From choosing a tutor, and lesson structure, to personalised plans and insights, here’s my experience learning a language online with Preply.
My relationship with learning Spanish has been intermittent to say the least! I enrolled in Spanish school in Mexico for a month on my travels in my late 20s, and then took evening classes at a college in London in my early 30s. I never got to the point of speaking fluently, and I really wish I’d carried on as I’m now very rusty.
I’d love to be able to speak the language so I can converse with locals on my travels in Spain, Central America and South America. Yet, here I am again, starting out. I can still translate most of a menu, read instructions and understand plenty of vocabulary. But ask me to speak Spanish? I freeze!
The ways to learn a language have changed a lot. The internet has created a world where you can connect with tutors for one-to-one teaching across the globe. It’s incredible!
Now you can book a Spanish lesson on a platform like Preply, and in moments be connected with a teacher in somewhere like Spain, Colombia or Mexico. Within weeks you could be conversing with them, and over time, perhaps become fluent.
With a new excitement to refresh my language skills, I set up an account on Preply and connected with a great Spanish teacher. After enjoying the platform, I’m excited to share my experience with you.
So, whether you’re looking to learn a new language online, brush up your skills, or become fluent, find out more about using Preply. Plus, once you click through, you’ll see I’ve added a lovely 50% discount for all of you to use towards your first lesson.
What is Preply?
Preply is an online learning platform that connects students with tutors for one-to-one lessons. Rather than signing up for a fixed course and working through the same material as everyone else, you choose your own tutor, then work with them to create lessons shaped around your own level and goals.
Preply: Quick Facts
| Fact | Figure |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Tutors | 100,000+ |
| Languages taught | 90+ |
| Subjects available | 120+ |
| Tutor nationalities | 180+ |
What can you learn on Preply?
Language learning is the key speciality on Preply, with over 90 languages available from tutors spanning more than 180 nationalities. You’ll find everything from French and Spanish, to Creole, Esperanto and Swahili. How amazing, to be able to learn directly from native speakers!
While it’s a great platform for learning languages, there’s actually a lot more on offer. You can learn a range of interesting subjects from people all over the world, including music production, architecture, public speaking, software development and cooking! Yes, it’s that diverse.
How to choose a tutor on Preply
After signing up to Preply, I looked through pages of Spanish tutors. There are so many to choose from (over 14,000!) The platform shows a photo and video of the tutor, price per lesson, location, experience, reviews and a personal message. I quickly filtered my options to show female teachers, based in Spain, who also spoke English. I then read some reviews and chose a lady called Virginia. I liked that she had a video on her profile, so I got an idea of what a lesson would be like. She also had excellent reviews from her previous students.
When you’re choosing your tutor, you need to decide what’s important to you. Some people learn better with a man or a woman. You may want to connect with a tutor from a specific destination, e.g. to learn Mexican Spanish rather than standard Spanish. There are lots of ways to filter results. For some of you, price will play a part, as some tutors offer more reasonable rates. With so many tutors available, you’ll find someone you like!
Booking a trial lesson
The next step was to book a trial lesson with my tutor, Virginia. She was available at lots of different times throughout the week. I picked a time the next morning, and the lesson was confirmed instantly. The platform gave me the option to take a 10-minute test, which would then tell me (and my tutor) the level I was at. I knew some of the basics still (although rusty!) but I really struggled with more complex sentences.
I also received a personal message from Virginia, saying she was looking forward to our lesson.
The first class is available as a 25-minute or 50-minute trial lesson. It’s a great way to get to know your tutor, explain what you want to achieve and see whether their teaching style works for you.
My language lesson on Preply
Rather than tell you about numerous lessons, I thought it would be best to talk about my very first Spanish lesson on Preply. When the 50-minute lesson started, we were both connected via video chat within the Preply platform. Once in lesson mode, there’s the ability to share screens, turn your video or microphone on or off and access various tools.
We started the lesson with quick introductions. My tutor asked about my previous experiences learning Spanish and then told me about how she usually structures the first lesson. She’d looked at my test results, so she had a gauge on my level. This part only took a few minutes and then we were straight into learning.
