Baselang

Summary

Baselang offers unlimited Spanish classes for $179/month. It’s much more than just a tutoring service though as they also have an excellent curriculum, along with elective lessons and assessments. I was really impressed with Baselang. Anyone with enough time and money to fully utilize the service should strongly consider using it.

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I Like

• The classes are truly unlimited.
• Scheduling lessons is extremely flexible. Several times I schedule a class less than 5 minutes before it began.
• The curriculum is well-structured and extensive.
• The teachers were good and catered the lessons to my preferences.

I Don’t Like

• There aren’t any teachers from Spain.
• The internet connection could occasionally be a problem.
• If you don’t have enough time to study, it’d be a poor choice.

Price

There are two programs – one for learning Real World Spanish and the other for intensive accelerated course Grammarless. The Real World program costs $179 per month, and the “Zero to Conversational in a Month, Guaranteed” Grammarless course is $1200. You can try Baselang out for one week for only $1. If you sign-up using the link below, you’ll get $10 off your first month.If you end up purchasing a plan and later decide that it’s not for you, Baselang will pay you $20 as an apology for wasting your time.

ALR Readers receive $10 off first month.

Jiveworld (Lupa)

Summary

Jiveworld (previously Lupa) is a podcast-style app that helps Latin American Spanish learners improve their listening comprehension. The company has partnered with NPR’s Radio Ambulante to republish fascinating stories and interviews full of cultural insights and natural Spanish. Then, they have added a bunch of learner-friendly features to help you understand what’s being said: variable speeds, partial transcripts and translations, definitions and more. The stories are what shine here. They represent diverse communities around Latin America, and the recordings are high quality. Most of our testers found their listening comprehension markedly improved after just a couple of weeks. However, Lupa could benefit from additional features, such as review activities, interactive quizzes and learner pathways. It’s also not suited to beginners, while lower-intermediate learners may struggle.

NOTE: LUPA IS NOW JIVEWORLD. WE UNDERSTAND THE APP HAS BEEN TOTALLY REDESIGNED AND IMPROVED, BUT HAVE NOT YET HAD OPPORTUNITY TO TEST IT OUT. This review applies to the old Lupa.

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I Like

• They noticed an improvement in their listening comprehension after one or two weeks.
• Fascinating stories full of cultural insights.
• Plenty to challenge even advanced learners.
• Wide range of Latin American Spanish dialects and communities.

I Don’t Like

• The vocab feature is extremely basic.
• No interactive or review activities.
• The material can be challenging.
• Limited light-hearted stories.

Price

$12/month zero-commitment or $99/year charged in one lump sum
By signing up via the link below, the cost is $10/month or $84/year.

NOTE: LUPA IS NOW JIVEWORLD. WE UNDERSTAND THE APP HAS BEEN TOTALLY REDESIGNED AND IMPROVED, BUT HAVE NOT YET HAD OPPORTUNITY TO TEST IT OUT. The review applies to the old Lupa.

News In Slow Spanish

Summary

News in Slow Spanish is easily one of my favorite language learning resources I’ve come across. They offer so much more than just current events narrated at a slower pace. It’s a comprehensive, engaging, fun, and effective way to study Spanish. It offers material in three different levels, for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners, along with lessons using Spanish from either Spain or Latin America.

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I Like

• Pretty much everything – seriously.
• The beginner course gets students listening to, reading, and understanding Spanish much faster than most other courses would.
• The grammar and expressions lessons are fantastic, and there’s a huge catalog of these available.
• The news stories are, of course, interesting.

I Don’t Like

• The advanced level is useful but not as impressive as the rest of their content.
• Their app is very basic so you may prefer using the mobile version on your phone.

Price

7-day free trial, then $22.90/month. You also have the option to prepay for any amount of months at a time, which doesn’t change the monthly price.