{"id":3322,"date":"2021-06-10T11:08:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T11:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/?p=3322"},"modified":"2021-06-10T11:08:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T11:08:37","slug":"preply-learn-any-language-app-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/preply-learn-any-language-app-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Preply &#8211; Learn any language &#8211; app &#8211; review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With nearly every language-learning resource I\u2019ve used, I run into the same problem. I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m getting adequate speaking practice. I know from experience that learning a language academically and using it in the wild are two very different beasts.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m convinced that the only way to truly get around this is to actually practice speaking with a real human in addition to study.<\/p>\n<p>Finding a language tutor can be difficult, however. If you\u2019re lucky enough to be living in close proximity to tutors of the language you want to learn, you\u2019ve still got to find one that fits your budget and learning style. Finding a good tutor can be time-consuming and frustrating.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Online English Tutoring Jobs - [Preply Tutor Review]\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ldmFjikPVNI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In the last decade, online educational platforms have aimed at solving this problem. Preply is one of them.<\/p>\n<p>Preply is an educational platform that matches language learners with tutors. The initial focus of Preply was to provide online SAT and ACT tutoring services, but they\u2019ve since transitioned to a language learning focus. Their pool of tutors includes over 25,000 tutors teaching 27 different languages.<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of tutors using this platform. This makes finding the type of instruction you\u2019re looking for highly probable, but you might have to do some digging.<\/p>\n<p>Preply lets you take one-on-one language classes from anywhere in the world with a tutor using the platform. There are a few platforms out there doing this, namely italki and Verbling.<\/p>\n<p>This type of resource is great for learners interested in getting some real speaking practice and live feedback from a native speaker.<\/p>\n<p>For this review, I used Preply in preparation for an upcoming trip to Italy as a beginner of Italian and for some Spanish speaking practice as an advanced student of Spanish. Preply was well suited to both of these endeavors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FINDING A TUTOR ON PREPLY<\/strong><br \/>\npreply tutors<\/p>\n<p>The method for finding a teacher is pretty standard for this kind of platform, and Preply does it well.<\/p>\n<p>Basic details are available at a glance: you can see a teacher\u2019s rating, their hourly rate, what they look like, where they\u2019re from and what languages they speak. This is all very useful when it comes to choosing the right teacher for you, especially for languages that are spoken in more than one country and have a variety of accents and dialects.<\/p>\n<p>Each teacher also has a short bio you can read that usually details their areas of expertise and experience. This is super useful \u2014 I felt more comfortable making my decision based on what the tutor prefers to teach.<\/p>\n<p>tutor profile<br \/>\nFor Italian, I chose a tutor that mentioned preferring to work with beginners. Teachers will also describe their preferred student age in their profile.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the basic info and short bio, each teacher has recorded an introduction video that you can watch. I was grateful for this feature and found it useful in my search for a teacher.<\/p>\n<p>tutor schedule<\/p>\n<p>The video accomplishes a lot. You not only get to check out the teacher\u2019s personality, but you also get to hear their accent, their \u201cteaching voice,\u201d and the chance to see what equipment they\u2019re working with.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot of variety when it comes to the equipment teachers have available, and the quality of audio and video can heavily impact the lesson.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script> <!-- English100_EN_display_header up --> <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9653005764752290\" data-ad-slot=\"9235336620\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); <\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>BOOKING A LESSON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>booking a tutor<\/p>\n<p>You can see here that I\u2019m booking a trial lesson. The first lesson you book with any teacher is a trial lesson, and it means that you can get a free lesson with another tutor or a refund if the lesson is subpar.<\/p>\n<p>It also means that the teacher won\u2019t get paid for the lesson, but we\u2019ll talk more about that later.<\/p>\n<p>Once you book a lesson with a teacher, you\u2019ll have the chance to fill out some preliminary information about yourself, your language proficiencies, and your motivations for taking courses on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>First, you\u2019ll select the languages you speak and your level of proficiency in each.<\/p>\n<p>Next, you\u2019ll be asked why you want the language.<\/p>\n<p>This is nice in theory, but the preselected options are broad and pretty limiting. In both of my lessons, we ended up talking about this at the beginning of the lesson anyway.