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Best Courses Spanish 2023

It is a daunting task to look for the right resource for learning Spanish. Courses are growing in number and becoming more accessible so your options are seemingly endless. Many of the online Spanish courses that are out there are fantastic, let us help you find the best way to learn Spanish!

You may be overwhelmed with choice, but we’re confident that the right resource for you is out there — and this post will help. Spanish programs can include a variety of different aspects that cater to different kinds of learners. You may find it hard to stay consistent with foreign language courses, but if you know what kind of learning works for you, then maybe it can be more fun. 

We’ve sorted through our large library of reviews to pick out the best online courses for learning Spanish and have detailed them in this list. Only resources and Spanish apps that have received at least a 3.5/5 star rating on our site have made the cut.

No two learners are exactly alike, so learning style, budget, skill level, and motivation all have a huge impact on what makes a resource right for you. That is why this list doesn’t assume there’s one course that works for everyone. Our aim is to provide you with enough information to reliably point you in the right direction to choose which resource you best prefer. Happy hunting!

Table of Best Courses to Learn Spanish

Links below will send you to the course websites, and the course details are down below.


OVERALL BEST

An Excellent Curriculum and Unlimited 1-1 Classes With Tutors From Latin America: Baselang

High-Quality Audio Lessons That Encourage Active Participation: Pimsleur

Learn Spanish Through Stories: Spanish Uncovered

A High-Quality Course With Lots Of Practice: Ouino

A Reliable Course With Solid Structure: Babbel

Best Non-Beginner Video Course: Yabla

Great For Intermediate / Advanced Spanish Learners: Gritty Spanish


BEGINNER’S COURSES

Best Beginner Course With Engaging Stories: Spanish Uncovered

Unlimited Online Classes and Personalized Study Plans: SpanishVIP

Quick and Convenient Practice For Beginners: Lingodeer

Decent Instruction for Beginners: Mango Languages

Much More Than Current Events Narrated at a Slow Pace: News In Slow Spanish


READING AND LISTENING

A Podcast-Style Course For Extensive Listening Practice: SpanishPod101

A Casual Podcast-Style Course that Offers a Lot For Free: Coffee Break Spanish

Free Podcast Episodes and an Intuitive Teaching Method: Unlimited Spanish


SPEAKING AND WRITING

The Structure of a Course With the Guidance of a Teacher: Lingoda

High-Quality Audio Lessons That Encourage Active Participation: Pimsleur

Good for Intermediate Students Wanting To Practice Speaking: Glossika

Carefully Crafted Lessons For The Dedicated Learner: Fluencia


VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

Fun Flashcard Platform With Official Spanish Courses: Memrise

Bite-Sized Lessons With a Clear Curriculum: WLingua


TUTORS AND LANGUAGE EXCHANGES

Best Tutoring Sessions in Spanish: SpanishVIP

An Excellent Curriculum and Unlimited 1-1 Classes With Tutors From Latin America: Baselang

Live Lessons and Specialized Courses: Live Lingua, italki, and Verbling


Overall Best Spanish Learning Courses

In order to be fluent in any language, Spanish included, you need to practice different skills. The courses in this category teach language in a more comprehensive manner and touch on all language aspects allowing you to acquire several language skills.

An Excellent Curriculum and Unlimited 1-1 Classes With Tutors From Latin America

Rating 4.5

$ 179.00

AN EXCELLENT CURRICULUM AND UNLIMITED CLASSES

Baselang does an impressive job of marrying a thorough curriculum with the flexibility and personalization afforded by lessons with a teacher. It’s available for a monthly subscription that offers an unlimited number of online lessons with teachers — yes, unlimited!

This is especially noteworthy considering how easy it is to schedule lessons. You’ll be able to schedule lessons at any time of day, often with only a few minutes of advance notice. This makes it quite easy to take advantage of the subscription model and take as many lessons as you can comfortably fit into your schedule.

For anyone that’s serious about getting fluent in the shortest amount of time possible using one primary resource, Baselang is hard to beat.

Pros

  • Unlimited classes
  • Flexible scheduling
  • Well-structured curriculum
  • Quality teachers

Cons

  • No teachers from Spain
  • Occasional internet problems
  • You’ll need enough time to take advantage of the unlimited lessons

ALR Readers receive $10 off first month.

See our Super-Detailed Baselang Review

High-Quality Audio Lessons That Encourage Active Participation

Rating 4.2

Subscriptions start at $14.95/mo

SUPER FAST WAY TO SPEAKING SPANISH

Pimsleur is one of the most popular and longest-standing resources out there for learning a foreign language. Its courses place a strong emphasis on aural and verbal communication skills, paying less attention to grammar explanations and reading or writing skills. The bulk of the material for Pimsleur Spanish is taught with audio lessons.

Pros

  • The lessons are structured well and are an appropriate length.
  • There are both male and female native speakers.
  • Lessons build on each other nicely.
  • The platform is easy to navigate and visually appealing.

Cons

  • There’s very little visual content.
  • Lesson speed isn’t customizable.

See our Super-Detailed Pimsleur Spanish Review

Learn Spanish Through Stories

Rating 4.0

$ 297.00

LEARN SPANISH THROUGH STORIES

This course comes from Olly Richards, the creator of his famous StoryLearning blog. It’s designed for the beginner learner, but don’t expect it to start off slowly and ease you into things. Instead, you’ll jump right into reading a story. Interacting with somewhat lengthy texts right off the bat is part of the resource’s guided discovery learning method and is as challenging as it is rewarding.

