What is a Language Instructor?

Many people are learning new languages and exploring our vast, beautiful world. The traveling plans may take time, but you can learn your favorite language with the help of a talented Language Instructor. It's also a wonderful career path for those who love to discover various languages, as the field has an expected growth of 11% by 2028.

Did you know there are approximately 6,500 languages spoken around the world? Yes, and talented language instructors have spent their lives teaching these magical dialects. If you want to become one, the first aspect of the art is to educate yourself through proper channels. It's crucial to note here that 43.3% of language instructors have a bachelor's degree.

The language instructor's primary responsibility is to teach new and eager students their target language. Typically you can earn an average of $38.11 an hour, which is amazing. You can perform various class activities, employ unique methods, and teach literature and cross-cultural studies.

What Does a Language Instructor Do

There are certain skills that many language instructors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, speaking skills and writing skills.

Learn more about what a Language Instructor does

How To Become a Language Instructor

If you're interested in becoming a language instructor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 65.5% of language instructors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 21.0% of language instructors have master's degrees. Even though most language instructors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Language Instructor
Top Language Instructor Jobs Near You

Language Instructor Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of instructor you might progress to a role such as consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title principal.

Language Instructor

Average Salary for a Language Instructor

Language Instructors in America make an average salary of $57,946 per year or $28 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $82,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $40,000 per year.
Average Language Instructor Salary
$57,946 Yearly
$27.86 hourly
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Roles and Types of Language Instructor

The role of a language instructor includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general language instructor responsibilities:

  • Deliver foreign language training using government- or contractor-provided documentation, including assessment plans, instructor guides
  • Striving for excellence in teaching and learning, fostering student development,
  • As a part time language instructor, you will deliver lessons in accordance with berlitz teaching principles: focusing on the interests

There are several types of language instructor, including:

Instructor

Role:

Instructors are knowledgable about a topic and work to pass that knowledge off to their students. Whether you work in a gym or a school, instructors are super important to the students' success.

There are lots of possibilities for you as an instructor. You could work at a health club or a gym or you could work for a school and instruct math. There are so many different instructors out there, basically any topic you can think of probably needs an instructor.

Your hours will vary depending on what industry you decide to go with. You may find some jobs require you to work nights and weekends, like if you were to become a fitness instructor, while school instructors only work during school hours. Your schedule really depends on what you're passionate and knowledgable about and when people want to learn it.

  • Average Salary: $53,426
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Student Teacher

Role:

Any teacher that has a student teacher is relieved they have them. As a student teacher, you get to go through school again, but this time you get to help others with the assignment rather than actually complete the assignment yourself.

Most student teachers are learning to become teachers themselves and generally shadow a classroom in an elementary or secondary school. But don't limit yourself. While much more rare, there are student teachers that work at universities or colleges. So it comes down to whether you'd rather assist dependent or independent students.

Generally, your student teaching experience will only last a semester or two. So make sure you're writing down good notes! At the end of being a student teacher, you'll have the opportunity to take over the class on your own. From preparing the lesson to correcting homework, you'll be doing it all by yourself in no time.

  • Average Salary: $59,035
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Adjunct Faculty

Role:

The adjunct faculty is responsible for teaching graduates and undergraduate students in a specific field of expertise. You are allowed to plan, create, lecture, and provide in-class discussions and assignments. Your job allows you to plan and develop a syllabus and ensure it meets college and departmental standards. Plus, you are responsible for grading and assigning papers, exams, and quizzes.

You will give class instructions, evaluate students' performance, and also coordinate courseware and curriculum with the academic department head. However, you will need to be a people person as you need to develop and sustain relationships with students for effectiveness. You will also need to participate in faculty meetings involving departmental updates, prepare materials and supervise the distribution, and make copies of supplementary materials available for distribution in class. You may also be required to maintain a record of student progress, involvement, and attendance.

An adjunct faculty must be detail-oriented, punctual, and must be able to motivate. He/She must also be a lover of academics, possess excellent communication skills, self-discipline, and the ability to teach well. The average salary of an adjunct faculty yearly is $50,000. An adjunct faculty must have a Master's degree in a related academic field.

