Landi Review Summary

PLEASE NOTE (30/05/22) – THIS COMPANY HAS CEASED OPERATING SINCE THIS REVIEW WAS PUBLISHED. YOU MAY WISH TO CONSIDER THESE NON-CHINA COMPANIES INSTEAD.

Landi has a track record of decreasing teachers’ pay and bonuses mid-contract (but still offers more than some). Only four nationalities are accepted, though they’re a popular option for South Africans. Landi suits teachers who enjoy younger students and want fairly-stable bookings (after probation).

Landi Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Teachers don’t need TEFL/TESOL/CELTA until after a successful interview
• Stable rate of bookings once established
• Popular option for South Africans

Cons:

• Track record of revising teachers’ contracts and cutting pay and bonuses
• Teachers only receive 60% of their pay for single-student classes
• Teaching commitment of 6 days a week will be onerous for many
• Students in the same class aren’t always matched at an equal proficiency level
• Beginner English learners can mean classes are repetitive
• No PayPal or Payoneer payment option

Is Landi English Legit?

Landi is an online Chinese ESL company that was founded in 2011 under Hangzhou Danyue Technology Co., Ltd. (the same group as Dazao and ABC360). According to Landi, they currently hire over 1,000 teachers and teach more than 20,000 students. Their legitimacy as an educational organization is underlined by a partnership with renowned academic publishers, Oxford University Press, in delivering their Starlight Series curriculum (also used by First Leap).

Where Is Landi English Located?

While Landi teachers deliver their classes online across the world, the company itself is based out of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, and its students are all Chinese.

What Does Landi English Pay?

The Landi English salary currently amounts to US$10-18 per hour (at time of writing). The precise individual rate, according to Landi, is determined by a teacher’s demo lesson performance and previous ESL teaching experience. However, Landi has been criticized by current and former teachers for their track record of revising terms mid-contract and cutting the original pay rates that are given (teachers used to expect $18-$25).

Another contentious issue for Landi teachers is that, as lessons are meant to be delivered to two students at a time, if you end up teaching just one student then you will only receive 60% of your pay rate for that class. This dramatically lowers the real hourly pay rate.

Landi teachers are paid via direct bank transfer between the 10th and 15th of every month (for the previous month’s work). Depending upon which bank you are with, you may be charged to receive this transaction. You will receive a monthly pay-stub the same day that you receive your pay. Bear in mind that you must earn at least $200 to be paid for the month; anything less will be carried over and added to the next month’s pay.

Contracts with Landi are for 1 year, and if you decide to leave early without giving at least a month’s notice, then be prepared to forfeit your final month’s salary.

Bonuses/Incentives

Along with pay, Landi has also reduced the bonus schemes it offers. Teachers used to earn a $2 ‘professionalism bonus’ for each class completed without an absence or technical issue, however, this has been replaced by a ‘full attendance bonus’ worth $1 per class for every 100 completions. As well as amounting to less money, this is also clearly a much harder criteria to meet, and all it takes is a throttled wifi connection, power cut, or being just one second late to lose all your bonus money for the month.

Landi still offers a referral scheme where teachers can receive between $30-$100 per qualified referral they get to sign up:

Landi Working Hours

According to the FAQ on Landi’s website, ‘Teachers should offer at least 12 hours for teaching per week during 6:00PM-9:00PM (Beijing time), with 3 hours [on] 4 days each week’. However, more recent job listings by teacher-recruiters state a required commitment of ’18 hours & 6 days per week’, so be willing to work the latter, if you apply. This will not suit those who, understandably, expect more than one rest day a week.

Landi restricts your availability during the probationary period (lasting 1-2 months), so don’t expect to be fully booked from the start. Teachers do, generally, report receiving a high and stable booking rate once they’re more established and have secured regular ‘bound’ students.

Landi English Time Off

The Landi English leave policy currently states that standard leave must be applied for at least 7 days in advance. Less notice than this is classed as emergency leave, will negatively affect your attendance record, and lead to a $25 penalty. The maximum number of leave days allowed per year is 14 and, when taken, teachers are expected to upload a text/audio/video message to their students informing them that they will be unavailable. All leave is unpaid.

Landi English Requirements

Landi only accepts Native Speakers from the US, UK, Canada and South Africa, who possess:

• A Bachelor’s degree or above
• A neutral accent
• Command of the English language at an idiomatic level
• Excellent communication skills
• Creativity and energy
• A quiet, bright, and clean teaching environment/room

Landi requires that their teachers have a TEFL/TESOL/CELTA certificate, but does allow you to apply without one and acquire it after a successful interview.

Tech. Requirements

• Desktop/laptop computer and access to a smart phone
• Internet Connection with 3 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed, preferably Wire DSL (you can test your internet speed here)
• Headset and HD webcam

Landi Application

You can begin the Landi application by registering your email address and password here, after which you will receive an activation email that will remain valid for just 30 minutes, so be ready to respond to it. Once activated, log in to your teacher account, which will show the timeline for your application:

Submit the following basic info. through your account (with Landi’s ‘One Minute Application’, your resume is not required):

• Profile picture
• First name
• Last name
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Nationality
• Residential country
• Mobile/cell phone number
• Skype account
• How you heard about Landi
• Highest completed level of education
• Teaching certificate (if applicable)
• Teaching experience (yes/no)
• Have you ever worked for Landi? (yes/no)

The hiring process should normally take less than two weeks, from the interview to the last day of training. However, as of early 2021, applicants report waiting weeks for a response to their applications. Despite this, ensure that you respond to any communication from Landi within 10 days, as it will hurt your chances of acceptance otherwise.

Landi English Interview Process

Once Landi has screened the information you submitted, a 1-hour Skype meeting needs to be scheduled for your interview, teaching demo and contract signing. Remember to add your recruiter’s Skype ID ahead of time, and test your equipment, as Landi will be checking the stability of your internet connection.