We moved on to basic verb conjugations, for ser and estar (to be). As soon as we started the lesson, Virginia shared her screen, so along with our two little videos, the main screen showed a word document. On this, she typed as we went, and laid out simple exercises for me to ‘fill in the blanks’.
After struggling to remember a few verb endings, I grabbed some paper and scribbled a few notes to help me. Virginia moved quite quickly through the basics, feeling that I was competent enough to try out some other exercises. She corrected and helped me, without feeling patronising. There were words I simply didn’t know or couldn’t remember, but I never felt embarrassed about it.
We spent some time on question words, adjectives and basic verb conjugations. Then I worked through a few exercises from her document. She was warm and enthusiastic throughout the class, chatting freely in English and Spanish.
The next part of the lesson was a listening exercise, which ran through a YouTube link. I listened to an excerpt of two people talking and had to answer a multiple choice question about what they were discussing. My tutor was helpful, stopping the video regularly so I could digest what I’d heard, and repeating some of the conversation so I could translate it more easily.
It wasn’t long before our lesson was coming to an end. There was a little timer that showed when there were a few minutes left. She told me how I could book more lessons with her and what we’d focus on next time.
Subscription plan
If you decide to continue after your trial lesson, Preply runs on a subscription model. You can choose to book a group of lessons with your tutor on a recurring 28-day plan e.g. one per week or two per week, over four weeks. There are options to change your plan, pause or cancel your subscription, or even switch tutors if you decide your first choice isn’t the right fit.
The subscription model isn’t for everyone. I often worry when I’m signing up to something, whether it’ll be hard to change or cancel. However, it’s easy to pause or cancel completely if you decide that’s what you want to do.
Insights and statistics
This part is really unique. I was amazed by what showed after my lesson on Preply. As soon as it ended, there were lesson insights on the screen, showing what I’d learned, how many new words were in my vocabulary and even short audio clips of me speaking in Spanish.
It showed the percentage of time each of us spoke in the lesson, and showed my speaking speed. It’s all done using AI software, and wow is it clever! I look forward to seeing the vocabulary number grow as I continue learning Spanish.
Pros and cons of using Preply to learn a language
Pros
- Private lessons are much more engaging than group classes
- Lots of choice of tutors from different countries
- You can choose a tutor based on your level, goals, location, language and teaching style
- Much more focused on real conversation than language-learning apps
- Flexible lesson times, which makes it easier to fit learning around work / life / kids
- Different price points to suit your budget, and much cheaper than in-person private lessons
- The tutor can adjust the pace to suit your ability
- Clever lesson insights and AI-powered feedback after each lesson
Cons
- One-to-one lessons are sometimes more expensive than using an app
- If you’re nervous about speaking, the first few lessons can feel daunting
- Tutor styles and experience vary since anyone can apply, so take a few minutes to check profiles and reviews before committing. Filtering by the Super Tutor and Professional Tutor badges makes that vetting much quicker.
- You need to commit your full attention during the lesson as there’s nowhere to hide!
- The subscription model may not suit you if you don’t want recurring lessons or to pay regularly (but you can always pause or cancel your subscription at any time)
- You still need to practise between lessons if you want to make real progress
Why I’ve loved Preply so far
I was thinking long and hard about this. I’ve done group Spanish classes in the past, and while they were enjoyable, they were a lot less engaging than learning one-to-one with a private tutor. It’s the way it’s live, that you have to commit to learning and there’s nowhere to hide! You also have to concentrate fully for the duration of the lesson. The fact you can always stop the tutor to ask questions or to repeat things, means you’re not missing anything, so your brain is retaining more information.
I’ve also used apps like Duolingo to try to learn Spanish. While the gamification makes learning really fun, I felt like the exercises became really repetitive after a while and I lost interest. I remember learning phrases like ‘my elephant loves milk’ in Spanish, and thinking there’s no chance I’d ever use that in real life! It really feels like lessons on Preply prepare you for the real world. In fact, an independent study found that more than twice as many Preply learners achieved their learning goals compared with self-learning app users.
50% Preply Discount Code
If you’re looking to try Preply for the first time, I’ve managed to get a 50% discount for your first class. Just follow this link and it’ll automatically add it at the checkout. I hope you enjoy learning on the platform as much as I have. It’s amazing how fast your confidence grows!