italki Review

Tuesday, June 17th

2025 German Lesson Reviews

italki

• One-on-one German lessons for $4 to $80
• Low-priced trial lessons
• Option to buy lesson packages at a discount
• AI-powered tutor recommendations and learning plans
• Certified teachers and community tutors
• Introduction videos for better understanding of teaching styles
• Read reviews from students
• Access to free learning materials in the community area
• Focused on achieving your specific German language goals

italki is an online language exchange community that started in 2007. Instead of a go-at-your-own-pace app or website, italki is a platform that connects you with German tutors who will help you get the hang of the language's vocabulary and complicated grammar one-on-one.

Personalized recommendations

Choose the language you want to learn, estimate your current level, and decide why you're studying German. Pick five topics you're interested in, like music, food, writing, art, marketing, or nature. Doing this will get you personalized tutor recommendations based on your interests and learning goals. You can also create a personalized learning plan. You'll get suggestions for your lesson goals, help in building good habits, and a way to track your progress.

Tell italki about your goals and timeframe

For example, when we signed up, we said our interest in German was for "hobbies or cultural interests." During the personalization process, italki asked us to choose the best description of our goals: "acquire language skills needed to engage in discussions with friends" or "deepen my understanding of the target culture through language." We could also write a new goal. At the end of the process, one of the suggested lesson focuses it generated for us was "Attend art exhibitions and discuss various artworks," which was perfect for us because we created our profile with the idea of someone who had been an exchange student and wanted to keep in contact with their host family, who they enjoyed going to art museums with.

19 hours with italki is roughly equivalent to 1 college semester

We were also asked to set our learning pace and duration to achieve the equivalent of a semester of learning. If you commit 4 hours a week for 5 weeks to learning German with italki, that would be the same as one semester of university-level language learning. Your learning plan will be visible to your teachers, so don't worry about having to update them on your goals.

italki has certified teachers and community tutors

There are two kinds of teachers on italki - Community Tutors and Professional Teachers. Valeria May, for example, is a Professional Teacher. That means she's demonstrated her credentials to italki with acceptable certificates, in her case, a certification for teaching German as a foreign language from the Goethe Institute. You can watch her short introduction video to hear more about her background and get a feel for her accent. If learning to speak like a native is important to you, you may want to look for a tutor like Valeria who is from Germany, but be aware they sometimes charge more.

Watch introduction videos from tutors

A Community Tutor can help you with general topics and conversation practice and isn't required to have teaching credentials, but italki still requires them to submit an application and evaluates them based on an intro video and their activity in the italki community. They also have to pass a 45-minute interview with italki staff. It isn't a free-for-all! Karen, for instance, is a Community Tutor, and she has a 5-star rating from 75 students. In her introduction video, she talks (in German) about her teaching style - a relaxed conversation where she identifies and helps you improve your weaknesses. She also shares what she looks for in a student - someone who is curious about the world, enjoys expressing themselves, and appreciates lively discussions.

Read student reviews

In a tutor or teacher's profile, you'll find the topics they're interested in, any other languages they speak, and the kinds of teaching materials that will be involved in your German tutoring. These materials might include PDFs, text documents, audio files, articles and news, quizzes, and homework assignments, among others. You'll also have access to their resumes. Here you'll find reviews from their students and the tutor's attendance rate, their response rate, and the number of lessons they've taught. Valeria May has taught 2,601 students and boasts a 100% attendance rate. Her students praise her for always being well-prepared and punctual.

Not all tutors offer trial lessons

If you're interested in tutoring with Valeria May, Karen, or any other italki tutor, you get three shots at a trial lesson to discuss your learning goals, a demo of your tutor's teaching style, and a sample of the materials involved. These trial lessons are usually available to new students at a lower price than the tutor's other lessons. A trial lesson with Karen is $11, but Valeria May doesn't offer one. Instead she's established an hourly rate of $30 minimum.

Buy lessons in bulk for a small discount

Also on a tutor's profile you'll be able to see the lessons and lesson packages they offer. Karen offers one kind of lesson: conversation practice on a topic of your choosing, including current political events, your everyday life, other countries, history, and more. She charges just $20 for an hour-long lesson. Valeria May only offers packages, which are purchased all at one time but carry a 4% discount. She has lessons for all levels from A1-C2 that cover grammar, pronunciation, reading, and listening. Her 45-minute lessons cost $42 and her 60-minute lessons are $44.

Save by purchasing credits

You can choose to pay with either traditional cash or through italki credits. While you have the option to pay for each lesson separately (which includes a nominal service fee), preloading your student wallet with italki credits can simplify the payment process. Buying credits in larger quantities also offers the advantage of reducing transaction fees, though the savings are modest. If a lesson is canceled or declined by the teacher, the credits are refunded directly to your italki wallet. Just keep in mind that italki credits will expire if there's no activity on your account for over a year.

Access free learning materials

The community area on italki is a gold mine of complimentary learning materials. Here, you can access podcasts, learning exercises, and a community forum for German-related questions. The exercises are designed by experienced tutors and might include tasks like completing sentences or engaging with writing prompts about German language, culture, or any topic that sparks your interest. Here's a tip: adjust the language settings to German so you don't see things related to other languages you've indicated you can speak.

Best choice for German lessons

If you're learning German for academic or professional reasons, italki is your best bet at passing that test or interview with flying colors. At italki, you'll be working with a tutor who centers the instruction on your goals, meaning you won't have to slog through irrelevant vocabulary before you get to what you really want to learn. italki is our favorite place to take German lessons, earning our highest rating of 5 stars.