italki Review – The Good, The Bad, & The Just Alright

italki

Rating 4.5

★★★★

★

Summary

italki is the most flexible and affordable place to find a tutor for the language you’re learning. They have a huge number of teachers offering classes to students of over 100 different languages. As a learner, you’ll be able to find a tutor that best fits your learning style, schedule, and personality. Teachers are able to set their own prices and make their own schedule.

Quality 4.5

★★★★

★

You’ll find everyone from long-time professionals to brand new teachers.

Thoroughness 4.0

★★★★★

The overall platform has tons of useful features but also some room for improvement.

Value 5.0

★★★★★

Huge number of teachers, low prices, and flexible scheduling.

I Like

There are large numbers of teachers available even for less common languages.
You can find skilled teachers even at low prices.
The flexibility to schedule lessons whenever convenient. The huge number of teachers guarantees you’ll find someone to fit your schedule.
The extra features in the italki Community make it easy to ask questions, get your writing checked, and find a free language exchange partner.

I Don’t Like

Community features are only available through the app.
You may need to try several tutors before finding one that fits your learning and personality style.
It’s easy to not take classes as often as you should.

Price

The prices vary by teacher and language with some being as low as $5 and others as high as $60 per hour. Most will fall somewhere near the $10 per hour range. Right now italki is offering a $10 credit with your first purchase.

BUY 1 ITALKI LESSON GET 1 FREE

It’s very rare for me to recommend a particular resource for everyone, regardless of the language that they’re studying. Usually each language will have their own unique resources that are great specifically for students of that language.

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italki Review – The Good, The Bad, & The Just Alright Read More »

Langu Mini Review: A Quality-Focused italki Alternative

Langu

Rating 4.2

★★★★

★

Price:

Classes start at $10.50, some teachers offer a free trial

Summary

Langu is an italki competitor with some compelling factors in its favor. Just like with italki, you search its online database of teachers to book private lessons with them at times of your choosing. You can read other students’ reviews and take trial classes. Unlike italki, there are no booking fees and you can purchase in a range of currencies, including euros and British pounds. Langu also boasts its own intuitive, web-hosted classroom software, meaning you don’t have to download a program or give your teacher your contact details. This also means that all shared links, videos, and worksheets are stored on Langu. The biggest downside to Langu, in comparison with italki, is that you’ll have a smaller choice of teachers and there are no community features (forum, exercise tools, etc.). The classes also tend to be slightly more expensive. On the other hand, Langu claims that all its teachers are “top teachers” – they have to submit a video application and be approved before joining the website – and offers to give students personal recommendations for specific teachers via email, if needed. While we’ve taken classes with one Langu teacher and were impressed by the quality of the classes, we can’t comment on whether all Langu’s teachers meet the same standards.

Visit Langu

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Lingoda Review – Positive Experience But Room For Improvement

Lingoda

Rating 4.0

★★★★★

Summary

Lingoda is an online language learning platform where you can take private or group classes at any time of the day. They offer lessons in Spanish, German, French, and English. There are a large number of lessons available for everyone from absolute beginners to more advanced levels. It’s a good option to get the structure of a course with the guidance of a teacher, at an affordable price.

Quality 4.0

★★★★★

Both the platform and the content itself are easy to use and presented well.

Thoroughness 4.0

★★★★★

Although there are hundreds of lessons, they could use a bit more variety and you’ll need to study them with a teacher to get much benefit.

Value 4.0

★★★★★

It’s an affordable option that gives you access to good teachers and a comprehensive course.

I Like

The flexible hours mean that you can pretty much take a class whenever suits you – whether that’s 3am or 3pm!
Right from the start, the teachers speak almost entirely in the language that you’re learning.
There are hundreds of different classes covering different subjects for all levels.

I Don’t Like

The quality of your class and how much content you cover relies to a large extent on the other students. This also impacts how much time you actually get to speak.
The lesson materials all look quite similar and there is not much variation between lessons.

