Anyone able to as a second language would doubtless testify that the best approach to learning the language is speaking it face to face with a native.
Though if that isn’t possible, for whatever reason– maybe you don’t live in a Spanish speaking country or you are just still too nervous to speak the language in person –then the next best and most logical alternative is Skype.
Actually conversing in a language you are trying to learn is infinitely better than wading your way through pages and pages of grammar textbooks or online learning resources– this counts for nothing if you are unable to actually speak the language. Skype, as a free video calling service, creates a unique, one-to-one, personal learning environment, provided your internet connection is reliable, your mic fully functional and your webcam doesn’t jump about too much.
And the good news is: there are loads of online tutoring companies that provide this service!
, a US-based startup, is one of them. The site connects top professors and language immersion school teachers from Spanish-speaking countries with students all over the world for just $15 per lesson.
Despite me being in Spain, surrounded by native speakers, I decided to give it a go, for the benefit of those of you who might not be so lucky 😉�
Based on initial impressions of the site, I had a great feeling about it. It’s slick, clean, user-friendly and totally ad-free. After registering, it works like this:
And you’re done!
You will receive a notification email of your confirmed lesson, receipt and a email address if you need to make a change or have any questions.
In my case this last detail turned out to be especially handy, as I’d tried to be clever and selected a lesson time that aligned with Ecuador’s time zone (all registered Spanish teachers are based in Ecuador) before realising that all schedules aligned with CEST (Central European Summer Time). Thus, I had arranged a lesson for 3 o’ clock in the morning. Not ideal. Thankfully, this hiccup was solved in no time at all, and my lesson was moved to a more suitable hour.
I received two more notification emails prior to my lesson– one 24 hours and the other one hour beforehand.
take a very cautious approach when vetting their teachers. First, they ensure that they all have prior experience teaching Spanish to foreigners and teaching online. Then their internet connections are tested several times to ensure there would be no problems with speed/clearness etc. They are then also required to do practice classes with several students before having their profiles activated.
I had booked with and (gingerly) indicated that I had an advanced level with the objective of needing to ‘stay sharp and practice’. I logged into Skype a few minutes before time to find Daniela ready and waiting. Our lesson began promptly and we soon started chatting away about , language and the differences between them in Latin America and Spain.
My only slight doubt before the lesson had pertained to this language barrier, since there is probably a glut of common words and phrases that are translated completely differently in Latin American Spanish, and I am mostly interested in improving my ‘street talk’ here in .
However, though the experience did indeed present some unanticipated linguistic boundaries, these actually turned out to be the best moments of the lesson. For instance, did you know that ardilla, meaning ‘squirrel’ in Castellano, can refer to a badly behaved child and chancleta, meaning ‘sandal’ or ‘flip-flop’, can refer to a baby in Ecuador? What about naño instead of hermano? Apparently that one originates from a . And we all know what coger translates as in Latin American Spanish (if you don’t then I’d suggest you look it up lest you embarrass yourself horribly). All of this was really interesting to me, which goes to show that this type of service doesn’t only benefit beginners.
We also found time to do a couple of listening activities, which Daniela simply sent me the link for in Skype chat.
I had a great experience with Learned By Me from start to finish, and I absolutely recommend their services if you are interested in learning Spanish online rather than face to face, for whatever reason. And this is where the best part of this post comes in:
All you have to do is use the promo code ‘SpainForPleasure‘ (note: you will still have to enter your card details although you will not be charged).
This promo code is available to an infinite number of users but, as indicated above, may only be used once by each user.
So, whether you’re , an expert speaker of Spanish or somewhere in between, I assure you that this is most definitely worth a try!
If you decide to take up the offer please leave a comment below to let me know how your first class goes! Suerte!