Popular Schools & Courses

BaseLang is one of the most trusted Spanish online tutoring programs. It offers two different courses - Real World and Grammarless - designed especially for quick progress in conversational skills. 

What is the difference between both courses, and how to pick the one that suits your needs better? The Grammarless program is designed for absolute beginners. Its unique methodology that mimics the natural language acquisition of a child guarantees reaching a conversational level in just four weeks of intensive classes (as long as you follow the curriculum precisely the way it is intended). The course isn’t cheap - it costs USD 900 (a payment plan is offered, though) - but hey: can anybody else actually promise you such good results?

How about Real World, you ask? It is a little less intense and gives students more flexibility in terms of class contents. You can join it from any base level of Spanish, as it covers topics from basic to advanced. An important difference between Real World and Grammarless is that the former gives you the possibility to work with multiple teachers, while the latter offers only one dedicated tutor. If you choose to take the online course, you can attend an unlimited number of lessons for only USD 147 a month.

Pros:

• guarantees results (Grammarless)
• has a money-back policy 
• thoroughly designed curricula
• 200+ experienced teachers
• lots of favorable reviews

Cons:

• the Grammarless version of the program is somewhat expensive

EdX is a global non-profit online education platform that offers an incomparable variety of university-level courses dedicated to students from all around the world. The platform was originally created by Harvard and MIT and currently gathers over 150 institutions that altogether offer around 3000 different courses. 

There are currently 7 Spanish courses available on edX - most of them for elementary students - that you can take absolutely for free. Most of them are offered by the University of Valencia (Spain). You can also take Foundations of Medical Spanish, designed by Anahuac University Network, A Travel By Spanish America (University of Rosario), and The Spain of Don Quixote (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).

The courses start once a week (if you miss this week’s date, you’ll have to wait until next week) and last from 4 to 7 weeks, depending on which one you choose. After you’ve watched the material for a given week, you’ll have to study on your own (the average effort is calculated to be around 6 hours a week).

Pros:

• courses designed by prestigious universities and given by highly qualified professors
• free of charge 
• a completion certificate can be issued at a cost
• can enroll every week
• allows you to set your individual study pace

Cons:

• the available courses are mainly for beginners
• not interactive

One of the reasons students lose motivation when studying a foreign language is because moving from one level to another seems like a never-ending journey without a clear itinerary. The folks on Let’s Speak Spanish (Hablemos Español) seem to have found a solution to that. Their “24 Level System to Spanish Fluency'' and the “48 Level System to Spanish Mastery'' are divided into short, clear, and concise blocks that allow learners to have a better hold of where they are and what they need to make a step forward.

The 24 Level System, designed to take you from A1 to B2, includes a placement test and evaluations after EVERY level to make sure you’ve learned the necessary contents and can be promoted to the next level. 

With Let’s Speak Spanish, you can take online live lessons (individual or group ones) or combine the online tutoring with individual studies and resource sheets (the COMBI and COMBI PLUS courses) 

Pros:

• 20 years of experience in Spanish teaching
• own methodology that allows developing all the language skills
• clear structure and well-defined objectives
• different plan options to suit various income levels
• a possibility to book a class with one of the 16 teachers
• Free 2-Week Online Course for Beginners

Cons:

• COMBI courses start only every six weeks

2020 has changed dramatically the way we work and study. The need for social distancing has moved most of our activities online. If you are toying with the idea of finding yourself a Spanish tutor online, the Preply platform might be something you’d want to check out. 

Why? First of all, it has over 9000 thousand registered Spanish teachers to choose from, many of them native speakers. That’s a bit overwhelming, I know. To narrow your choice, you have the possibility to use a filter that groups teachers according to their specialty, nationality, additional language they speak, time availability, and fee range. How convenient is that?!

Plus, you don’t have to worry about your online safety and customer satisfaction. Preply verifies every teacher’s profile thoroughly, and in case your trial lesson proves disappointing - offers you a replacement or a full refund. 

Pros:

• a huge database of professional teachers and native speakers
• allows for a personalized study program
• a convenient filtering tool
• prices that suit every pocket
• an easy and fast registration process
• careful teacher verification
• clear booking, payment, and cancellation policy

Cons:

• after the trial class, you must purchase a package

“Spanish Uncovered” is one of the ten online language courses developed by Olly Richards. His original method leaves behind the traditional repeat-after-me approach and focuses on teaching Spanish through storytelling, a recent trend that has been gaining lots of popularity and interest. 

