Preply Review: Get Fluent With the Best Online Language Tutors

We all know that person who’s been on language apps but never speaks. That is not the way to get fluent.

How to Get Fluent in Any Language

To become fluent, focus on four essential skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

For speaking practice, the gold standard is to talk to a human. ⭐️

Real conversations are like rocket fuel for language learning progress.

Where to Find Great Speaking Practice in Any Language

While it’s free to talk to your friend or partner, there’s a better shortcut to learning a language: find a tutor!

Tutors are the best because they listen patiently while you make mistakes, they show up like professionals, and know how to teach the language (unlike your girlfriend’s uncle).

One of the easiest ways to find a great language tutor is to try out a platform like Preply, and that’s what we’re doing today.

What is Preply?

Preply is a leading online language learning platform that connects a global community of over 42,000 expert tutors teaching 50+ languages to hundreds of thousands of learners in 180 countries.

How I Reviewed and Tested Preply as a Student

For this review, I signed up to Preply as a student and looked for classes in French and Welsh.

Try it out here <—

Each tutor has a welcome video so you can experience their voice and teaching style. You can filter by native language, timezone, and cost per lesson.

There’s a Super Tutor status that highlights tutors who are highly rated and experienced, similar to the Superhost status on Airbnb. I would definitely use this to find a good match for my beginner languages like Mandarin or Russian.

After the trial lesson, Preply asks you to subscribe to the tutor’s lessons, so you’re paying once a month for 1-4 weekly classes.

Is Preply Good? Here are the Pros

Here’s what I liked most while I wrote my Preply review:

Finding Tutors Was Easy

It was not difficult to select a tutor and I enjoyed the video introductions.

All my tutors were friendly, approachable, and a good match from the start. I chose to subscribe for Welsh and paid for 4 weekly classes upfront. It was easy to schedule them.

From the teacher side, I’ve also heard good things. The tutors I talked to have a range of students and showed a lot of enthusiasm for teaching. Preply makes it easy to find students and offers useful training.

No Time Wasted Trying to Find the Perfect Tutor

Once you’re matched, subscribe and commit. If you’re an overthinker who never feels like you have the perfect solution, this is a good thing. It keeps you focused where you need to focus.

Plenty of Lesson Preparation

I liked the preparation screen, where I could give details on my learning and goals. In the bigger languages (French, German, English …but not Welsh) there was also a placement test and I could record a little message to my tutor in my target language. The system classed me as a B2 student, which felt about right overall.

Good Preply Tech and Design

All in all, my experience with Preply was brilliant. A good-looking platform that is easy to use, works well, and got me into speaking practice very quickly.

I liked that there was not a lot of trial and error, and had zero problems with the a video call inside of the Preply platform, so no need to download Zoom or connect on anything else.

There’s also a handy app, which I downloaded, and I connected my Google calendar so I could get lesson reminders.

What are the Downsides of Using Preply to Learn a Language?

The biggest con is not really a con here: A lot of people don’t like the subscription model.

As a learner, it does push you to commit at an earlier stage, but if you take your trial lesson seriously and don’t shop around for a dozen free chats, I think this is actually a good thing.

The only thing I would suggest is allow 25-minute lessons as well as 50-minute lessons, but that’s not a dealbreaker.

Conclusion: Is Preply a Good Platform?

All in all, my experience as a Preply tester was positive.

• Easy to Set Up and Use: A good-looking site and app that got to the point fast.

• Great Tutor Selection: The tutors I worked with for this review were lovely and professional.

• Subscription model: This cements Preply as a platform for learners and weeds out shoppers.

Preply vs Italki

If you want to compare Preply and Italki, the two biggest online marketplaces for language tutors, here’s what you need to know.

Price is not the key point. As a former tutor, I do not agree that you should select your own language tutors based on who’s the cheapest. Here are my tips for finding tutors at the right price.

Both are legit platforms where you’ll find language tutors at a range of prices.

• Preply: Structured subscription, easier planning.

• italki: Flexible bookings, but with potential for distraction by shopping around.

Choose Preply if you want a reliable language routine. If you want drop-in, on-the-fly lessons, Italki may suit.

Is it Hard to Cancel a Preply Subscription?

Although some users report issues with cancelling subscriptions, my experience was straightforward and problem-free. I paid the expected amount and cancelled after scheduling the lessons I had paid for.

Having been a tutor, I think I’d also like this commitment because it’s one of the most important ways to get a student invested.

Get More Out of Preply For Advanced Language Learners

If you have a high level in your target language, why not take a class in a fun subject like art or music in that language? After a quick search, I found fun options like

• Guitar lessons from a Tunisian French speaker

• Public Speaking practice with a Spanish speaker

• Literature lessons from a Korean native

Is Preply Legit and Trustworthy?