While exercises in PDF format may not sound overly exciting, stories can make for enjoyable engagement as well as provide plenty of examples for how the language is used in context. Other perks of this course are clear instructions and grammar explanations that err on the side of being overly informative. You’ll also have the option of choosing between learning Castilian or Latin American Spanish.

Spanish Uncovered isn’t exceptionally cheap, and it will surely appeal more to some learners than others, but if you’re up for a challenge, are self-directed and enjoy stories, this course should provide you with a fantastic start.

Pros

  • The stories are engaging
  • Clear instruction
  • Plenty of practice opportunities

Cons

  • There’s sometimes too much grammar information
  • PDF activities aren’t super exciting
  • The review quiz is too short

See our Super-Detailed Spanish Uncovered Review

A High-Quality Course With Lots of Practice

Rating 4.4

3-month/$38.58

A HIGH-QUALITY COURSE WITH LOTS OF PRACTICE

One of the great things about Ouino is that its material may appeal to both visual and aural learners: lessons are presented in text form as well as read aloud, and important words are color-coded. In addition to this, practice activities incorporate both pictures and sound.

The 500 lessons in the Ouino Spanish course take an academic approach to language instruction. The resource isn’t very gamelike — instead, the lessons are more in-depth and
are part of a detailed curriculum.

This resource might appeal more to serious language learners that are looking to get lots of focused practice or to those that already have some experience learning Spanish. You can jump around from one lesson to another out of order, which could be disorienting for a beginner, but is an advantage for learners past the beginner level.

Pros

  • Material that will appeal to both aural and visual learners
  • You can take lessons in any order that suits you
  • Very low return rate – users love Ouino and stick with it

Cons

  • You’ll have to judge your own pronunciation performance
  • The lesson structure doesn’t vary much and can become overly repetitive

Limited time offer. Lifetime Access is only $95.76!! You can get an additional language for 50% off, OR you could get all 5 languages for life for $191.52. You should know that Ouino enjoys one of the lowest product return rates in the industry. 🙂

See our Super-Detailed Ouino Review

A Reliable Course With Solid Structure

Rating 4.2

Starting from $7/month

A SOLID OPTION FOR VALUE SEEKERS

Babbel is an online language-learning platform with over 1 million active users. Babbel Spanish aims to get you to a conversational level as quickly as possible through the use of a variety of exercises and spaced repetition for review. The courses are well put together and relatively inexpensive.

Pros

  • The content is practical for real-life use
  • It’s easy to use
  • The lessons are fairly short

Cons

  • The exercises can get repetitive
  • The review exercises don’t include grammar concepts
  • Speech recognition isn’t the best way to learn pronunciation

See our Super-Detailed Babbel Spanish Review

Best Non-Beginner Video Course

Rating 4.3

$ 12.95-99.95

VIDEO LIBRARY WITH INTERESTING CONTENT

Yabla is a language-learning platform that uses videos with interactive subtitles and language games to help users learn a language. It’s currently available on the web and for iOS, with an Android app in development. Its videos are of varying difficulty levels and types, and are either sourced from the internet or originally produced, but all videos use native speakers.

Pros

  • It’s very affordable.
  • The review activities are enjoyable and varied.
  • You can filter content by region.
  • There are plenty of interesting and varied videos.

Cons

  • Audio in some review activities is robotic.
  • No speaking practice.
  • Translations don’t take context into account.

See our Super-Detailed Yabla Review

Great For Intermediate / Advanced Spanish Learners

Rating 4.2

$29.99

HIGH QUALITY AUDIO AND TRANSCRIPTS TRANSLATIONS

Gritty Spanish is a resource for learning real-world Spanish with audio lessons. The lessons employ voice actors from various Spanish-speaking countries and the dialogues are very informal and realistic. Transcripts in both English and Spanish, along with notes on certain language items, are provided to help with your study. It’s available on the web, for iOS, and for Android.

Pros

  • There is a wide variety of accents.
  • Culture-specific language points are helpful.
  • The material is lively and engaging.

Cons

  • There are no evaluation exercises.
  • There isn’t much structure.
  • Very limited grammar explanation

See our Super-Detailed Gritty Spanish Review

Best Spanish Beginner’s Courses

If you’re a beginner, you will require a course that teaches the very basics of the Spanish language. Understanding the basics of any language makes it easier to move on up in your language learning journey. The courses in this category will help you solidify your Spanish language foundation.

Best Beginner Course With Engaging Stories

Rating 4.0

$ 297.00

LEARN SPANISH THROUGH STORIES

This course comes from Olly Richards, the creator of his famous StoryLearning blog. It’s designed for the beginner learner, but don’t expect it to start off slowly and ease you into things. Instead, you’ll jump right into reading a story. Interacting with somewhat lengthy texts right off the bat is part of the resource’s guided discovery learning method and is as challenging as it is rewarding.

While exercises in PDF format may not sound overly exciting, stories can make for enjoyable engagement as well as provide plenty of examples for how the language is used in context. Other perks of this course are clear instructions and grammar explanations that err on the side of being overly informative. You’ll also have the option of choosing between learning Castilian or Latin American Spanish.

Spanish Uncovered isn’t exceptionally cheap, and it will surely appeal more to some learners than others, but if you’re up for a challenge, are self-directed and enjoy stories, this course should provide you with a fantastic start.