Storytelling as a teaching methodology is based on the premise that engaging content provided in a context is acquired easier and remembered much longer than when it is simply memorized. The most recent research in neuroscience and cognitive psychology proves that this method accelerates the learning process and makes it more effective. 

You are probably asking yourself how the “Spanish Uncovered” method works in practice. First, you get to read a simple story in Spanish, and then you listen to an audio of a person reading the story aloud. After that, you start a video lesson with Ollie, in which he teaches you about the grammar that appears in the story in a way that allows you to understand it and apply it intuitively. 

Pros:

• new and scientifically proven methodology
• taught by a person who speaks eight languages
• recognized and implemented by various universities and language schools
• free 7-day trial (after which you are billed USD 297 for the entire course)
• all necessary study materials included
• a big community of learners that follow the storytelling method

Cons:

• not really interactive

Pimsleur is a well-known online platform that takes its name after Paul Pimsleur, a Columbia University academic famous for his research on language learning.  The platform offers some of the best audio language courses available online. Among 50+ languages and dialects offered, Spanish (both in Latin American and European version) is the most popular of their courses, acclaimed for excellent recording quality and effective methodology. 

One of the Pimsleur Method fundamentals is the so-called Graduated Interval Recall, which allows new content to move from short-term to long-term memory. Another essential element of the course is the 3-element Anticipation Principle, which includes a question from the teacher, a response from the student, and then the correct response provided by the teacher. 

The Pimsleur Latin Spanish course is divided into five levels and consists of a set of 30-minute lessons that will take you from the very basics of the language to a highly communicative intermediate level. 

Pros:

• a famous and effective methodology based on extensive academic research
• suitable for different levels of proficiency
• great to improve pronunciation
• easy to follow lessons
• the Pimsleur app available (mobile and desktop)

Cons:

• the Castilian Spanish course only has two levels while the Latin one has 5
• priced at USD 150 per level - quite costly for an audio course

Relevant and engaging content is one of the key elements to stay focused and motivated when learning a new language. It is one thing to memorize loose words or phrases and a completely different thing to see them used in a context that you find interesting and worth your while. Capturing the learner’s attention is an ever-present need.

The News in Slow Spanish platform offers a brilliant response to that need. Thousands of users worldwide love it for its podcasts that discuss current international events with different language difficulty levels. Perhaps you didn’t know, but it also offers three podcast-based Spanish courses online. 

The first one, with a catchy name G.U.T.S (Get Up To Speed), is a beginner course designed to review basic Spanish. Filled with dialogues, stories, lessons, and quizzes, it is a perfect supplement for anyone who is just starting to learn the language. 

The second News in Slow Spanish course is focused entirely on grammar, with units that cover selected topics from that category. You’ll find lessons on verb tenses, adjectives, adverbs, conditionals, the use of articles, etc. More advanced students, looking to improve their use of idioms and colloquial phrases, should definitely take a look at the last course: “Expressions.”

Pros:

• well-known and experienced podcaster
• captivating content
• an excellent way to improve listening skills, review grammar, and build vocabulary
• mobile app (iOS and Android compatible)
• the online audio materials available for free
• a 7-day free trial period with full access to all materials

Cons:

• full access only with a subscription (USD 22.90 per month). 

“I’d love to learn Spanish. I just have no time to spare”. This might have been a valid excuse in the past when the only way to learn Spanish was in an actual classroom.  Yet, the technological progress that we’ve seen in the last few years has made it possible to use any spare time to learn something new. How about learning Spanish during your coffee break, for instance?

With CoffeeBreak Academy and enough motivation and persistence on your side, this goal is, in fact, reasonably achievable. The platform leaves at your disposal a full set of Spanish online courses from basic to advanced. The conversational format (a dialogue between a native speaker and a learner),  the bite-size length (15-20 minutes for each lesson), practical examples, and straightforward explanations make the audio courses a great choice either as your primary or supplementary Spanish study material. 