The Landi interview receives an average difficulty rating of 2.9 out of 5 on Glassdoor, with 50% of candidates reporting a positive experience and 27% a negative one.

Landi Interview Questions

These are genuine Landi interview questions that were asked of previous candidates (so we suggest you prepare answers for them in case they come up again for you):

• Give an introduction about yourself
• What country are you from?
• In which country are you based?  
• Who do you live with?
• Do you have children?
• What are your interests?
• Tell me about your background and experience?
• What is your educational background?
• Describe your academic qualifications in a few sentences.
• Have you worked with children before?   
• Do you have any prior online teaching experience?
• How many years have you been teaching English?
• What’s your experience teaching English to ESL kids?  
• Do you have a BA (Bachelor’s Degree)?/ Do you have a Degree, if so, what subject is it in?  
• Do you have any sort of teaching license?  
• Do you possess a TEFL/TESOL certificate?
• Why do you want to teach?
• Do you currently have a job and what hours do you work?  
• Why did you leave your prior company?
• How much did they pay you in your previous job?
• What makes you want to work at Landi?/Why do you want to teach online for Landi?  
• How long do you think you can teach for Landi?
• What are your career aspirations?  
• What is your opinion on e-Learning?  
• What makes a good ESL teacher?
• Why do you think some kids struggle so much to learn English?
• What’s your teaching style like?  
• What is your preferred time zone?  
• What days of the week can you work?
• What are your available hours?/How many hours will you be available?
• What are you going to do during the rest of the day?  
• How will you balance your work life and your private life?  
• Can you perform miracles and be the world’s greatest entertainer?
• Do you have a stable laptop and what backups do you have?
• What is your internet speed?

Landi Interview Demo and Mock Class

As part of the interview, you will have to present a demo lesson. Should you pass this, there will be training familiarizing you with Landi’s platform and curriculum, followed by another mock class to check on what you’ve learned. For the demo and mock class, you will be teaching one of Landi’s recruiters pretending to be a young student, so treat them as you would a real child, using lots of TPR, props/realia and energy, and remembering to grade your language.

You will be assessed and marked with a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ on the following criteria:

• Energy – be energetic and enthusiastic about what you’re teaching throughout the class
• Facial Expressions and Body Language – be visually expressive, using your face and body to engage the student’s attention
• Patience – be patient and encouraging to the student and their English level
• Talking Speed – Speak slowly and clearly at all times
• Instructions – Give clear and direct instructions using simple language and visual cues
• Appetency – Display your love of teaching children
• Teaching Environment – Ensure your background is well-lit, in camera, and educationally stimulating for the student
• Intonation – Your intonation should be clear, linguistically correct, and maintain the student’s attention
• Teaching Aids, Realia and Props – Use at least 3 different items to support the lesson (e.g. toys, puppets, flashcards, etc.)
• Teaching Points – Ensure the teaching points have been clearly identified, delivered, and the student checked for comprehension
• Error Correction – Correct errors immediately and with positive reinforcement

Once you pass the Mock Class, the final step is to complete a 4-hour assessment involving videos and multiple-choice quizzes (though you can repeat these if needed).

Here is a sample video from a real Landi demo class which will show you what is expected:

Landi Online Teaching

Landi classes are 25 minutes long and are designed around peer instruction involving 2 Chinese students (between the ages of 5-10 years). This is meant to encourage competition and cooperative learning. However, on occasions when only 1 student is present, Landi will only pay 60% of the usual pay rate.

As most Landi English students are young beginners, teachers are expected to utilize more TPR over verbal instructions. Unfortunately, Landi teachers sometimes find that students in the same class exhibit different competency levels, making it extremely challenging to satisfy the needs of both learners (and their parents). This might lead to a negative rating, which can affect your salary.

Teaching Materials

Landi provides its own teaching materials, though teachers often find them to be limited and fairly low quality. You will have to be creative to make the content cover the whole 25-minute lesson which can become repetitive. Landi does encourage teachers to increase student engagement with the use of their own realia, so make sure you have some to hand.

Teaching Platform

Landi uses their own teaching platform that combines a child-friendly layout with drawing tools, animations, and a rewards system. Its functionality also allows teachers to mute their students’ microphones (to cut out background noise) and play pre-recorded instructions and questions in Chinese to aid comprehension.

Here’s a video tour of Landi’s teaching platform:

Landi English Reviews

Landi receives an average rating of 3 out of 5 on Glassdoor, with only 46% of teachers willing to recommend them to a friend (lower than many competitors). The majority of positive comments revolve around good booking rates (after probation) and the nature of the students, though these are outweighed by more negative feedback concerning the company’s poor treatment of their teachers, pay cuts and penalties.

These are the most recent Landi English reviews (at the time of writing):

Is Landi English a Good Company to Work for?

Older teachers report that Landi was a good company to work for… three years ago. Unfortunately, the company’s culture appears to have deteriorated since then, as cost-cutting has led to decreasing pay, bonuses, and standards that have turned teachers into disposable commodities, easily replaced by the flood of candidates who have started online teaching since COVID-19.

Of course, some teachers don’t have many options, if they’ve been rejected or prohibited from working elsewhere, in which case Landi still pays more than some companies, and if you’re South African you’ll be considered here, which is not always the case. However, if you do apply to Landi, just be prepared for them to change the conditions of your contract in their favor and without warning.

PLEASE NOTE (30/05/22) – THIS COMPANY HAS CEASED OPERATING SINCE THIS REVIEW WAS PUBLISHED. YOU MAY WISH TO CONSIDER THESE NON-CHINA COMPANIES INSTEAD.

A full list of other online teaching companies can be found here.