Pros

  • The stories are engaging
  • Clear instruction
  • Plenty of practice opportunities

Cons

  • There’s sometimes too much grammar information
  • PDF activities aren’t super exciting
  • The review quiz is too short

See our Super-Detailed Spanish Uncovered Review

Unlimited Online Classes and Personalized Study Plans

Rating 4.5

Starting at $99/month

UNLIMITED ONLINE CLASSES AND PERSONALIZED STUDY PLANS

SpanishVIP offers a huge amount of value for the right learner. A subscription to the platform unlocks up to six private lessons or unlimited group lessons per week with a qualified Spanish tutor. The tutors that work with SpanishVIP are very good at what they do, which is a significant draw, but note that they’re all from Latin America. If you’re bent on learning from a teacher from Spain, this won’t be the right platform for you.

What makes SpanishVIP different from an online tutor marketplace like italki or Verbling is that it offers personalized courses to learners. SpanishVIP is constantly developing new material and sharing with its teachers, and you’ll be able to get material that is specifically tailored to you and your learning goals.

Naturally, the value of unlimited lessons depends quite a bit on scheduling flexibility. Private lessons are scheduled weekly, meaning you won’t be able to schedule last-minute lessons like you can with group lessons. In our experience, scheduling difficulties would likely only cause potential problems if you live in certain time zones, as SpanishVIP tutors are located in the Americas.

Pros

  • If you’re able to fit enough lessons into your schedule, the value is amazing
  • Excellent teachers
  • Personalized courses

Cons

  • Some students could experience scheduling limitations

See our Super-Detailed SpanishVIP Review

Quick and Convenient Practice For Beginners

Rating 4.3

$ 14.99

QUICK AND CONVENIENT PRACTICE FOR BEGINNERS

Lingodeer could be ideal for learners that prefer gamified, bite-sized activities. While the complete Spanish course teaches the language as it’s used in Spain, the Lingodeer Latin American Spanish course is in beta development and available to users that already have a premium account.

Gamelike, short activities can sometimes be equated with a lack of in-depth instruction or courses that are otherwise rather poorly put together — that isn’t the case with Lingodeer. The lessons are quite thorough in their use of explanations and examples, and a variety of activities make for engaging practice in multiple skills. The native speaker audio is also good with Lingodeer and helps to make the course more valuable.

Some drawbacks with the Lingodeer course are that it doesn’t provide much in the way of speaking practice and that the material doesn’t always progress in the most natural way. For example, you may come across some words early on that aren’t very important for a beginner to learn. 

Overall, Lingodeer is a pretty solid resource for anyone looking for something that’s easy and fun to use.

Pros

  • There’s a wide variety of activity types
  • Grammar explanations are detailed
  • Quality audio
  • It’s fairly priced

Cons

  • You’ll need additional resources to get sufficient oral communication practice
  • The content doesn’t always progress in a logical manner

See our Super-Detailed Lingodeer Review

Decent Instruction For Beginners

Rating 3.5

$ 14.99-179.99

COURSE WITH A SLICK DESIGN FOR BEGINNERS

It’s important to note right away that a subscription to Mango Languages won’t be of much use to learners at the intermediate level and beyond — there’s just not that much content for more advanced learners. If you’re just starting out with Spanish, however, you should be able to get some quality practice with useful words and phrases that you’ll be able to start using right away.

There are two Spanish courses to choose from: Latin American and Castilian, each of which provide plenty of practice drilling useful bits of language. The Mango Languages platform is slick and easy to use. Lessons progress in a practical order and build on each other, but you can also skip around if you like.

Other notable features of a course with Mango Languages are language-specific cultural notes, grammar notes, and lots of drilling. The drilling will get you used to producing phrases rather quickly, but it can also feel repetitive.

If you’re interested in Mango Languages, be sure to check whether it’s offered for free in your local library.

Pros

  • It’s easy to use and has a nice design
  • Explanations and cultural notes are presented well
  • Lots of drilling means you’re likely to remember what you learn

Cons

  • The constant drilling can become overly repetitive
  • There isn’t much material for upper-level learners
  • Grammar explanations and practice are somewhat lacking

See our Super-Detailed Mango Languages Review

Much More Than Current Events Narrated At A Slow Pace

Rating 4.8

$ 22.90

MUCH MORE THAN CURRENT EVENTS NARRATED AT A SLOW PACE

News in Slow Spanish does a little bit of everything, which is partly why it’s one of our highest-rated courses. It’s also entertaining and fun to use. There’s material that caters to the student of Latin American Spanish as well as those studying the Castilian variety, and there’s material for beginners, intermediate students, and advanced learners alike.

The course gets its name for lessons centered around news stories. The language in these lessons is level-appropriate, both in complexity and narration speed — understanding a news article even with a low level of Spanish is rewarding!

In addition to interesting news stories, there are plenty of grammar-focused lessons and those that teach useful expressions. The beginner material might not be ideal for absolute beginners, but it should quickly elevate your language skills. The intermediate level is where News in Slow Spanish really shines, expertly bridging the gap from beginner to more advanced material.

The advanced level might not be as impressive as at the other two levels, but the variety of practice activities, quality materials, and great lesson flow make this a resource worth considering.

Pros

  • Engaging material
  • Useful variety of lesson types
  • Excellent lesson progression

Cons

  • The advanced level isn’t as impressive as the other levels

See our Super-Detailed News In Slow Spanish Review

Courses to Learn Spanish Reading and Listening

Practice and improve your Spanish reading and listening with the following courses. They provide a lot of material in Spanish that will have you understanding Spanish information in no time.