Pros:

• a variety of audio courses for all proficiency levels 
• lessons include language teachers, native speakers, and host learners
• not only presents new contents but also explains them in a clear way
• does not require a big daily time commitment
• reasonable pricing and discounts for bundle purchases
• additional free Spanish podcasts available on various streaming platforms

Cons:

• not quite interactive

If you like modern technology and appreciate its use in language learning, you are going to love Fluencia. Unlike other language courses online, Fluencia is dedicated exclusively to Spanish, offering top-of-the-line and thoroughly prepared lessons divided into ten proficiency levels from A0 (absolute beginner) to B1/B2 (intermediate). 

Their proprietary learning technology, named Smart Review, keeps track of all the content you’ve learned and creates a personalized review test focused on your actual needs. This incredible feature allows you to maximize your study results with more efficient use of time. Not bad for an online Spanish course, right? And that’s not even half of what Fluencia offers. This incredible platform is also equipped with tools that allow you to set your goals, set reminders, measure progress, and get personalized feedback. 

There are online language courses that offer an attractive platform but poor content. There are also courses with great and comprehensive content but very deficient “packaging.” Fluencia, however, delivers in both aspects and turns Spanish learning into an enjoyable and satisfactory experience. 

Pros:

• a 10-level course, with ten units per level and 6-8 lessons in each unit
• exceptionally complete and well-planned
• modern technology and design
• the first 15 lessons available for free
• a great variety of exercises to boost all the necessary language skills
• appropriate complexity levels to make you feel like you are really learning
• audio materials recorded by native speakers from different countries 
• affordable (USD 14.95 per month)

For everyone who enjoys using podcasts as a way to keep in touch with Spanish and prevent it from getting rusty, SpanishPod101 presents itself as an absolute mine of excellent audio materials that come together with a varied and well-thought set of exercises.

As you accumulate a massive amount of materials, it becomes progressively challenging to keep them in order. The SpanishPod101 platform has dealt with this issue wonderfully. All the content is grouped into various courses (called pathways). Finding the most appropriate pathway takes only a few seconds: all you need to do is choose your level, media type (audio or video), and lesson category (conversation, reading, and writing, vocabulary, grammar, culture). 

For those who wonder about the price: while most of the audio/video materials on SpanishPod101 are free, access to additional materials and functionalities requires membership. Depending on which plan you choose (basic, premium, or premium plus), expect to pay from USD 4 to USD 23 a month. 

Pros:

• plenty of varied and exciting content
• great for any level
• comprehensive and easy to use
• inexpensive
• additional feature and benefits (e.g., 1-on-1 tutoring or personalized learning program) available
• Access on Android, iPhone, or iPad

Cons:

• the video lessons quality not as good as audio lessons

Speaking is the skill that people tend to struggle the most with when learning a foreign language. Why? On the one hand, being able to actually speak in Spanish requires you to actively apply grammar rules and search your memory for the most accurate words and expressions.

The time pressure combined with your own personality challenges makes speaking a true challenge. Limited opportunities to practice are the other reason why this skill often lags behind, compared to our ability to write or to read in Spanish.

If you feel that your spoken Spanish is a little rusty, Speechling might be the answer. This non-profit language-learning platform offers free Spanish coaching with tons of entertaining and engaging exercises.

A simple registration process gives you access to five different courses: Foundations, Core Curriculum, Conversations, Phrasebook, and DELE / TELC Preparation. 

After you record your answers, your assigned tutor gets a listen and provides you with feedback in your audio journal. How great is that? 

Pros:

• varied exercises focused on improving student’s speaking and listening skills
• easy-to-use platform
• multiple translation language options
• teacher feedback available
• free of charge when accessed online 
• doesn’t require a fixed time commitment

Cons:

• exercise download only available for premium members (USD 19.99 per month in an annual plan)
• no formal course structure
• best for intermediate to advanced students

Many of you probably wonder if it is possible to learn Spanish on your own. Although not easy and demanding lots of discipline, perseverance, and motivation - self-teaching is definitely possible! The key, however, is to find quality materials to rely on in this challenge. 

Lengalia is one of the best possible choices when it comes to finding great Spanish content online. It offers twenty-four (yes, you’ve read correctly) Spanish courses designed for a so-called “directed self-learning,” which means working with ready-to-use materials alone, at your own pace. 

Apart from the general Spanish courses (one for each of the CEFR levels), the Lengalia library also contains ready sets of lessons for those wishing to improve their business and work-related vocabulary.

