Wednesday, September 11th
2024 Spanish Lesson Reviews
Babbel
- Babbel app and online courses: range from $8.95/mo tio $17.95/mo
- Babbel Live: ranges from $50/mo to $99/mo
- Lessons created by linguists
- Well-researched teaching methods
- Reasonably priced
- Many language offerings
In 2007, three friends wanted to learn Spanish, but at that time, online language-learning choices were slim pickings. These three created Babbel, a language-learning app and website with over a million paid members throughout the world. Babbel doesn't only teach languages; it lets you in on nuances so you avoid a nasty "faux pas."
Babbel's name has significance
Babbel's name is in reference to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, where one day God created the origin of a myriad of languages. Babbel is also a German word meaning to talk about everyday things.
Learn online or on the app
Babbel has a great app that you can use anywhere, including when you're on the go. If you're sitting at your laptop working on something but want to take a quick break to study your Spanish, you can take a lesson via the Babbel website without leaving your workspace.
Have a conversation right away
Rather than memorizing individual, random words, Babbel starts with conversational sentences, such as greeting someone and asking how they are. They then put the phrases together in an order that a conversation might go. From your first five minutes, you should be able to have a brief Spanish conversation with someone. We've encountered other language programs that are so focused on vocabulary flashcards that they seem to forget about actual human communication and conversation.
Lessons created by linguists
It seems logical that all language-teaching companies would hire linguists to create their lessons, but it's not always the case. With Babbel, you can be confident that your curriculum and lessons are created by expert Spanish linguists.
Babbel Live
If online lessons aren't what you want and would rather learn from a real person, try Babbel Live. You can take as many live classes as you like per month, and each class is guaranteed to have six students or fewer. You'll find about 60-70 classes offered daily, so you should find one that's right for you at the time of day you desire. There's no homework or tests, which might be a relief. If you do want to reinforce the class material and what you've learned, you have access to the entire Babbel library of Spanish classes that are online and in their app. Students in Babbel Live must be 16 or older.
Price
How much should you expect to pay for a Babbel course? Here's the breakdown:
- Babbel app and online courses
- 1 month: $17.95 per month (equalling $215.40 annually)
- 3 months: $15.25 per month, or $45.75 total (equalling $183.00 annually)
- 6 months: $13.45 per month, or $80.70 total (equalling $161.40 annually)
- 12 months: $8.95 per month, or $107.40 total for the year
- Lifetime: $299.00 (One-time payment)
- Babbel Live
- 1 month: $99 per month (equalling $1,188.00 annually)
- 3 months: $70 per month, or $209 total* (equalling $840 annually - discount applied)
- 6 months: $60 per month, or $359 total* (equalling $720 annually - discount applied)
- 12 months: $50 per month (equalling $600 annually)
Kudos to their humanitarian effort
During the war in Ukraine, Ukranians were displaced from their country. Babbel created free language courses in English, Polish, and German for these refugees and their hosts so they could each better communicate and the Ukranians could adjust to their new surroundings. Over 400,000 Ukranians have learned a new language with Babbel. For these efforts, Babbel has earned Fast Company's recognition as one of the most innovative companies in education.
Speech recognition software
Not all language-learning apps have speech-recognition technology, but Babbel does, and although it's not perfect, it can be helpful. Say a word or phrase into the microphone, and the program will let you know where you would be understood well and where you should improve your speech and pronunciation so you can be understood. One feature of Babbel is that the people who speak Spanish are from various Spanish-speaking countries, giving you the opportunity to hear different accents. When you try speaking with different accents with this speech-recognition software, you can know if you will be understood. Because speech recognition is relatively new for language programs, it's not perfect, and can be frustrating. We still think it's a good feature, and Babbel's is better than most.
English guides you
The brief explanations in English are helpful if you get stuck. Babbel isn't a complete immersion program, where you only see and hear Spanish with no English explanations. Babbel gives you enough English to get you through, but not so much that you start focusing on how English works and not on the Spanish lesson.
There's a placement test
Even before you try a lesson, Babbel wants to know about you and how much Spanish you already know. With their placement test, you'll be placed in the Spanish course that's best for you, where you can both review some and learn a lot, too.
The European method of fluency
Babbel doesn't create its own Spanish levels: they use the well-known and respected European CEFR method for determining fluency. CEFR is universal, so if you're switching from another Spanish program that's using this method to Babbel, you'll know exactly where to start in Babbel. Babbel's courses go from the A1 beginner level to C1, an advanced level. They don't include the highest, C2 level, but you probably won't find an online Spanish course that does.