A Podcast-Style Course For Extensive Listening Practice

Rating 3.8

$ 4.00-23.00

A PODCAST-STYLE COURSE FOR EXTENSIVE LISTENING PRACTICE

Most of the SpanishPod101 material is catered toward beginner learners, though there is material for learners at all levels. There’s also some attention paid to both Latin American and Castilian Spanish, though the majority of the material in SpanishPod101 is in Latin American Spanish.

Audio lessons mean that there’s the potential to get lots of listening practice with this resource, and the accompanying transcripts, lesson notes, quizzes, and vocabulary lists fill out the platform nicely. Lessons are centered around a dialogue that you’ll get to listen to before hearing the hosts break it down and then get to practice yourself. The model works well for presenting the language in context and getting learners used to hearing it.

The core material in SpanishPod101 is pretty useful, but there are also a bunch of extras that aren’t really worth much. You’ll also have to locate the most useful lessons yourself, as there isn’t a clear structure to the course.

Pros

  • There’s a ton of content at lower levels
  • Lessons are entertaining
  • You’ll get cultural information on a variety of different countries

Cons

  • There’s less material for intermediate and advanced learners
  • The website uses a lot of spamming techniques
  • There isn’t a clear lesson progression

See our Super-Detailed SpanishPod101 Review

A Casual Podcast-Style Course That Offers A Lot For Free

Rating 4.0

$124.00

A CASUAL PODCAST-STYLE COURSE

Following along with Coffee Break Spanish lessons is a bit like listening in on a private class. The mood is fairly casual, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some seriously good instruction to be had here. The lessons feature Mark, the host and teacher, and a student that is learning with him. While the course supposedly contains a variety of Spanish meant to help you navigate any Spanish-speaking country, it’s worth noting that Mark has an accent you’d hear in Spain.

You will be provided with lots of translations, explanations, and examples of useful phrases throughout the lessons, but you won’t find the kind of interactive exercises you might in other online courses, especially if you’re listening to the free audio lessons. Paying for the extra materials means you’ll get videos to supplement the audio, which visual learners will likely appreciate.

The 15-20 minute lessons are ideal for convenient practice that takes about as long as a coffee break, and they build on each other nicely. There’s an emphasis on language that’s practical and likely to be immediately useful, which makes for a rewarding experience.

Pros

  • Lessons progress logically and build on each other nicely
  • Content could appeal to both aural and visual learners
  • Audio lessons are free
  • Plenty of examples and explanations

Cons

  • You’ll need to look elsewhere for speaking and writing practice
  • There aren’t any interactive exercises
  • Full access to the courses is fairly expensive

See our Super-Detailed Coffee Break Spanish Review

Free Podcast Episodes and an Intuitive Teaching Method

Rating 4.2

FREE PODCAST, COURSES START AT $97

FREE PODCAST EPISODES AND AN INTUITIVE TEACHING METHOD

There are hundreds of free, downloadable podcasts on the Unlimited Spanish website, all with useful transcripts. These podcast episodes provide a lot of value and serve as an introduction to the teaching method that Oscar, the founder, uses in his courses. There are four of these courses available for purchase, separate from the podcast.

Instead of using a traditional textbook-esque method of teaching a language, Oscar helps his students learn to think in Spanish. Podcast episodes include short stories with accompanying exercises that you can respond to while listening. Lesson narration happens at a slower-than-natural speed, but there is still vocabulary that would likely be new even to upper-intermediate learners. 

While we haven’t had the chance to test them out, the Unlimited Spanish courses appear to be of high quality. There’s a 30-day crash course for beginners, courses that intermediate learners can use to improve fluency, and a course that can help learners having difficulty with verb tenses.

If you’re concerned about interacting with Spanish from a particular country, note that Oscar is from Spain.

Pros

  • Podcasts are free and come with transcripts
  • The intuitive learning method may appeal to some learners

Cons

  • You’ll need to look elsewhere for practice speaking to other people

Courses With Spanish Speaking And Writing Emphasis

In order to have effective communication with a fellow Spanish speaking individual, you will need to know how to speak and write in Spanish. This category lists a few courses that will help you practice these skills. Take a look and see which one you prefer.

The Structure Of A Course With The Guidance Of A Teacher

Rating 4.0

$ 23.99

THE STRUCTURE OF A COURSE WITH THE GUIDANCE OF A TEACHER

The majority of online courses have something in common: they fail to provide much in the way of real communication practice. Some employ simulated role-playing activities and speech-recognition technology to get around this, but these are still inadequate substitutes for the practice you can get with a real person. 

Lingoda, on the other hand, addresses the communication practice problem by getting real tutors involved. Lessons on the platform take place in either private or group classes where you’ll get a chance to speak aloud and get real-time feedback from a tutor. Tutors are from a variety of different countries, so you’ll get exposed to Spanish as it’s spoken in Spain as well as in Latin American countries.

With over 600 lessons, there’s content that should be suitable for just about every type of learner, and there’s no need to complete them in a linear fashion. This course could be a good option for learners that appreciate the structure afforded by a course but are also interested in practice with a native speaker tutor.