  • Average Salary: $83,069
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Language Instructor Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active language instructor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where language instructors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Language Instructor Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,760$88,688
2Texas2,405$48,679
3Florida2,228$58,198
4New York1,573$84,784
5Illinois1,504$64,324
6Virginia1,408$54,712
7North Carolina1,355$52,922
8Georgia1,161$52,949
9Michigan1,139$60,033
10Massachusetts1,131$62,230
11New Jersey1,087$56,554
12Pennsylvania1,046$61,415
13Colorado1,031$54,965
14Maryland988$58,975
15Ohio950$53,434
16Arizona844$49,884
17Washington780$65,006
18South Carolina776$47,834
19Minnesota731$50,036
20Indiana591$50,892
21Oregon571$56,063
22Connecticut552$63,801
23Tennessee551$50,444
24Nevada523$60,745
25Wisconsin520$51,998
26Missouri509$54,723
27Iowa444$50,751
28New Hampshire436$67,373
29Kentucky397$50,029
30Louisiana395$57,696
31Kansas391$48,585
32Alabama355$46,241
33New Mexico329$44,903
34West Virginia309$54,853
35Oklahoma293$42,173
36Utah254$52,179
37Nebraska253$54,133
38Mississippi224$45,192
39Idaho216$47,513
40Delaware212$66,755
41Montana200$55,664
42Vermont197$75,672
43Arkansas177$43,778
44Maine150$63,393
45Rhode Island150$61,599
46Hawaii136$49,941
47South Dakota128$53,829
48North Dakota114$69,381
49Alaska112$63,528
50Wyoming112$54,008

Language Instructor Education

Language Instructor Majors

English
21.2 %
Linguistics
8.8 %
Business
8.5 %

Language Instructor Degrees

Bachelors

65.5 %

Masters

21.0 %

Associate

6.2 %

Top Colleges for Language Instructors

1. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

4. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

5. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

6. University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,391

Enrollment

8,568

7. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

8. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

9. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

10. Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,453

Enrollment

4,312

Top Skills For a Language Instructor

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.4% of language instructors listed kids on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and speaking skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Language Instructor Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Language Instructor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Language Instructor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Language Instructor Resume
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Language Instructor Resume
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Language Instructor diversity

Language Instructor Gender Distribution

Female
Female
56%
Male
Male
44%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among language instructors, 55.8% of them are women, while 44.2% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among language instructors is White, which makes up 62.7% of all language instructors.

  • The most common foreign language among language instructors is Spanish at 27.2%.

Online Courses For Language Instructor That You May Like

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1. Teaching EFL/ESL Reading: A Task Based Approach

coursera

This course explores ways of teaching reading skills in English as Second and Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) using a task-based approach. You will be introduced to the concept of task and the key principles of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and learning. TBLT uses communicative tasks as the key unit for creating language learning activities. You will also examine the role of reading in real-life and in second and foreign language teaching and current thinking about the interface between TBLT...

2. Teach English Now! Teaching Language Online

coursera

Whether you have already taught English as a Second Language and want to start teaching it online, you've already been teaching ESL online and want to sharpen your skills, or you are new to teaching and interested in teaching ESL online, ASU and VOXY provide you with the basic ideas and concepts you need to know in order to successfully teach ESL online. This course uses a fun and interesting theme of "International Travel" to deliver content in an entertaining way. There are also plenty of...

3. Complete Spanish Course: Learn Spanish Language Beginners

udemy
4.3
(1,982)

Spanish Course for Beginners - Learn Spanish Language - Subtitles inEnglish, French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian...

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Best States For a Language Instructor

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a language instructor. The best states for people in this position are California, New York, Vermont, and North Dakota. Language instructors make the most in California with an average salary of $88,688. Whereas in New York and Vermont, they would average $84,784 and $75,672, respectively. While language instructors would only make an average of $69,381 in North Dakota, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Vermont

Total Language Instructor Jobs: 197
Highest 10% Earn:
$107,000
Location Quotient:
2.05

$75,672

Avg. Salary

View 197 Language Instructor Jobs In VT

2. New Hampshire

Total Language Instructor Jobs: 436
Highest 10% Earn:
$96,000
Location Quotient:
1.99

$67,373

Avg. Salary

View 436 Language Instructor Jobs In NH

3. Delaware

Total Language Instructor Jobs: 212
Highest 10% Earn:
$96,000
Location Quotient:
1.35

$66,755

Avg. Salary

View 212 Language Instructor Jobs In DE
Full List Of Best States For Language Instructors

How Do Language Instructors Rate Their Jobs?

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Work/Life balance
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Top Language Instructor Employers

Most Common Employers For Language Instructor

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1City University of Seattle$87,851$42.2414
2Middlebury College$78,175$37.5812
3U.S. Department of State$71,608$34.4323
4Harvard University$70,293$33.7914
5ICA Language Services$59,909$28.8037
6Aeon$59,098$28.4126
7English$59,095$28.4128
8US Air Conditioning Distributors$59,081$28.4010
9Diplomatic Language Svc$58,982$28.36114
10MultiLingual Solutions$58,897$28.3229
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What Are The Best Companies To Work For A Language Instructor?

Thomas Klein Ph.D.

Professor of English, Director of Undergraduate Studies in English, Idaho State University

It's hard to recommend single companies for humanities majors because these students go on to work in so many different areas. However, some of the best employers may be well-funded universities, school districts, law firms, healthcare and insurance companies, and financial institutions.Show more

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Updated April 6, 2023