If you look to improve your listening comprehension, make sure to try their podcast-based lessons. If you are getting ready for a trip to a Spanish-speaking destination, the Lengalia course on Spanish for Holidays and Trip I and II might be just what you need. 

As for the pricing, Lengalia offers three different packages depending on how much content you’d like to gain access to. The complete package, which includes all the available courses, podcasts, videos, AND live tutoring, has an annual price of EUR 120. That’s more than affordable, isn’t it?

Pros:

• a wide array of courses designed for different levels of proficiency and interests/needs
• lessons focused on developing every skill (vocabulary, reading, listening, speaking)
• very affordable pricing
• courses adapted to the CEFR standards
• tutors available for Skype or email consultations
• allows advancing at your own pace
• a free placement test and course recommendation available 
• lots of practice opportunities

Cons:

• occasional mistakes in the materials

The Rocket Spanish online course is a modern and comprehensive language program designed for all levels of proficiency. By enrolling in the course, one gets access to a set of well-designed and interactive lessons, divided into two types: Audio and Language & Culture. 

The Audio lessons are 15 to 40-minute recordings that reinforce your listening and speaking skills, preparing you to deal with all types of everyday situations in Spanish. The tracks can be either downloaded or streamed directly from your browser or from the Rocket Languages app. The student activities accompanying the lessons include role-playing and voice recording. Further practice is possible with various types of reinforcement activities. 

What is so great about Rocket Spanish? It focuses on the practical, conversational use of the language, sparing you the need to learn any unnecessary grammar and vocabulary. It also boosts your self-confidence to actually speak Spanish and helps to improve your pronunciation.

Pros: 

• very effective to achieve conversational fluency
• a logical and user-friendly platform 
• the audio materials can be downloaded and listened to offline
• progress tracking is possible
• reward system to incentive motivation
• a holistic approach to language learning
• good value for money ratio (each level at around USD 150)

Cons:

• some of the Language and Culture lessons are a bit boring

There is no doubt that private one-on-one language tutoring is the best method for efficient learning and fast progress. An experienced and dedicated teacher will easily assess your level, design a study plan that best suits your needs, provide you with instant feedback and monitor your progress accordingly. The only problem is the price, right? One-on-one classes tend to be rather expensive. 

Not anymore! With LiveLingua, you can find a dedicated Spanish tutor at a reasonable price that starts at USD 10.99 per hour! Whether you are looking for standard or specialized lessons or prepare for a Spanish exam, the LiveLingua academic team is there to assist you.

The convenient filtering tool allows you to choose your teacher’s nationality, see if they speak any additional language (in case English is not your mother tongue), access their complete academic profile, and even book a free trial class with them.  

Pros:

• all the benefits of private tutoring at a really convenient price
• a large team of certified native-speaking tutors 
• flexible class schedule
• use of popular video-conferencing platforms
• tailored feedback, homework, and supplementary materials
• the more classes you book, the cheaper each class gets
• a free trial class available

Cons:

• the registration and tutor assigning process involves a lot of emailing
• the teachers are responsible for sourcing their own materials

When asked what aspects are crucial in a language course, people seem to agree that there is nothing more important than practical content, easy access/availability, and - last but not least - fast results. I know what you’re thinking: a Spanish course like that would probably be quite expensive. Not necessarily. 

Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce LangBox - yay, that's us:)

Developed by a team of language specialists and enthusiasts, it offers just what you’ve been looking for. Non-nonsense, useful vocabulary? Check! Communication-oriented content arranged in theme units? Check!

Phrases that you can actually use in real life? Check! A user-friendly platform that you can access from a laptop, smartphone, or tablet? Check that too! And the price? That’s the best part: it is entirely free of charge. 

Traditional learning techniques based mainly on memorization and years of mindless repetition are proving more and more obsolete. Today’s learners don’t have time to waste. They want increased efficiency and fast results. The language teaching market is changing, and LangBox knows that. 

Pros:

• a modern approach to language learning
• thoroughly designed content arranged in theme units
• communicative focus
• varied and distraction-free exercises
• can benefit all levels and all age groups
• 100% free
• additional Spanish tips available in the blog
• a user-friendly app for Desktop, Android, and iOS

Cons:

• a community forum would be great to address