Based on reports from my tutors and my experience as a Preply tester, it’s a yes.

Preply found me reliable tutors for several languages very quickly, and the lesson quality was good. The payment system is different to other platforms, but I felt it was fair and simple.

Is Preply Safe?

With Preply, I had zero problems in terms of safety. If you’re looking for lessons for your child, you’ll be reassured by the video introductions and in-built classroom system.

What if I Miss My Lesson on Preply?

As a student, Preply only allows lesson cancellation up to 12 hours before your scheduled timeslot. If you miss the lesson without telling Preply or the tutor, you still have to pay for it.

Disclaimer: Preply provided me with sign-up credit and compensation for my time writing this review. The links I share are affiliate links. This did not affect the content and my experiences and words are fully independent.

Accelerate Your Speaking Skills with Speechling: In-Depth 100% Honest Review

Speaking in other languages is harder than it looks at first. You can read books and study flashcards, and still choke when you speak to a real person.

It can be difficult to practice pronunciation and have conversations on a regular basis. Tutors are awesome, but your lesson time is limited. And many apps and bots make us feel detached.

Speechling claims to have cracked that problem. This new app offers speaking skill training, attractive design, and the most convenient access to a real person tutor that I have ever seen. No scheduling, no exchange of Skype names.

Sounds good, but does it work? In this review, let's take a deep dive and find out.

How does Speechling Work?

Speechling's courses use sentence repetition, a premise that you may know from fellow Fluent favourite Glossika. But there is a twist: Speechling includes feedback on everything you record, from an actual human.

After repeating the sentence you see and hear on the screen, you have the choice of listening back to your pronunciation, or to save it for coaching. After you save your recording, you will receive feedback and tips from a Speechling coach.

How I Tested The App

Speechling's six language options gave me the chance to test ot for at different levels:

• Advanced (French),
• Confident Beginner(Russian)
• Absolute Beginner (Chinese).

The Advanced Learner Test: French

In French, my language level is around B2-C1 on the CEFR. I can navigate most conversations without hiccups, and I know for a fact that speaking French is what I need the most.

So for my level, saying a few sentences every day at my own convenience was perfect.

The live feedback here was eye-opening. I have an optimistic blind spot to my own weaknesses in pronunciation and word choice. I always learnt French in academic environments, so I produce great grammar. But in reality, my spoken French sounds textbook and a little uncomfortable. The coach feedback made me more aware of my little mistakes without discouraging me completely. I felt encouraged to try again, to fix what I was saying and carry on.

Describing a picture using Speechling's Freestyle mode

With the freestyle mode, I got to practice free speech instead of repeating pre-written sentences. In the dictation feature, I added listening comprehension at natural speeds.

The Confident Beginner Test: Russian

Russian is a language I studied about two years ago and I was able to have very basic exchanges (“what did you have for breakfast?” - “I had porridge”, that kind of stuff). I pronounce words correctly, and can read Cyrillic. So with this language, I wanted to see

1. if Speechling can teach me something new and
2. if my pronunciation is accurate.

The module I chose was “Beginner (A1)”, which was a great entry point after a few years off. With each repetition, I felt like I was learning. The examples were well pronounced, came at a speed that felt like a suitable challenge, and soon I was improving.

I also felt that pronouncing each new word immediately helped me remember it, especially when I added a recording. The accountability of recording and coaching (“someone will actually hear this”) helped me link the phrase with a strong emotion. For more about how emotions amplify memory, check out my interview with Gabriel Wyner from Fluent Forever.

With a language like Russian, you need regular exposure to stay comfortable with the alphabet and pronunciation. Speechling surprised me here because it felt like the perfect tool. There were so many sentences I had never said before, and so many opportunities for me to improve.

Best of all, I was speaking Russian right there and then without any hesitation.

Of course, exposure to lots of sentences won't teach me more than lots of sentences. If I wanted to get back into Russian and start making steady progress, I would definitely use Speechling and I would add a textbook, dictionary, grammar explanations, and lots of input resources.

The Absolute Beginner Test: Chinese

Chinese is the only language out of Speechling’s range that I have never studied, so I decided to go for the “simplified” version. Does that mean easy Chinese? No idea, but it's worth a try. The module I chose was “Beginner (A1)”, as there was no way of picking anything even easier.

My Speechling Audio Diary

With Chinese, Speechling shows the sentences in Hanzi (Chinese characters). There is also the option of viewing the sentence in pinyin. Good job - it was the only way I could even start to guess at repeating the sounds I was hearing.