Choose your proficiency level and how long you want to take to get there
Babbel wants you to meet your goal of proficiency. When you tell Babbel how proficient you want to be in Spanish, and how many minutes per day you're able to dedicate, they'll come up with a plan for you.
Choose your curriculum
Once your current Spanish proficiency level is determined, you get to decide if you want to take Babbel's courses by level of difficulty or by topic. Choosing courses by level might be more logical, but choosing by topic might keep your interest.
Podcasts
Take your Spanish language learning to a new level by listening to Babbel's podcasts. You might select a this-date-in-history type of podcast or listen and learn Spanish songs with their mixtape-type podcast; there are podcasts meant for the beginning student as well, one being interactive where you decide the ending. Podcasts allow for both immersion and interest.
Lessons can be tedious
Babbel uses spaced recognition, which is where the Spanish words and phrases you're learning today continue to show up in your new lessons, making long-term learning more solidified. But Babbel loses something along the way. The lessons aren't attention-getting after a while. We found ourselves getting bored and not motivated to continue.
20-day refund policy
Whether you choose a one-month plan or a yearly plan, Babbel offers you a 20-day satisfaction guarantee. It's nice that you have more than two weeks to determine if Babbel's Spanish lessons are right for you. This satisfaction guarantee is for both the app/online lessons and for Babbel Live.
It needs oomph
There's so much to love about Babbel: linguists write lessons and include conversation-based Spanish phrases, research-based methodology, podcasts, cultural tidbits, the European method of fluency, reasonably-priced subscriptions, Babbel donating their program to Ukrainian refugees, and more. But it's hard to keep going if you're not going to look forward to the next Spanish lesson. And that's where Babbel loses it for us. Your mileage may vary, but we'd recommend that you shop around a little bit before committing to Babbel, just to be sure that it's the right fit for the way you learn.
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Have you ever wanted to learn Spanish? Maybe you would like to interact with native speakers while traveling. Or perhaps you would like to speak Spanish with your contractor or other people you do business with.
Here are some fun facts for you to consider. According to a recent US census, Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken in US homes, 12x greater than the next four most common languages. The US is the world's fourth-largest Spanish-speaking country. And, as such, jobs in the US are always looking for bilingual (English-Spanish) speakers.
Spanish Lesson FAQ
Continued from above...
No matter why you want to learn Spanish, the real question is which online Spanish lessons are right for you. With so much of our life being digital and using apps regularly if not daily, it's only natural to want to explore apps or online methods for learning Spanish. There are many to choose from, and we can help you sift through the options.
The first thing to consider is how much Spanish you already know. If you're just getting started, your choices are almost endless, as many programs have an abundance of material for beginners. In fact, some of these programs focus so much on the beginners that they seem to run out of steam when creating material for the intermediate students, and then there's none if you want to hone your advanced Spanish with them. There are those who cater to all levels of proficiency, but it's certainly not all, and you have to know which is which. No worries - wherever you are on your Spanish-learning journey, we have excellent online programs and apps to recommend for your needs.
Another consideration is your learning style and preferences. Some learners need motivation through lessons with animation, gamification, and prizes. Others find animation and gamification overwhelming and would rather get straight to business, preferring the old-school grammar lessons and vocabulary flashcards. Consider if you want your Spanish curriculum to tell you where to start and then follow those lessons in a linear fashion. If you do, great. However, other people want to choose their own path and select lessons where the theme is of interest to them. Either way, there are plenty of online Spanish lessons that will suit you.
Once you're more aware of why you're learning Spanish and how you want to learn it, there are a few more aspects you should consider as you choose where to take lessons:
- The right fit. Consider a trial period or the money-back guarantee period of time to try out the Spanish lessons to see if it delivers for you. Maybe you thought you were self-motivated, but instead you actually want animation and gamification to give you that little push. The trial period can shed some light on your fit with the program.
- Live tutor. Some online Spanish-learning programs offer a live tutor so you can learn all on your own with the tutor, or at least can be in a small class setting of 6 students or fewer. Or you can get a tutor to help you when you're stuck with the material you're learning. Sometimes it's nice to have a live person to help out.
- Value. Once you give a free trial a chance, believe it or not, sometimes the month-to-month price can be more expensive in a year's payments than the whole lifetime one-time-payment option.
- Refund policy. Once you've committed to an online Spanish program, is there a money-back guarantee? If so, how long do you have to decide? Some offer 60 days, 30 days, and some offer only 7 days to try it out and get your money back.
The experts at Top Consumer Reviews have evaluated, rated, and ranked the best choices for online Spanish lessons. We're sure that with this information, you'll have what you need to make the right choice for your goals in learning and becoming fluent in Spanish. ¡Ya vamos!
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