Saturday, December 14th
2024 Spanish Lesson Reviews
Duolingo
- Basic: free
- Super Duolingo: starting at $7 per month (billed annually)
- Super Family: starting at $10 per month (billed annually)
- Free to use almost all features
- Small, bite-sized lessons
- Learning streaks are motivating
- Gamification throughout
- Podcasts
Founded on the belief that learning a new language should be free, Duolingo was launched in 2012 and has since become one of the most popular and recognized language-learning apps worldwide, by both adults and children. And did you know that Luis von Ahn, one of the creators of Duolingo, is also the creator of Captcha and Recaptcha, those little boxes that are hurdles to accessing a webpage? Now you do!
Duo the Owl
The mascot and the face of Duolingo is Duo the Owl. He's not only cute and recognizable as the face of Duolingo, he also functions as an intelligent and influential asset in marketing, as he sends notifications and emails prodding you to remember to complete the day's Spanish lesson. He uses humor, sarcasm, and a touch of guilt to lure you back.
Even more fun
Not only does Duolingo offer over 100 languages including, yes, Spanish, but you can also learn Hawaiian, Navajo, and even High Valyrian from Game of Thrones - the creativity of Duolingo's inventors clearly knows no bounds. In fact, Duolingo has been described as "more addictive than Candy Crush” by the New York Times.
It's still free, if you're willing to watch ads
Duolingo has promised since its inception to remain free forever. To get the free account, sign up with your email and password. You'll have access to all the languages, but you'll need to tolerate ads. In addition, if you make too many mistakes, your Spanish lessons are paused for a while until your "hearts” refill.
Tired of ads? Pay for Super Duolingo
Sometimes ads are so annoying, it's worth it to pay a small premium. Super Duolingo starts at only $7 per month (billed annually) and you can complete your Spanish lessons without the ad hiccups disturbing you on your learning streak. You can also use the mobile app without limit, without the forced pause when you make too many mistakes. With Super Duolingo, they'll watch when you do make mistakes, to give you personalized lessons to practice that concept. SuperDuolingo is one of the cheapest subscription apps out there.
Super Family account
Your family account will unlock six people's accounts with everything that's available on the Super Duolingo subscription. They don't even have to be part of your family, so feel free to share it with your friends, classmates, or anyone else you like.
Two weeks free
Yes, the free version is free, but when you sign up for the paid subscription for your Spanish lessons, you'll have two weeks to try it out for free to see if you like not only Duolingo's content, not having ads or pauses in learning, and adding features such as their Unlimited Hearts and Unlimited Legendary. If you don't cancel prior to the end of the 14-day window, you'll likely be billed for a full year-long subscription, with no refunds available, so pay attention.
Flashcards, then reading and writing
Learn words with their cute flashcards. Translate from English to Spanish and the reverse. Your translation will go from easy to more difficult, meaning you might first match the English to Spanish of the word. Then you'll put together a sentence by organizing blocks of individual words. Eventually, you'll type out the sentence. It's a natural progression for the brain and Duolingo does it well.
Listening and speaking
You can listen to Spanish sentences and later listen to 20-25 minute podcasts. Speaking activities are optional, as Duolingo realizes you might be in public when you take your Duolingo lesson and don't want to talk aloud at the moment. However, when you are available to do the Duolingo speaking portion, you'll read something aloud, and the speech-recognition software assesses if you've said it comprehensibly. Another way to practice your Spanish is with Duolingo's online events where you can meet up with others learning Spanish.
Podcasts for intermediate learners
With Duolingo, some languages like Spanish offer podcasts designed for the intermediate speaker. There's a mix of English and your target language in the podcast so it's not too hard for you, and there are transcripts to help out in case you get lost. The podcasts are engaging as well as a great learning and practicing tool.
Some love Duolingo and some are frustrated
The free app with the ads and getting locked out if you make too many mistakes is frustrating to quite a few users. Some have found the app to freeze up and haven't found customer service so they can get help. Some are frustrated with the Spanish. Latin American Spanish is used by Duolingo, which is fine, but when one uses the Spanish from Spain in an answer, it's marked as incorrect - which is strange, because Spain is where the language originated.
Beginners love it, but it's limited for advanced learners
If you're looking for a fun and free way to learn Spanish online or via an app, try Duolingo and see what all the hype is about. If you're an intermediate or especially a more advanced learner, the lessons sometimes lack real conversational practice, feedback, and the cultural context you'd want if you're going to travel. In addition, to find the level of Spanish you're at on the standard European CEFR scale, Duolingo's proficiency test will take quite a long time to get through the beginning levels and you may lose interest.
Still the best at being free, but not enough for fluency
For some, Duolingo can be the best free app available, just as the creators had intended. It's a good way to brush up on vocabulary you may have learned long ago, or to keep you on top of what you might be studying in school. But the problem with Duolingo lessons is they're not conversation-based. Duolingo isn't for serious learners who want to move on to more complex learning material. If you are learning Spanish for a purpose such as travel or conversing with family, we'd suggest one of our other highly-rated Spanish programs.
More Spanish Lesson Reviews
The 12 Best Spanish Lessons
Who Offers the Best Spanish Lessons Online?
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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