Making language learning happen at home

Most of us have at some point wished we could communicate in another language. Whether it be for holidays, to improve that school Spanish you never quite mastered or because you want your children to benefit from this skill. 

I learnt French and German at school and then went on to study Italian. I then happened to marry an Italian but somewhere between having two babies, my time, energy and consistency with language learning fell by the wayside.

Trying to find time to learn has been another item on my to-do list. I’ve recently discovered Preply languages and I think they may have solved my language learning problems.

So who are Preply and how does it work?

Preply is a website helping you find private language tutors in a wide variety of languages at times to suit you. These can be conducted by Skype or they can find a tutor in your nearest city.

I registered with their site in a matter of minutes. You add some credit to your account and you can start searching for your tutor. Costs vary per tutor but my hour cost $17 which is pretty amazing for one to one learning from a native speaker who also happened to be a teacher in Italy as well.

Finding your perfect online tutor

I found the search for my tutor very interesting. You can choose which language you want to study, whether the tutor speaks the language as their mother tongue. You can choose tutors who are available at times that suit you, mornings, evenings, weekends. You can also customise your price range. Prices per hour range from $0-100. Most are around $15-25 a hour. 

Booking an online classroom

After adding credit to your account and requesting a lesson from my chosen tutor I booked my lesson with Laura, a teacher from Northern Italy. There is a calendar within the booking system allowing you to select the exact date and time you need.  I then received a message from Laura discussing my language level and what I would like to focus on. It was very thorough and quite impressive.

What to expect in a lesson

I have to admit I was a little nervous about this but my tutor, called me via Skype as arranged, very promptly. She put me at ease straight away and we went on to discuss some grammar and practice conversational Italian for my first hour.

She also gave me some exercises to do for our next lesson but there was absolutely no pressure with this. If I can fit it in around my commitments this is great but if not we will go through it in my next lesson. 

Finalmente! 

I would definitely recommend Preply languages. Preply offered me a credit to trial one of their lessons but I'm so impressed I've actually gone on purchase a course of 5 more lessons myself. 

If learning a language is something you've always wanted to do, I don't think you can find a more convenient way to study, at more affordable prices. 

The fact that this can be something for yourself or to help your children with their study makes it really practical and the flexibility of the system is a winner for us parents!  

Disclosure: Preply offered me some credit to trial a lesson of my choice. However all opinions are 100% my own.

If you’re interested in learning more about languages, check out our other posts here…