Price

There are lots of different plans available whether it matters how many classes you want to take or if you want to do individual or group.

For group classes, it is $399.99 a month, which gives you access to 40 class subscriptions.

For private classes, the plan is $799.99 a month for 40 classes.

There are a lot of smaller plans than these so take a look as to what is interesting to you.

There are also “marathon” plans for three, six, or twelve months that offer lower per-class rates and a chance to earn cashback if you attend 90% of your classes.

VISIT LINGODA

It’s an affordable option that gives you access to good teachers and a comprehensive course.Lingoda is an online language learning school where classes take place 24/7 and native speakers teach you either English, French, German or Spanish (depending on what you sign up for). The lessons progress in difficulty following a course and the teachers help you out along the way in both private and group lessons where you’ll be with up to four other people.

…

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Lingoda Review – Positive Experience But Room For Improvement Read More »

Speechling Review – I Didn’t Know I Was Saying That Wrong!

Speechling

Rating 4.3

★★★★

★

Summary

Speechling is a website and app that makes it easy to improve your speaking skills in several languages. The free version is an incredbily valuable resource that makes it easy to practice mimicking native speakers. The Unlimited Plan provides unlimited corrections of your recordings by a teacher.

Quality 4.5

★★★★

★

Speachling makes it easy to improve your speaking rhythm and pronunciation.

Thoroughness 4.5

★★★★

★

Lots of different ways to practice speaking.

Value 4.0

★★★★★

The free version is better than most paid resources and the paid version provides outstanding value.

I Like

An excellent method to improve your speaking abilities and get feedback from a real teacher.
Answer the Question, Describe the Image, and Freestyle mode are great for higher levels.
You can switch languages at any time. I like seeing translations in my second language while studying my third language.
Truly unlimited recordings with quick feedback.

I Don’t Like

Absolute Beginners should learn the basics elsewhere first.
You’ll need to learn how to make the sounds of your target language on your own.
The amount of time given to record sentences can be too short.

Price

The Forever Free Plan is complete free. A monthly subscription to the Unlimited Plan costs $19.99 per month.

Click the link to save 10% on Speechling’s Unlimited Plan.

Visit Speechling

Speechling has quickly become one of my favorite language learning resources. The free version includes a ton of useful features and the premium plan is great value for the cost.

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Speechling Review – I Didn’t Know I Was Saying That Wrong!Read More »

Speechling Review – I Didn’t Know I Was Saying That Wrong! Read More »

SmarterGerman Review – A Unique And Challenging Course

SmarterGerman

Rating 4.5

★★★★

★

Summary

SmarterGerman is much different than every other language learning resource I’ve tried. Its Everyday German Course is made up of 12 parts that are five lessons a piece, each of which correspond with a chapter from a German crime story. Through these lessons, and lots of exercises, the course will help you reach the B1 level. Unlike most courses where there’s a lot of spoonfeeding of information, this course pushes you to use your critical thinking skills.

Quality 5.0

★★★★★

Michael, the course creator, is an excellent teacher

Thoroughness 4.5

★★★★

★

There are abundant exercises to practice every aspect of German.

Value 4.0

★★★★★

Each level is $349 excl. VAT/GST. Up to 40% off with bundles. Ongoing Live Q&A sessions, completely free of charge.

I Like

Michael’s teaching philosophy will not only help you improve your German but also your approach to language learning.
The learning cycle will help you practice reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar.
It’s a challenging course, even if you’ve already studied some German.

I Don’t Like

It can be very intimidating as an absolute beginner to German.
Students who aren’t very committed to studying German may struggle.
It’s not the cheapest program.