Pros

  • Tutors are from a variety of countries
  • There are lessons for many different levels
  • Tutor scheduling is flexible

Cons

  • The lesson materials are all fairly similar
  • Group lessons may not be ideal for everyone

See our Super-Detailed Lingoda Review

High-Quality Audio Lessons That Encourage Active Participation

Rating 4.2

Subscriptions start at $14.95/mo

SUPER FAST WAY TO SPEAKING SPANISH

Pimsleur is one of the most popular and longest-standing resources out there for learning a foreign language. Its courses place a strong emphasis on aural and verbal communication skills, paying less attention to grammar explanations and reading or writing skills. The bulk of the material for Pimsleur Spanish is taught with audio lessons.

Pros

  • The lessons are structured well and are an appropriate length.
  • There are both male and female native speakers.
  • Lessons build on each other nicely.
  • The platform is easy to navigate and visually appealing.

Cons

  • There’s very little visual content.
  • Lesson speed isn’t customizable.

See our Super-Detailed Pimsleur Spanish Review

Good For Intermediate Students Wanting To Practice Speaking

Rating 3.6

$16.99-$30.99

GREAT OPTION FOR INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS

Glossika has learning resources for over fifty languages that impressively range from Armenian and Czech to Icelandic and Spanish. While not suitable for absolute beginners, lower intermediates could use the resource to familiarise themselves with sentences in their language of choice using Glossika´s intuitive approach. Listening to native speakers and repeating what they say can help learners to improve their comprehension skills and spoken fluency. While it is amazing that so many languages are included, learners would have to use numerous other resources alongside it. The cost is unjustifiably high.

Pros

  • There are lots of languages available, including many that are rarely covered by other resources.
  • The subscription gives you access to all of the languages making it possible to study one language and review another at the same time.
  • It will force you to speak the language which will improve your confidence and prosody.

Cons

  • As all of the languages cover the exact same material, the diversity of the languages and cultures are reduced to a simple formula with no cultural context involved in their teaching.
  • There are a fair amount of errors in the materials.
  • The cost is excessively high compared to other resources.
  • There are no explanations of grammar.

See our Super-Detailed Glossika Review

Carefully Crafted Lessons For The Dedicated Learner

Rating 4.3

GBP 14.95

CAREFULLY CRAFTED LESSONS FOR THE DEDICATED LEARNER

At first glance, Fluencia may appear to have quite a bit in common with popular apps like Duolingo or Lingodeer. Take a closer look, however, and it quickly becomes apparent that the Fluencia material was designed with remarkable care and is quite capable of providing exceptionally thorough instruction and practice.

Where other language apps take a gamified, casual approach, Fluencia is a full-on course that was designed specifically with Spanish in mind. For learners looking for a resource that’s a little bit more challenging, Fluencia could be a good fit. It’s certainly not an app that’ll enable idle time wasting.

While Fluencia offers in-depth grammar explanations and quality practice opportunities, it’s true that you may want to supplement your listening and speaking practice with other resources. Also, keep in mind that discounted monthly prices are available for longer subscriptions.

Pros

  • Instruction is very clear and detail oriented
  • Activities are appropriately challenging
  • Audio recordings are sourced from native speakers with a variety of accents

Cons

  • You may need to supplement speaking and listening practice with other resources like tutors or podcasts

See our Super-Detailed Fluencia Review

Learn Spanish Vocabulary and Grammar

Vocabulary and grammar are very important in language acquisition and learning. Practice your grammar and vocabulary with these courses.

Fun Flashcard Platform With Official Spanish Courses

Rating 4.0

$9-$120

FUN FLASHCARD PLATFORM WITH OFFICIAL SPANISH COURSES

Memrise offers two main types of courses: free, community-created courses and official Memrise courses. While the free courses do provide some quality SRS-assisted vocabulary practice, the official courses are where you’ll get the most learning opportunity.

Official courses still offer a lot of content for free, and they include bonuses like videos of native speakers, quality audio, and some grammar explanations. There are seven levels in the Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Mexico) courses, and some advanced material is covered, but learners at lower levels will probably get the most out of the Memrise courses.

There are also a bunch of specialized courses among the community-created material covering everything from slang phrases to exam prep vocabulary. In short, you’ll need more than a Memrise course to become fluent in Spanish, but there’s certainly some value to be had for free.

Pros

  • Lots of free content
  • SRS makes for efficient practice
  • Videos of native speakers are engaging and informative

Cons

  • You’ll need to supplement with other resources to get well-rounded practice

See our Super-Detailed Memrise Review

Bite-Sized Lessons With A Clear Curriculum

Rating 4.0

$10.99/MO, LESS FOR LONGER SUBSCRIPTIONS

BITE-SIZED LESSONS WITH A CLEAR CURRICULUM

WLingua seems to have quite a bit in common with apps like Duolingo and Lingodeer. Namely, it provides practice via short activities that are part of a clearly laid out course plan. This makes for focused, convenient practice that’s easy to pick up whenever you’ve got a few free moments.

One nice feature in the WLingua Spanish course is that it offers support for learners studying Lating American Spanish as well as those interested in pronunciation and vocabulary specific to Spanish as it’s spoken in Spain.

Unlike Duolingo, WLingua doesn’t offer all of its content for free and requires a paid subscription for full access. That said, you will still be able to get quite a bit of practice for free. WLingua also has some pretty great grammar practice — something you won’t find so much of with Duolingo. Though we haven’t had the chance to fully test the course, this grammar practice matched with the resource’s spaced repetition and logically progressing lessons make it worth considering.

Pros

  • Native speaker audio includes a variety of accents
  • Clear course structure
  • Quality grammar practice
  • Short activities make for convenient practice

Cons

  • Lack of speaking and listening practice

Tutors and Spanish Language Exchange

Find yourself a Spanish tutor or a language exchange partner through these courses. This method of learning is more immersive and more authentic.

Best Tutoring Sessions In Spanish

Rating 4.5

Starting at $99/month

UNLIMITED ONLINE CLASSES AND PERSONALIZED STUDY PLANS

SpanishVIP offers a huge amount of value for the right learner. A subscription to the platform unlocks up to six private lessons or unlimited group lessons per week with a qualified Spanish tutor. The tutors that work with SpanishVIP are very good at what they do, which is a significant draw, but note that they’re all from Latin America. If you’re bent on learning from a teacher from Spain, this won’t be the right platform for you.

What makes SpanishVIP different from an online tutor marketplace like italki or Verbling is that it offers personalized courses to learners. SpanishVIP is constantly developing new material and sharing with its teachers, and you’ll be able to get material that is specifically tailored to you and your learning goals.

Naturally, the value of unlimited lessons depends quite a bit on scheduling flexibility. Private lessons are scheduled weekly, meaning you won’t be able to schedule last-minute lessons like you can with group lessons. In our experience, scheduling difficulties would likely only cause potential problems if you live in certain time zones, as SpanishVIP tutors are located in the Americas.

Pros

  • If you’re able to fit enough lessons into your schedule, the value is amazing
  • Excellent teachers
  • Personalized courses

Cons

  • Some students could experience scheduling limitations

See our Super-Detailed SpanishVIP Review

An Excellent Curriculum and Unlimited 1-1 Classes With Tutors

Rating 4.5

$ 179.00

AN EXCELLENT CURRICULUM AND UNLIMITED 1-1 CLASSES

Baselang does an impressive job of marrying a thorough curriculum with the flexibility and personalization afforded by lessons with a teacher. It’s available for a monthly subscription that offers an unlimited number of online lessons with teachers — yes, unlimited!

This is especially noteworthy considering how easy it is to schedule lessons. You’ll be able to schedule lessons at any time of day, often with only a few minutes of advance notice. This makes it quite easy to take advantage of the subscription model and take as many lessons as you can comfortably fit into your schedule.

For anyone that’s serious about getting fluent in the shortest amount of time possible using one primary resource, Baselang is hard to beat.

Pros

  • Unlimited classes
  • Flexible scheduling
  • Well-structured curriculum
  • Quality teachers

Cons

  • No teachers from Spain
  • Occasional internet problems
  • You’ll need enough time to take advantage of the unlimited lessons

ALR Readers receive $10 off first month.

See our Super-Detailed Baselang Review

Live Lessons and Specialized Courses

Rating 3.8

$24.00

LIVE LESSONS AND SPECIALIZED COURSES

Live Lingua is a little bit different from other online tutor platforms in that its service is more specialized. Before you’re hooked up with a tutor, you’ll have a chance to communicate your goals with a personal class coordinator. You also have the chance to choose between several different Spanish courses, including standard lessons, exam prep, Spanish for priests, and more.

The majority of tutors seem to be from Mexico, but there are teachers from nine different countries, meaning you’ll be able to get practice in whatever flavor of Spanish interests you. The teachers are all native speakers and receive extra support and training from Live Lingua.

The platform doesn’t offer the same level of scheduling flexibility you might find on other online tutor platforms, and it’s a little more expensive than similar options, but the extra personalization and course focuses might make it worth it from some learners.

Pros

  • You should be able to find lessons that meet your specific needs
  • Tutors are from a variety of different countries

Cons

  • Lesson scheduling happens via email
  • Limited flexibility in choosing a teacher

See our Super-Detailed Live Lingua Review

Rating 4.5

$ 5.00

RECEIVE FEEDBACK ON YOUR PROGRESS

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.

Pros

  • 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.

Cons

  • 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.

See our Super-Detailed italki Review

Rating 4.6

$ 18.00

EASY TO USE PLATFORM

Verbling is an online language-class marketplace where you can take lessons with teachers of your choice. It has some student-friendly extra features, including a built-in online classroom, flashcards, homework calendar, and a filing system for lesson materials. There are also useful but disorganized forums where you can discuss languages, share writing for critique, and do free language drills and exercises.

The lessons are generally high quality and well structured, plus the filters make it easy to find teachers who specialize in everything from accent reduction to interview preparation. 

However, it can be slightly pricier than alternatives, so if you’re on a tight budget, you may want to look elsewhere. It also has fewer languages than some of the bigger competitors, so it might not be a good choice if you want to study Azerbaijani, Khmer, or Yoruba.

Pros

  • I quickly found great teachers.
  • The platform’s extra features, such as teacher-made, personalized flashcards, help you review the material learned in each lesson.
  • It seems focused on long-term progression as well as immediate student satisfaction.
  • You don’t have to give out your contact details, thanks to the classroom technology.

Cons

  • Some teachers don’t use the platform’s flashcards and materials system.
  • There are fewer languages available than on italki.
  • You can only pay in US dollars, plus there’s a hidden fee.
  • The forums need more moderation.

See our Super-Detailed Verbling Review

Maybe Try These Spanish Learning Courses

The above courses are what we consider to be the best. However, if none of them work for you, this category may have one that matches your preference.

Rocket Spanish

Rocket Spanish is a pretty good Spanish course, but it’s not my personal favorite. Although I find the lessons tend to be very boring, the content is well structured and fairly comprehensive. There is a good mixture of listening, speaking, grammar, and review activities.

See our Super-Detailed Rocket Spanish Review

Fluenz

Fluenz is a language learning software that is available on most devices and offers offline functionality. Its primary objective is to simulate the one-on-one tutor experience with the use of video tutorials that break down the language you’re learning. There are ample explanations of language concepts in English, and the instruction is very thorough. It’s designed for the user with a bigger budget that’s looking for an in-depth and serious learning experience.

See our Super-Detailed Fluenz Review

Lengalia

Lengalia is an online resource for learning Spanish. It offers extensive material at all levels and across a wide variety of focuses. There are courses for those learning Spanish for business, for travel, and general Spanish. Lengalia also offers official CEFR certifications for students that complete a course.

See our Super-Detailed Lengalia Review

1001 Reasons to Learn Spanish

The founder of 1001 Reasons to Learn Spanish is Juan Fernández, an ex-professor of Spanish at the University of London who now dedicates himself to creating quality resources online. Juan is from Spain, and so his courses use and teach Spanish as it’s spoken in Spain, but the lower level material will be mostly relevant for all learners.

Juan is an animated, skilled teacher, and he’s produced a ton of content for Spanish learners, including two other courses, a podcast, YouTube videos, and a graded reader series. His teaching is all in Spanish, but he uses props and gestures to make material that’s suitable for learners of all levels.

Busuu

Busuu is a digital language-learning app with over 90 million registered users. The resource offers vocabulary and grammar practice through short, self-paced study exercises. It also has a social aspect that allows users to get writing and pronunciation feedback from native speakers. It is available on the web, iOS, and Android.

See our Super-Detailed Busuu Review

Spanish With Paul Course

Spanish with Paul is a video course that has over eighty hours of content to work through. The in-depth explanations will certainly give you a great foundation and understanding of Spanish grammar, vocabulary and sentence structures. While the course is not that fun and you don’t get any speaking practice, I’d say it is definitely an effective way of learning the language if you are a serious and dedicated learner who doesn’t get bored easily.

See our Super-Detailed Spanish With Paul Course Review

Chatterbug

Chatterbug is a language learning platform designed with the aim of bringing together the convenience of digital learning apps and the value of one-on-one speaking practice. It was founded in 2016 and currently offers courses in German, Spanish, and French. Some of its features are available on iOS and Android; the full version is available for desktop.

See our Super-Detailed Chatterbug Review

Assimil

Assimil is a French company that has been selling language-learning resources since 1929. Assimil materials are available as books, CDs, and downloadable e-courses; there are a variety of available course types, and instruction is based on interacting with phrases in the target language. The popular Sans Peine or, With Ease, courses are for absolute or false beginners that would like to reach the B2 level, but we think you’ll need to incorporate some other study materials to make this happen.

See our Super-Detailed Assimil Review

Best Free(mium) Courses for Learning Spanish

Are you on a budget but still want to learn Spanish? We have some great free and freemium option for you to choose from.

Learn To Think In Spanish For Free

Rating 4.3

Free

LEARN TO THINK IN SPANISH FOR FREE

The most notable things about Language Transfer are probably that it’s completely free to use (no catch!) and that it takes a unique approach to language instruction. Instead of drilling vocabulary and grammar rules into your head, the course places an emphasis on the relationship between English and Spanish. By pointing out patterns, similarities and differences, the course gives learners the tools to think their way through Spanish.

The format of the course is similar to a podcast in that the materials are purley audio lessons. You’ll listen along to someone else being taught Spanish by the host and creator of Language Transfer, Mihalis Eleftheriou. He even urges learners to just listen and refrain from taking notes.

This course would really only be valuable for beginning learners that speak English, and it won’t be ideal for visual learners, but a remarkable amount of care has been put into this free course. The host in the Spanish course has an Argentinian accent, and you won’t learn the vosotros form used in Spain, but the material should otherwise be useful for learners of either Castilian or Latin American Spanish.

Pros

  • It’s completely free
  • The course structure is well thought out

Cons

  • Visual learners may struggle with the audio-only format
  • Other than responding to cues in the audio lessons, there are no activities to work through
  • There are no native speakers in the course
  • The untraditional learning method won’t appeal to everyone

See our Super-Detailed Language Transfer Review

Dated But Thorough Courses

FSI

Rating 4.3

Free

DATED BUT THOROUGH COURSES

The Foreign Services Institute (FSI) won’t be winning any awards for exciting material or fun-to-use content, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive course for free. The courses were originally created to help diplomats quickly reach professional working proficiency in foreign languages. They’re now available for free on a number of different websites.

There are several different Spanish courses created by FSI, some with material specific to Spain and some with a Latin American focus. They’re all very thorough and include audio recordings and activities to complete. You’ll get plenty of practice with listening comprehension and will have opportunities to practice speaking by responding to audio prompts.

Pros

  • Courses are well structured and comprehensive
  • They’re free

Cons

  • The courses are dated and not very exciting courses

Dated But Thorough Courses

DLI

Rating 4.3

Free

DATED BUT THOROUGH COURSES

Similarly to FSI, courses developed by the Defense Language Institute (DLI) are extremely thorough but not exceptionally engaging. They also place more of an emphasis on military terminology at higher levels.

