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In-Depth Reviews And Recommendations - Without The BS

Don’t Buy StudySpanish.com’s Subscription Or Camino Del Éxito Course

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Quick Review
Summary: StudySpanish.com has some useful free materials on their website, but their paid products should be avoided. Their Camino del Éxito audio course is a near exact copy of the free FSI Basic Spanish Course. They also have a separate subscription plan but none of the extra materials found within it are very useful and definitely not worth paying for.

Quality 
Their vocabulary lessons in the subscription are especially bad.
Thoroughness 
It’s a thorough course but not their own.
Value 
Same material is available for free but their recordings are higher quality.
I Like
The audio recordings are better than the FSI course.

 They have a lot of helpful free materials.

I Don’t Like
They’re charging $200 for a course that’s available for free.

 None of the materials included in the subscription plan are much better than what they give away for free.

 It just feels so sketchy to call it your course when it was created by others. At least be honest about it.

Price: A subscription costs $9.99/month or $44.99 for six-months. The Camino del Éxito course costs $199 for levels 1-3, or $99.99 for each level if purchased individually.

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Spanish (German, Italian) Uncovered Review – Story Based Learning

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Quick Review
Summary: Spanish Uncovered (and the similar German and Italian courses) come from Olly Richards, the creator of the super popular blog I Will Teach You A Language. It’s quite a bit different than most courses as it revolves around a story. It can be a bit more challenging than other courses, as you begin reading somewhat long texts right off the bat. Overall, I found it to be a more fun way to approach language learning that will be great for some but not ideal for others.

Quality 
The instruction is clear but can have too much information crammed into a single lesson.
Thoroughness 
You’ll practice every aspect of the language.
Value 
It has a pretty high price, but if you stick with it, you’ll get good value from it.
I Like
 Centering the lessons around a story makes learning more fun.

Good clear instruction with lots of opportunities to practive what you’ve learned.

Gets students to actively participate and take control of their own learning.

I Don’t Like
Too many unrelated grammar points are included in the grammar lessons.

The review quiz is too short.

 The exercises found in the PDF, while helpful, aren’t terribly exciting.

Price: A one-time purchase costs $297 and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Grammar Hero Review – I Like It, But A Bit Too Expensive

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Quick Review
Summary: Grammar Hero is a product from Olly Richards, the creator of I Will Teach You A Language. It follows the story-based method of teaching languages, but this time with a focus on the most difficult grammar points. You start out by reading a story and the grammar point is underlined, later you learn the rules, then you re-read the story with explanations, and finally you’ll practice using the grammar point to express your thoughts and opinions. It’s a comprehensive method that’s meant to help you internalize the grammar.

Quality 
The stories are unique and interesting, while highlighting the grammar points.
Thoroughness 
Covers the most challenging grammar in each language.
Value 
Fairly expensive and may not be affordable for many learners.
I Like
The stories are different for every language.

Enjoyable to read, clear audio recordings, and more interesting than other ways to study grammar.

 Focuses on only the most challenging grammar points.

I Don’t Like
 It’s pretty expensive.

The final “Activate” section is just a worksheet. It’s useful but hardly exciting.

Languages: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, and Brazillian Portuguese.

Price: It costs $197 to purchase Grammar Hero in each language. There’s also a 30-day money back guarantee.

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30+ Best Apps To Learn Spanish (And Some Popular Ones I Dislike)

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There is an absurd number of apps available for studying Spanish. If you ever search through either the Apple or Android app store, you’ll quickly become overwhelmed with your options. Somewhat amazingly, you’ll probably also become discouraged by how low quality so many of them seem to be.

Luckily, a quick scroll through the app stores doesn’t accurately represent the quality of Spanish learning apps available today. In fact, there are a lot of excellent apps out there that can teach you nearly every aspect of the Spanish language.

You just need to look past all the junk. That’s what this article will do. I’ll ignore a lot of apps that are basically clones of other apps while highlighting ones that can really help you make a lot of progress.

I did also include some apps that I’m not personally a fan of because you’ll see them recommended fairly often. I’ll let you know why I don’t like them.

The apps will be loosely organized into the following categories…
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Lingoda Review – Positive Experience But Room For Improvement

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

You will sometimes have to wait a while for your chosen class to appear at a time slot that is convenient to you which limits the flexibility.

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. A 7-day trial package that gives you access to 3 group classes costs $23.99. For group classes, there are three plans costing $109, $199, and $259 per month which gives you access to 10, 20, and 30 classes. For private classes, the plans cost $139, $259, and $379 per month which gives you access to 5, 10, and 15 classes respectively.

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