners

What communication habits or behaviours should teachers expect from Young Learners in Asia?

Yasmien: I’m sure you’ve heard stories about how busy and stressful student life can be in many Asian countries – and those stories are true. The majority of Young Learners in Asia have extremely busy schedules. 

After-school classes are the norm, often combined with extramural activities and additional online classes – all on top of their regular homework. As a result, students may arrive at your class exhausted, distracted, or even occasionally fall asleep during lessons. 

This varies greatly from student to student. However, one constant is their respectful attitude towards teachers, which reflects the cultural value placed on respect for authority. 

In most cases, Young Asian Learners tend to be passive in the online classroom setting. This isn’t a sign of disinterest but a result of the teacher-centric approach used in their education systems. 

In countries like China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam, students are taught to be passive rather than active. Memorisation and repetition are prioritised, and making mistakes both inside and outside of the classroom can be a source of shame or embarrassment. 

I found that my students began to open up once I encouraged them to say the wrong answers! 

Read more: Encouraging Mistakes In The EFL Classroom

What motivates these learners — and what shuts them down?

Young Asian Learners, across the board, love receiving rewards and having a competitive element to their learning. My students loved it when I gave them stars when they answered a question well or showed progress. 

Visual rewards are a great motivator, and most online teaching platforms have a built-in rewards system that includes stars and sounds. 

Keeping your younger students engaged depends on their age and preference. 

Young Asian students typically enjoy singing along to songs, hearing sound effects and most importantly playing games. Making lessons fun is always be the best way to keep them engaged. 

🤝Building connection and confidence

How do you build rapport with learners who may be shy or reserved?

Learners who start out shy and reserved warm up to me very fast if I smile a lot and use playful hand gestures and silly facial expressions. These are my go-to icebreakers. 

If students are not responsive to that, I use my secret weapon – my cats! My students’ faces  immediately light up. They  start giggling, asking questions and engaging more naturally. 

To maintain that connection and encourage your students to participate more, consistently praise their efforts, not only their correctness. A star, thumbs up and simple phrases like “Great try!” and “Good job” go a long way in building confidence.

That’s a great tip: cute pets are always a win! (Or a dog!)

Teacher Luan and her dog

How can you make online lessons more engaging for shy or quiet learners?

Young Learners are highly sensitive to your mood. Being positive, warm, and energetic is key. I once taught a 6-year-old who didn’t say a word during our first lesson. For the next session, I created a personalised slide with her photo and fun images of animals and food. She lit up and began naming what she saw—“lion,” “cat,” “dog.” 

While her engagement faded later in the lesson, showing her my cat the following time helped build more trust. From then on, I started each class with something fun and relevant, which gradually led her to become talkative and enthusiastic. 

Gaining the trust of very Young Learners takes patience, especially when they’ve had little to no exposure to English.

My best strategy to get shy or quiet students engaged in the lesson is to play games with them using the target language of that lesson, which could be vocabulary, grammar or phrases. 

• For vocabulary-targeted lessons, playing Pictionary or Hangman is fun and simple enough for young students to play. 
• For grammar-targeted lessons, playing Spot-the-Difference using images helps students construct sentences naturally, using structures like the present continuous tense or prepositions. 
• For teaching new phrases, I have always found Charades to be incredibly fun and effective. I act out the phrase and the student has to guess it, which always leads to lots of giggles (at my expense) and a boost in my students’ engagement.

Using lots of Total Physical Response (TPR), such as gestures, facial expressions, and body movement, is key to keeping Younger Learners focused and engaged. These non-verbal cues make the lesson more dynamic while also supporting comprehension.

🏫Managing the online classroom

How do you adapt your classroom management for learners from Asia?

The best way to correct errors is to gently model the correct answer. We must be mindful not to over-correct, as this can deflate a student’s confidence.

Avoid any negative facial expressions or laughing at mispronunciations, even if they seem funny. These reactions can make students feel self-conscious and discourage them from speaking in future.

When it comes to managing discipline, many Young Learners have a parent or guardian present during online lessons. This is helpful if any behavioural issues arise. 

In instances where the learner is unaccompanied and an issue arises, direct confrontation should be avoided. Rather, positively redirect your student’s attention by using gentle prompts like, “One, two, three, look at me”, or, “Eyes on teacher”. These short, clear instructions paired with gestures or visual cues help refocus the student.

Read more: How Should Teachers Give Instructions?

What classroom habits and routines make your lessons smoother?

I always make sure to start my lesson by asking my students how they are and what they did that day. It builds rapport whilst simultaneously getting them to engage and practice their English organically.

To transition smoothly between lesson phases, I use the same phrases and visual cues in every lesson to create a predictable routine. For example, when moving from greetings to the main lesson, I form my hands into a book shape and say, “Let’s learn English!” This visual cue helps shift their attention and puts them into “focus mode”. 

At the end of the lesson, I like to play a quick game, provided we have completed our lesson objectives. This works wonders in motivating them to stay focused and to see the lesson through. 

These simple routines — greetings, transitions, and structured rewards — help Young Learners feel secure, know what to expect, and stay engaged in short online classes.

