Have you tried to teach yourself a language online for free?
So have I. I was crazy enough to try and teach myself the Serbian language, which has seven cases. SEVEN! I was trying to use free websites and video lessons on Youtube, and eventually it got very confusing and chaotic. I didn’t have a teacher or tutor to clarify things for me or explain certain grammatical exceptions and rules.
I didn’t want to pay a million dollars for online lessons.
This is what kept me from finding an online teacher for years. I’m stingy! I admit it. And I assumed online language courses were all expensive, until a Serbian teacher I met through my youtube channel recommended Preply.com to me.
Preply is a website where you find a teacher for whatever language you are trying to learn, and then your lessons are conducted through Skype. It saved my life and I didn’t feel like I was spending too much money. So now I must recommend it you, because anyone who hangs out on my blog is my friend that I have to recommend things to.
So friend, here are 5 reasons why you should learn with Preply too!
1. It’s very cheap!
What I love about Preply is that there are many teachers to choose from, and how much they charge per session varies from teacher to teacher. This is great because you can choose a teacher depending on your budget. Some teachers might be too expensive for you, but others will be very cheap to the point where you are shocked that they are not charging more. That has been my experience. I found numerous teachers for less than $10 per class, and I felt so happy to know I can afford this service.
2. You can ask your teacher a question anytime on Skype FOR FREE!
Preply learning sessions are done through Skype, which is great because you can learn online without having to be physically in the country of the language you are learning. Even better is: if you have a question about something, you can quickly message your teacher on Skype and they will respond with an answer when they are available. On Preply, learning and asking questions is not limited to the classroom.
3. You can create the curriculum with your teacher.
How many of you are like me and tried to learn as much of a language as possible using Youtube and other free resources on the internet? You have introduced yourself to the language and are not a total beginner, but you realize you need more structure in your learning.
With Preply, so many teachers are understanding of this and will cater your lessons to where you left off in your efforts to teach yourself. What I appreciate about the relationship I have with my teacher is that we include in our classes topics that are occurring in my life as an expat. For example, a mechanic came to my apartment to fix the heating in my apartment. Because of this, we had a class of learning a lot of verbs and vocabulary related to an apartment, repairs, and appliances. My teacher is always adapting to me.
4. Trying to teach yourself online only takes you so far.
As I just wrote, I have tried to learn various languages online by myself using free resources like Youtube and language learning sites. I have attempted to do this with Albanian, German and Serbian. But each time I tried to learn this way, I reached a point where I was confused about something and didn’t have a teacher to quickly answer my question. Having a teacher is so nice because I have so many questions I have ready to ask her each session and she clearly explains it and gets rid of my confusion.
5. There are many teachers to choose from for every language in the world!
Something that surprised me about Preply is how many teachers there are for Serbian. For Westerners, this language is not as useful as learning Spanish, French, Chinese or Arabic. When my friend suggested it to me, I wasn’t prepared to find so many online teachers ready to teach me Serbian. No matter what language it is that you are trying to learn, there will be a plethora of tutors to choose from.
What language are you trying to learn? And why aren’t you taking online lessons yet? Let me know in the comments below! And if you have any questions or need help with anything, feel free to message me on Facebook or Instagram.