<\/p>\n<p>While I was fortunate enough to have an Italian tutor that speaks English and already be at a level where I can communicate this information to my Spanish tutor, you could end up with a tutor that you don\u2019t share a language with. In this case, the survey would certainly be useful for making sure everyone is on the same page as far as the focus of the lessons.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After completing the mini-survey, you\u2019ll fill out some practical information that will supposedly help plan your study schedule and lay out how you\u2019ll achieve your goals.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not sure how they calculate the amount of time it will take to progress from one level to another, but they use CEFR reference levels to measure language proficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve booked lessons, you can view them in the My Lessons tab.<\/p>\n<p>Here you can see a record of lessons you\u2019ve taken and those that are upcoming. You can also set and monitor basic learning goals in this space.<\/p>\n<p>This is pretty much the limit of Preply\u2019s features. Aside from the tutor search function and the My Lessons page, you just use the site\u2019s video chat function to have lessons.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE LESSON<\/strong><br \/>\nThe experience you have during a lesson will be totally dependent on the teacher.<\/p>\n<p>Preply is the platform that brings you and the teacher together, but they don\u2019t have any influence on the curriculum or teaching style of the teachers.<\/p>\n<p>This means that every teacher has their own way of doing things, and some will be a better fit for you than others. Of the two lessons I took on Preply, the teachers had drastically different teaching styles. Their technological situations were also very distinct.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there are a ton of teachers out there, and you should be able to find one that suits you with a little searching around.<\/p>\n<p>Both teachers were able to share their screen with me, which gave the lesson a classroom feel.<\/p>\n<p>I was a bit apprehensive about going into an Italian lesson without speaking much Italian. The fact that the teacher had a beginning Italian book to go through was a relief and made the experience much less stressful than I had imagined.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/pimsleur-learn-conversation-fast-51-languages%e2%80%8f-app-review\/pimsleur\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3299\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3299\" src=\"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pimsleur.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pimsleur.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pimsleur-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pimsleur-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pimsleur-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pimsleur-360x188.jpg 360w, https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Pimsleur-545x285.jpg 545w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Spanish lesson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Again, the lesson structure is really up to the teacher. Both of the teachers I worked with were interested in how I wanted to learn and were willing to tailor lessons to meet my needs. They were also both ready to provide direction and structure if I didn\u2019t have any specific requests.<\/p>\n<p>Given the number of tutors using Preply, I\u2019d say the sky\u2019s the limit when it comes to the lesson quality you can expect. It might take some digging, but you can probably find a teacher that is close to ideal for you if you\u2019re studying one of the more popular languages.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AFTER THE LESSON<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter a trial lesson, you may be asked to confirm the lesson. Upon confirmation, you\u2019ll be able to rate the lesson and report any issues you experienced.<\/p>\n<p>after the lesson<br \/>\nYou\u2019ll then have the option to book more lessons with the same teacher.<\/p>\n<p>buy packaged lessons<\/p>\n<p>As you can see, there are only three lesson packages to choose from, and none of them allow you to purchase a single lesson.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that you are purchasing hours with a single teacher is important to note here. I read multiple reviews from users that had purchased 10 or 20 hours with a teacher after a good trial to find that the teacher was frequently late or that the quality of classes had decreased dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>These users found getting a refund or transferring their hours to a new teacher to be a difficult process. I got this information from their facebook page.<\/p>\n<p>I also immediately wished I had the option to purchase hours that could easily be used with any teacher. A good trial might not necessarily mean that teacher is the best fit after five lessons. This doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the teacher\u2019s doing a bad job, either. Sometimes it\u2019s just nice to switch things up.<\/p>\n<p>Verbling and italki let you pay per class.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script> <!-- English100_EN_display_header up --> <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9653005764752290\" data-ad-slot=\"9235336620\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); <\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>EXTRAS<\/strong><br \/>\nUnlike italki, Preply doesn\u2019t offer much in the way of free extras. There\u2019s a way to plan and monitor your study habits, but not much more.