Pros

  • Courses are well structured and comprehensive
  • They’re free

Cons

  • The courses are dated and not very exciting courses

A Free, Comprehensive Introduction To Spanish

Rating 4.3

Free

A FREE, COMPREHENSIVE INTRODUCTION TO SPANISH

Destinos is an award-winning Spanish video course made up of fifty-two 30-minutes episodes. It was produced in the 1990s, so the production value is a bit dated, but the subject matter is engaging — you get to follow a lawyer as he investigates a family secret.

The video series should prove useful to a variety of learners, as videos contain accents and cultural information from Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. The episodes are 100% in Spanish, meaning beginners will be exposed to more than they understand, but this is all part of the method — learners should be able to follow the story well enough from context clues and the exercises that accompany each lesson.

More experienced learners might not get a ton of useful practice out of Destinos, but it could potentially make an excellent, free introduction for beginners.Learners in some countries may have to play the videos on YouTube or KET Education; the relevant activities are available through the Annenberg Learner site, where the videos are also accessible in some countries.

Pros

  • It’s free
  • Videos cover accents and cultural information from a variety of countries

Cons

  • It isn’t suitable for more advanced learners
  • The videos are dated

Most Useful Free Flashcard Vocab Builder

Rating 4.1

Free

THE GO-TO SRS FLASHCARD APP

It is the go-to app for free (except on iOS) Spaced Repetition System (SRS) flashcards. It has a simple user interface with various features that more hard-core users can dive into if they choose. Your flashcards will appear according to your natural forgetting curve; the app will test you in increasingly spaced out intervals, with more difficult cards appearing more than once in a session, while easier cards spacing out over weeks — or even months and years.

An SRS system is the most effective way to drive information into your long-term memory. The cards can sync between the web, desktop app, and mobile versions to keep your flashcards updated and with you at all times. You can add images and audio clips to your cards and change the text formatting (if you use it on your computer).

One feature unique to Anki, as opposed to other SRS flashcard apps, is the “Cloze deletion” function, which allows you to block out parts of your card and create a “fill-in-the-blanks” type card format. If you want a resource for how to make effective flashcards, check out the book, FluentForever. The author leaves a whole section dedicated to understanding how to use your Anki deck to advance your skills quickly.

Pros

  • Offers a wide range of features.
  • Allows synching across multiple devices.

Cons

  • Anki’s interface may be a bit intimidating for beginners.
  • The aesthetic isn’t very appealing.

See our Super-Detailed Anki Review

Convenient, Gamified Practice For Beginners

Rating 4.0

$ 0.00

CONVENIENT, GAMIFIED PRACTICE FOR BEGINNERS

It’s hard to think of a language resource that’s more popular than Duolingo. Its Spanish course is based on the way the language is used in Mexico and is available for free to anyone with an internet connection.

The highly popular Duolingo app provides practice in the form of engaging, short activities and quite a bit of gamification. It may not be the most intensive Spanish course online, but that doesn’t mean its not fun and convenient. It’s easy to pick up whenever you’ve got a spare moment, and the use of points and leaderboards don’t make it feel like study time at all.

If you’re struggling with motivation and are mostly interested in picking up some basic vocabulary in Spanish, Duolingo could be just what you’re looking for. That said, it’s good to be aware that the audio isn’t the best, the course teaches some sentences that likely won’t be useful to anybody, and you’ll need to look elsewhere to get good speaking practice.

Pros

  • It’s convenient and fun to use
  • The gamification element can be motivating
  • It’s completely free

Cons

  • You never get to create your own sentences
  • Audio quality is sometimes low

See our Super-Detailed Duolingo Review

Free (but could be painful) Way To Find Language Exchanges

Rating 4.7

$ 00.00

FIND A LANGAUGE EXCHANGE PARTNER

Tandem is a popular language exchange app with over one million active users. It’s available for iOS and Android and aims to bring language learners from all over the world together. It’s largely centered around its chat capabilities and language tools that facilitate communication, but there is also a tutoring service offered in the app.

Pros

  • There are plenty of language partners
  • The interface is easy to use and attractive
  • The free version offers a lot of value

Cons

  • You’ll need to use other learning resources as well

See our Super-Detailed Tandem Review

Rating 4.5

$ 6.99

FIND A LANGUAGE EXCHANGE PARTNER FOR FREE

HelloTalk is a mobile app for language learners interested in language exchange. It facilitates communication between native speakers and those learning their language with the use of built-in language tools. It also offers audio lessons in 10 languages as part of a separate subscription.

Pros

  • It’s exciting to practice communicating with real people
  • The built-in language tools are helpful
  • It’s easy to pick up and put down whenever you like

Cons

  • It’s too easy to rely on google translate
  • It can be hard to find good partners
  • The paid audio lessons probably aren’t worth it

See our Super-Detailed HelloTalk Review

Comprehensive Learning For All Levels

DLI

Rating 4.3

Free

COMPREHENSIVE LEARNING FOR ALL COURSES

Similarly to FSI, courses developed by the Defense Language Institute (DLI) are extremely thorough but not exceptionally engaging. They also place more of an emphasis on military terminology at higher levels.

Pros

  • Courses are well structured and comprehensive
  • They’re free

Cons

  • The courses are dated and not very exciting courses

So, What is the Best Course for YOU to Learn Spanish?

There are many courses from this list that could fit your learning styles and help you acquire Spanish, and we hope to help you find ones that do that. Although there is no single best course for learning Spanish, just like there isn’t only one top way to learn Spanish. Try out a few different resources to see which ones match your personality. You may also want to check out our list of Spanish best apps, best podcasts, and best YouTubes.

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