For a complete beginner like me, the sentences were interesting. I had to repeat the audio input 4-5 times before I dared to repeat the sounds. Surely, any Chinese speaker would be impressed?

Speaking Chinese to a Chinese Native After 5 Minutes

Well, I do know a Chinese speaker so I was ready to shine. Having newly acquired the sentence 今天很温暖 (“it’s warm today”), I asked my co-working buddy to listen to my Chinese and tell me if it’s correct. And he did understand what I was saying, although “impressed” would be stretching the truth a bit.

I also sent my recorded sentence to the Chinese coach, who drew my attention to the specific parts I got wrong.

Learning mass sentences as a complete beginner isn’t ideal. It leaves you without a sense of what each word means (which one out of jin tian hen nuan huo is “warm”, which one is “today”....and what do any of those symbols mean?). Learners don't get to understand what any of the rules of speaking are. But that’s okay, as Speechling not designed for that. This tool is a great confidence builder and accent sharpener. I could imagine it as a fantastic basis for tutoring, sending students away with homework on a topic.

Multilingual Usage

If you have studied more than one of Speechling’s range of languages, you can view translations in any of the six languages. This means you get to practice two languages at once, and it’s one of easiest ways to train your polyglot muscles.

Downsides of Speechling

On several occasions, my recordings were too long to be saved for feedback. This is understandable, but it was frustrating particularly in the freestyle mode. It’s disappointing when you say a complex sentence to send to your coach, and then get a message saying “file too large - cannot save”. It would be great if Speechling could include a guide on how long I can record for.

For languages where I knew nothing at all, I’d also like to see a primer module so I understand what I'm doing. But this is a tiny point, especially since Speechling is not aimed at complete beginners.

In Conclusion: Speechling is Great

All in all, I found Speechling a great addition to my studies. It was challenging and helped me improve my pronunciation and speaking skills in three languages. I was most excited about what Speechling could do for my Russian language skills. I improved both my vocabulary and accent, and the process was efficient and fast.

Speechling is free from robot voices and works with male and female voices (native speakers, of course). Its interface looks great and it gets you into the action immediately.

I love the record-feedback cycle, because it prompts you to re-record a better version of what you said. You get feedback, and you improve pronunciation, confidence, and speed.

The coaches were great for all the languages I tried. They recorded speedy corrections. At the very early levels, feedback is not rich, because they are native speakers and they use their native languages. But even so, it was clear where exactly I was supposed to change something. The more you learn, the more you will get out of these coaches.

If you work with a tutor that you don’t see every day, definitely try adding Speechling to your language routine. You will be speaking your target language more, you'll build a better accent. And best of all, pronouncing all the new words will help you remember them faster.

How to Get Started (+ Speechling Discount)

Create a free account and start speaking at Speechling.com, or by download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store.

Speechling is currently available in six languages: French, German, Spanish, English, Russian, and two types of Chinese.

It’s a freemium app, and you get 15-20 minutes of feedback for free every month. I would recommend checking out the paid plan (see below for 10% off) if you want to

• get a speaking boost, especially when there’s a deadline
• learn more than one language at once
• keep track of your progress with the audio journal.

The unlimited plan is open to Fluent readers at a 10% Lifetime discount: Make sure you use the code FLUENT when you sign up.

Good to know: Speechling is a non-profit company and also has a classroom version called Speechling for Education. I have an existing relationship with Speechling as they are a sponsor of my podcast. This only influenced the amount of attention the product received, not the verdict. It is a cool app.

Have You Tried Speechling?

Are you a pronunciation master now? How did you like the coach feedback? Leave a comment below and share your story.

***hello from the future!!***

Since my original review of Speechling in February 2018, these folks have been hard at work and have just emailed me to share the following new developments.

1. A new module called "Speechling Foundations", which will teach newbies from the very beginning. This start from zero module covers teaches the most essential words in context.

2. New listening options: Speechling now offers listening comprehension, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and flashcards. It's all available for free without login. All of this works on mobile too.

3. More language! They've more than tripled our content collection.

4. Offline mode!! Premium users can download a huge chunk of Speechling’s sentence collection (~10k sentences) and even audio books and Anki decks .

And added in March 2020

1. Speechling now includes Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.

2. The recording time has been upgraded to 15s as Standard! It’s quadrupled to 30s for paid users.

3. There are now over 10k recordings (male + female combined) for each language, from words to complex sentences.

4. Speechling now includes word hints where you can mouse over words and get pronunciation tips and definitions. 

I love it when an app listens to its users, this alone makes it worth checking out!

Click here to try Speechling for free, as long as you want.