Price

The Magnificent German Course Bundle (A1-C1) costs $699+ excl. VAT/GST. Or each level for $349. This comes with Live Q&A sessions with Michael himself. That said, you can also frequently get a discount like 40% off if you purchase multiple levels of the course at once

Buy SmarterGerman Risk Free

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SmarterGerman Review – A Unique And Challenging Course Read More »

Yoyo Chinese Review: An Exceptionally Detailed Look At Their Courses

Yoyo Chinese

Rating 4.7

★★★★

★

Summary

Yoyo Chinese is probably the most established and popular website for online Chinese courses. Yangyang has helped hundreds of thousands of students learn Chinese and her videos have been viewed millions of times. There are several different video-based courses available which include interactive quizzes, clear explanations, and tons of practice, with each progressing in difficulty. I think the conversational courses are especially good value.

Quality 5.0

★★★★★

Video lessons and interactive quizzes are very well done.

Thoroughness 4.5

★★★★

★

The content is explained very clearly and covers a wide range of topics.

Value 4.5

★★★★

★

The course bundles help to lower the price.

I Like

The way Yangyang explains the content makes it super easy to understand.
The courses are structured very well, with less English spoken as you move up levels.
The combination of real-life Chinese as it’s spoken on the street with more ‘correct’ Chinese.
High-quality videos with lots useful extras to practice what you’ve learned.

I Don’t Like

The lessons definitely use more English compared with equivalent levels of other resources.
There are other resources I prefer over the Chinese Characters courses.

Price

Yoyo Chinese offers subscription options and the Lifetime one-time purchase option. If you want to test out the program, try a monthly full-access “Learn” subscription for $19.99/mo. Or an annual subscription for $11.99/mo. Lifetime one-time purchase is $399 (don’t forget the 10% discount with the discount code ALR10!!).

Try Yoyo Chinese Risk Free

If you’re looking for an online Chinese course, you’ll eventually come across Yoyo Chinese. It’s one of the few established courses where you can independently study Mandarin online.

…

Yoyo Chinese Review: An Exceptionally Detailed Look At Their CoursesRead More »

Yoyo Chinese Review: An Exceptionally Detailed Look At Their Courses Read More »

Jiveworld (previously Lupa) Review – As Tested by 11 Spanish Learners

Jiveworld (Lupa)

Rating 3.8

★★★

★

★★

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.

Quality 4.5

★★★★

★

The quality is generally excellent, although the app is difficult to use with a screen reader.

Thoroughness 3.5

★★★

★

★★

Lupa’s stories are fascinating, if at times heavy-going, but there are no learning pathways and testers struggled to remember vocabulary.

Value 3.5

★★★

★

★★

Users found it to be an excellent use of their time but were divided over whether they would pay the subscription rate.

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.

Visit Jiveworld (Previously Lupa)

Listening comprehension is one of the trickiest things to improve as a learner. And the better you get at speaking Spanish, the more likely it is that the person you’re talking with will start using local slang and natural phrasing, like

hacer locha (laze about) or revolú (mess).

…

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Jiveworld (previously Lupa) Review – As Tested by 11 Spanish Learners Read More »

News In Slow Spanish Review – Definitely One Of My Favorites

News In Slow Spanish

Rating 4.8

★★★★

★

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.

Quality 5.0

★★★★★

I’m super impressed with the quality of their lessons.

Thoroughness 5.0

★★★★★

Teaches grammar and expressions in a unique way that’s very thorough.

Value 4.5

★★★★

★

The amount of value offered makes the price quite reasonable.

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.

Visit News in Slow Spanish

News in Slow Spanish is an online resource offering a wide range of material for Spanish language learners. It covers material in beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, and it is much, much more than just a slo-mo Spanish-language news source.

…

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News In Slow Spanish Review – Definitely One Of My Favorites Read More »

News in Slow Italian Review – Lots of Fun!

News in Slow Italian

Rating 4.5

★★★★

★

Summary

News in Slow Italian is an excellent learning resource; it’s very comprehensive and offers all the necessary tools to be able to practice all the aspects of the language. It’s also one of the most fun and original language learning tools I’ve seen and manages to be so without sacrificing on quality. This program is helpful for anyone who wants to learn Italian.