<\/p>\n<p>italki, on the other hand, offers several cool extra features. One of these is the Exercise feature, which provides students with writing and speaking help. You simply submit a piece of writing or a recording and then someone proficient in the language you\u2019re learning corrects it for you.<\/p>\n<p>italki also has a very lively community that\u2019s active on the app. Many learners use this community to find language exchange partners. It\u2019s easy to connect with others with messages, and many people write posts explicitly looking for partners. If you\u2019re a native English speaker, you\u2019ll have plenty of people to choose from. This type of learning has the benefit of being free!<\/p>\n<p>Preply does have a built-in chat feature that\u2019s basic, but nice. My Italian teacher invited me to message her with questions about the language, saying she would reply even outside of class time. That\u2019s going above and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>My Spanish teacher was quick to send a hello message as soon as I booked a lesson with him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TEACHING WITH PREPLY<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019ve never taught for Preply, so I can\u2019t really comment on what it\u2019s actually like. But I have read a ton of reviews, and I think they\u2019re worth considering.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.preply\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2952 noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2952\" src=\"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Download-App-Andriod-Google-play.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"248\" height=\"74\" srcset=\"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Download-App-Andriod-Google-play.png 389w, https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Download-App-Andriod-Google-play-300x89.png 300w, https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Download-App-Andriod-Google-play-360x107.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 248px) 100vw, 248px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/preply-learn-languages\/id1352790442\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2953 noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2953\" src=\"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Download-App-IOS-App-store.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"254\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There is a fair number of people out there that feel like Preply rips off its teachers by taking unreasonably high commissions. I was shocked to learn that teachers aren\u2019t paid at all for teaching a trial lesson, even though these lessons are just as long as a normal lesson.<\/p>\n<p>Preply justifies this by saying that the money from trial lessons is put into advertising and developing the platform. As a teacher, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be happy with that reasoning, but I did come across some that said they were fine with it.<\/p>\n<p>Teachers only get paid if you decide to purchase a package of hours from them. Even then, Preply takes a sizeable commission.<\/p>\n<p>teacher commissions<br \/>\nFor new teachers, Preply takes 33% of their hourly rate. As teachers gain more experience, the commission decreases until reaching 18% when a teacher has taught for over 400 hours on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>This is in comparison with italki and Verbling, which both only ever take a 15% commission and pay for all classes. I\u2019m personally more inclined to go with a platform that I know lets its teachers keep more of their fee.<\/p>\n<p>Champions of the Preply teaching experience are grateful for the huge pool of students that Preply has access to and the convenience afforded by being able to teach online from anywhere. The freedom to set your own hours and hourly rate is a big plus.<\/p>\n<p>Many, my Spanish teacher included, are also just elated to be able to communicate with people from all over the world and get paid for it. Hefty commissions aside, teaching online does have a lot going for it.<\/p>\n<p>You can apply to teach with Preply here if this speaks to you.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script> <!-- English100_EN_display_header up --> <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9653005764752290\" data-ad-slot=\"9235336620\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); <\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>PRICING<\/strong><br \/>\nEach teacher on Preply sets their own hourly rate, and I\u2019ve seen classes from $40 an hour all the way down to $2 an hour.<\/p>\n<p>The average price was around $15 an hour for the languages I checked out. You can pretty much find your price point, whatever it is, on Preply. This is nice, and it\u2019s easy to filter your search results to only show teachers within your price range.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With nearly every language-learning resource I\u2019ve used, I run into the same problem. I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m getting adequate speaking practice. I know from experience that learning a language academically and using it in the wild are two very different beasts. I\u2019m convinced that the only way to truly get around this is to &#8230; <a title=\"Preply &#8211; Learn any language &#8211; app &#8211; review\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/preply-learn-any-language-app-review\/\" aria-label=\"More on Preply &#8211; Learn any language &#8211; app &#8211; review\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[355],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apps","infinite-scroll-item"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnenglish100.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}