How do you balance structure and fun in a short online lesson?

Depending on the language proficiency of your learner, completing the lesson may not be possible in some cases. Rushing through the lesson just to finish content will leave your student feeling overwhelmed and, as a consequence, unable to retain any information. 

Pacing your lesson to match your student’s is best practice. I have found that focusing on one key component and letting my student master that before moving on works best, even if it takes the whole lesson. 

In the event of a restless and disengaged student, I divert their attention back to the task at hand. If that fails, I engage them in conversation around the topic. If that still doesn’t do the trick, I play a game with them using the target language. Young Learners cannot pass up a game!

What role do parents or guardians play during lessons?

I have found that parents or guardians are mostly present during online lessons, where they sit out of the camera’s view. I have also had parents eventually leave their students alone after they have gained a level of trust in me. 

In my experience, only a few parents of very Young Learners have prompted their students to pay attention or have spoken to their child to encourage them to speak. 

Parental engagement in online lessons has never been disruptive, but a source of assistance and encouragement.

💻Teaching tools & tech tips

What platform-specific or tech tips make a difference?

Online teaching platforms provided by ESL companies often come with a host of fun and engaging tools. Rewards like stars, badges, and sound effects are great for praise and motivation. Drawing tools are also useful for making lessons more interactive—students can circle answers, trace letters, or draw vocabulary words. 

That said, it’s helpful that most platforms allow teachers to disable this feature when needed. I once had a student who excitedly scribbled all over the screen mid-lesson!

For independent ESL teachers, Zoom is a popular and flexible platform. It offers useful features like screen sharing, a virtual whiteboard, chat, and fun background filters. 

Google Classroom is another great option, especially for assigning tasks and organising materials. While it doesn’t include built-in video conferencing tools, it integrates well with Zoom or Google Meet and adds structure to lesson delivery, homework, and student progress tracking.

Read more: Online Teaching Platforms You Need To Know

What’s your set-up like, and what would you recommend to new teachers?

My set-up is quite simple. I teach from a quiet, uncluttered space with a laptop, a good-quality headset with a mic, a webcam positioned at eye level and a notebook to make any notes for feedback or progress tracking. I can’t stress enough how important clear audio is. 

Young Learners often rely on tone and rhythm to understand language, so a decent mic makes a huge difference in delivering clear instructions.

Good lighting is key. I use a ring light to make sure my face is well-lit and expressive. A dark or shadowy screen isn’t just unprofessional, it’s distracting for learners who depend on visual cues like facial expressions and lip movement to follow along.

Yasmien’s work station

To create an engaging and distraction-free learning environment, I keep my background tidy and neutral. If I use a virtual background (on platforms like Zoom), I make sure it’s simple and not too busy. 

I always maintain eye contact by looking into the webcam when speaking.It helps students feel seen and more connected, even through a screen.

For software, I use screen-sharing, drawing tools, and interactive slides to keep lessons dynamic. I also keep props like flashcards, puppets, and small toys close by, which help make abstract language more concrete and fun.

For new teachers, my advice is: prioritise clarity, simplicity, and visual engagement. A reliable setup doesn’t need to be expensive, just well thought out for your learners’ needs.

💡Final thoughts

Share your most surprising moment while teaching kids online.

My most memorable moment happened at the end of a regular lesson. 

As I was saying goodbye to my student, his father unexpectedly appeared on screen for the first time. He thanked me for being a kind and helpful teacher. Then, my student told me that English was his favourite subject—and that I was his favourite teacher. 

I was genuinely touched and couldn’t stop smiling. I made sure to give the praise right back to him as he was such a curious, hard-working, and playful learner.

That moment not only validated my teaching approach but also reminded me why I love teaching.

Since then, I’ve carried a deeper sense of purpose into every lesson. It’s motivated me to keep showing up with warmth, energy, and care—because you never know how much your presence might mean to a child.

What are your top three pieces of advice for teaching Young Learners from Asia?

• Be energetic, expressive, and unafraid to be silly.
  Teaching Young Learners requires a lot of energy. You need to constantly engage them, which means using your voice, facial expressions, gestures, and even a bit of humour. If you’re too serious or self-conscious, you’ll struggle to hold their attention. It’s okay to be a little goofy—they’ll love you for it.

• Don’t underestimate how tiring it can be.
  I wish someone had told me just how exhausting it can be at first. Manage your energy and schedule wisely. Take small breaks in-between classes and most importantly conduct lessons that are as enjoyable for you as they are for the students.

In her free time, Yasmien enjoys hiking.

• Be understanding — these kids are exhausted.
  Many Young Learners in Asia have packed schedules filled with school, after-school classes, homework, and even other online lessons. It’s not unusual for a student to show up tired, distracted, or even fall asleep during class. Rather than getting frustrated, be kind and flexible. Work around their energy levels, offer breaks when needed, and adjust your expectations with empathy. Your understanding can make a huge difference in how safe and supported they feel in your class.

Cultural sensitivity is key to understanding Young Learners in Asia. Yasmien has provided plenty of food for thought that you can utilise in your online lessons to excite and engage your Young Learners. Like she says, don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself—it’s all in the name of education!