Quality 4.5

★★★★

★

They really thought of everything when creating this program – audio lessons, PDF files, exercises, grammar and expressions catalogs, podcasts.

Thoroughness 4.5

★★★★

★

Clear and explanatory grammar lessons, expressions and idioms included in every lesson, lots of vocabulary to practice and plenty of information to help you become fluent.

Value 4.5

★★★★

★

News in Slow Italian is a great learning resource and students of all levels should try it.

I Like

Comprehensive information in every lesson with various levels to fit different abilities
Downloadable materials
One of the few resources that really is fun to use

I Don’t Like

Conversations are a bit too fast sometimes

Price

7-day free trial, then $19.90/month. You also have the option to prepay for any amount of months at a time, which doesn’t change the monthly price.

VISIT NEWS IN SLOW ITALIAN

News in Slow Italian is a brilliant learning resource that offers students of all levels a great opportunity to improve their Italian. The lessons are very thorough, containing a lot of information with plenty of explanations and cultural details.

…

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News in Slow Italian Review – Lots of Fun! Read More »

News In Slow French Review – Makes Studying More Fun

News In Slow French

Rating 4.5

★★★★

★

Summary

News in Slow French offers three different levels of content (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) with lots of different features for each. I’m a huge fan of what’s included at the intermediate level but a bit less enthusiastic about the content at the beginner and advanced levels. That’s not to say those levels are bad, they aren’t by any means, but the material available for intermediate level learners is really fantastic. Much more than simply current events narrated at a slower pace, News in Slow French is comprensive, engaging, fun, and effective.

Quality 4.5

★★★★

★

It often doesn’t feel like you’re studying without sacrificing on quality.

Thoroughness 4.5

★★★★

★

The depth and unique manner in which they teach grammar and expressions is really impressive.

Value 4.5

★★★★

★

Although it’s not cheap, there’s more content than you may initially realize.

I Like

The manner in which current events are talked about makes them really engaging to listen to.
The huge catalog of grammar and expressions lessons age very well, providing a ton of study material.
Grammar and expressions are first used naturally in a conversation, only to be explained later, making learning them feel much more natural.

I Don’t Like

The beginner and advanced lessons aren’t quite as good as the intermediate level.
Their app is very basic and doesn’t include the courses, so you may prefer using a mobile browser instead.
Most of the content doesn’t require you to use the French you’ve learned.

Price

There’s a 7-day free trial for new subscribers, then the price is $19.90/month. There’s also an option to prepay for up to 12 months at a time, which doesn’t affect the monthly price.

Visit News in Slow French

News in Slow French is an online program that aims to provide useful content for French language learners of all levels. Some of these levels are better than others.

…

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News In Slow French Review – Makes Studying More Fun Read More »

Search Results for: italki review

italki

Rating 4.5

Summary

Quality 4.5

Thoroughness 4.0

Value 5.0

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

Langu

Rating 4.2

Price:

Summary

Lingoda

Rating 4.0

Summary

Quality 4.0

Thoroughness 4.0

Value 4.0

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

Speechling

Rating 4.3

Summary

Quality 4.5

Thoroughness 4.5

Value 4.0

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

SmarterGerman

Rating 4.5

Summary

Quality 5.0

Thoroughness 4.5

Value 4.0

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

Yoyo Chinese

Rating 4.7

Summary

Quality 5.0

Thoroughness 4.5

Value 4.5

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

Jiveworld (Lupa)

Rating 3.8

Summary

Quality 4.5

Thoroughness 3.5

Value 3.5

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

News In Slow Spanish

Rating 4.8

Summary

Quality 5.0

Thoroughness 5.0

Value 4.5

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

News in Slow Italian

Rating 4.5

Summary

Quality 4.5

Thoroughness 4.5

Value 4.5

I Like

I Don’t Like

Price

News In Slow French

Rating 4.5

Summary