The Power of Preply

A change of pace from the usual political punditry today.

Instead, I want to share something that has exponentially accelerated my language-learning journey.

But first, a reminder of the background.

Eight hundred seventy-five days ago, I decided to learn Spanish. I tell people that the decision to do so was a direct result of the myriad narco movies I watched on Netflix during COVID.

Having no idea where to start, I downloaded the only app I had heard of - Duolingo and began my first lesson.

Since then, I've done one or more lessons daily and am now familiar with many Spanish words and how to combine them.

However, when asked if I could speak or say something in Spanish, I was always lost for those words.

That meant I couldn't talk in the language I was learning, and there was little point in that.

Apparently, it's quite a common characteristic amongst the Duolingo fraternity. You learn a lot, but the knowledge is of limited use unless you put it into practice.

There was no way I could give up, but I needed to find a convenient, flexible,e and affordable way of getting some personalised tuition and conversation practice.

Once again, I turned to the Internet for solutions.

That's when I found an app called Preply.

Preply connects you with a native speaker in the language of your choice and makes it easy and convenient to complete a booking. The lessons are via video conference and also use other communication methods accessible from the Preply website.

I looked for a tutor from Argentina who was available in the timeslots I wanted.

There were dozens to choose from, and I contacted a few to see how we would get along.

All were lovely, but eventually, I settled on having my first lesson with Nina.

It's not often that I get nervous, but I was most apprehensive ahead of the first tutorial. I needn't have been.

Nina was very patient, and I surprised myself by how much of the language I actually knew.

Now, six lessons in, I manage to talk my way through an entire 50 minutes - still in a less than eloquent way but with much more confidence.

The fear of making mistakes is no longer embarrassing, unleashing a new desire to learn even more and faster.

The Preply tutorials have also sharpened my ear, so I can now listen to an intermediate-level Spanish podcast and stay up to date with the conversation.

It's such a vast improvement and I credit it all to taking the plunge with Preply.

And here's the thing. It's incredible value.

I could choose personalised instruction with a native speaker for as little as $4 per hour! Other tutors charged as much as $60 per lesson. It depends on their experience and just how busy they are.

Each tutor sets their price and availability schedule.

In my case, I could schedule three lessons per week for less than $60. That's outstanding value and worth every cent.

It's just another example of how technology is changing the world, this time in a mutually beneficial way.

Nina from Argentina is happy because she has a new income source, and I'm happy because I finally see some hope that conversational Spanish proficiency is within my grasp.

If you're into language learning, check out Preply and CLICK HERE to save 70% off a trial lesson in any of their 50 language offerings.

“It is astonishing how much enjoyment one can get out of a language that one understands imperfectly.”
Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve