Spanish Language Learning Programs: A Comprehensive Guide
Have you ever embarked on a language learning journey, only to abandon it due to boredom or frustration? Learning Spanish at home as an adult is quite different from how you might have studied Spanish at school. There might not be a single "best" way to learn Spanish that fits everyone, but there are some programs that are more effective for certain people, situations and goals. This article presents a variety of Spanish learning programs to help you find the perfect fit for your needs and learning style.
Comprehensive All-in-One Courses
Rocket Spanish: Best Value
If you're looking for a comprehensive all-in-one language course that will take you to intermediate level without needing to purchase other products, then Rocket Spanish is a good bet. This online course successfully packs everything plus the kitchen sink into their program, so it ends up being suitable for a lot of different learning styles and goals. Rocket Spanish is the most complete and effective language program we have used to date.
The course goes up to Level 3 (upper intermediate or B2-C1 CEFR). There are three levels to the course, taking you from complete beginner up to an upper-intermediate level (around C1 CEFR). Each level has three components:
- "Interactive Audio" lessons: Audio lessons (podcast style) that use Spanish dialogues from everyday situations to teach practical language. Each lesson is around 20 minutes long. The "interactive" simply means that they pause to let you speak out loud. These audio lessons are engaging, thoughtfully designed, and just plain effective.
- "Language and Culture" lessons: These are written grammar lessons that explain how Spanish works - similar to what you might find in a Spanish textbook. There are lots of audio examples built into these lessons. I loved the plain English descriptions around Spanish grammar and I found these notes to be immensely helpful.
- Pronunciation and reinforcement tools: Pronunciation tools are built into every audio example in the program, and each lesson has reinforcement activities at the end that focus on reading, listening, writing, speaking and recall. The course is laid out with a recommended learning path, but you can actually pick and choose your lessons based on your preferred learning style and goals.
If you need a quick Spanish crash course, just work through all the Interactive Audio lessons. If you're interested in learning how the grammar works, dig into the Language and Culture lessons. The two types of lessons don't really interact with each other, so you don't need to finish one before you start the other.
Likewise, the reinforcement tools at the end of each lesson do a good job of working your knowledge from all angles, but you don't need to complete them before moving on. This may mean that you "complete" the program without actually mastering the content, but it also means you're not stuck completing exercise after exercise just to unlock the next lesson.
Read also: Audiobook Spanish Learning
Rocket Spanish is a one-off purchase (rather than a subscription). You buy it once and own it for life. For this reason, the price will seem a little higher than some other courses. It's best if you're serious about taking your Spanish to intermediate level or beyond - your initial investment will work out to be cheaper in the long run.
(Tip: If you purchase all 3 levels at once, you can pay in installments. The link to this option is a bit hard to find… it's buried in the question section on the pricing page.)
Pros:
- Covers all the angles in a really comprehensive package.
- Comes with a grammar course, audio course and interactive tools so you can try all the learning methods.
- Has a good mix of practical, ready-to-use language, and thorough grammar lessons to deepen and expand your knowledge.
- One-time only purchase means no monthly fees.
- Payment plan available if you purchase all three levels.
- Free trial (no credit card required) actually contains a decent amount of content.
Cons:
- Language and Culture lessons try to be funny, but they can still be a bit dry.
- Interactive tools are not as flash as some competitors.
- Initial purchase price might seem steep.
Ouino Spanish: Best for Grammar
Ouino Spanish might be just the antidote you need. It's the best and easiest tool I've found for demystifying all those little parts of a language. Like Rocket Spanish, Ouino Spanish explains how everything works. But unlike Rocket Spanish, it keeps the explanations brief, and lets the interactive activities and examples do most of the explaining.
Ouino Spanish prides itself on being a "non-linear" course, rather than one that follows a prescribed path. There is a suggested path you can follow, but you're generally free to hop around and choose whatever lessons tickle your fancy. You'll find that some lessons overlap and teach the same material, but from a different angle. Each lesson focuses on a small number of words, with lots of examples. Also lots of stock photography. Each lesson has two parts:
- The lesson: This part is focused on reading and listening to the examples.
- The exercises. Each lesson comes with a suite of exercises to help the material to "sink in". Depending on how many of the exercises you complete, it's reasonably easy to knock off one of these lessons in 10 - 15 minutes, meaning it's easy to make good progress.
The course is broken into five main sections.
Read also: Strategies for Fast Spanish Acquisition
- Building blocks: This is the grammar section, and the main "meat and potatoes" of the program. You'll see all the parts of speech, minus verbs (which have their own section). Each topic is broken into smaller topics that focus on just a few concepts, so each little section is surprisingly easy to master.
- Verbs and conjugation: A whole section dedicated to verbs from different angles. It's nice to have these split off into their own section.
- Vocabulary: A decent library of vocabulary, themed on different topics. I quite like that there's a "most common words" vocabulary set, since not everything will fit into a tidy theme.
- Conversations: Dialogues to work through, with a variety of activities attached. A good way to expose yourself to more vocabulary and syntax. These are also grouped by themes - like "at the restaurant", "transportation", "shopping", "business Spanish", "common interactions", with multiple conversations in each topic.
- Pronunciation: A section that teaches Spanish pronunciation, sound by sound - focusing on the difference between Spanish and English. There's also the ability to record your own pronunciation and compare it to the voice model.
When you put it all together, Ouino is a well-crafted package. It's designed to be accessible for a wide variety of people, so it might not have quite the depth of detail that you'd get in a more "textbooky" Spanish course. But it contains a lot of good material that can get you to an intermediate level of fluency.
Ouino works on all devices, and can be bought either as a subscription, or as a one-off purchase. The one-off purchase price is extremely reasonable, and comes with free updates for life.
Pros:
- Super-digestible grammar course that explains everything without overwhelming you with unnecessary detail.
- Very interactive - most learning will happen through the activities.
- Strong focus on the most important and commonly used language.
- Suitable for (and empathetic towards) a wide variety of learning styles - especially visual learners. (There isn't any video, but language is color-coded and there are plenty of visual elements.)
- Extremely reasonably priced.
Cons:
- The lack of detailed explanations might not appeal to people looking for that kind of thing.
- The explanations that do appear as "tips" are quite dry - it would be nice if these were made more friendly.
Babbel: Best Budget-Friendly Option
If you’re looking for more of a budget-friendly app to learn Spanish, then Babbel is where we would point you. Are you just getting into your Spanish learning journey and don’t want to break the bank? If so, Babbel is your answer. When stacked up against rivals Duolingo and Memrise, Babbel simply beats them outright in the category of value-driven programs. I don’t think Babbel on its own will get you to total Spanish mastery. I don’t want to burst your dream-you can absolutely get there-but it just won’t be Babbel taking you all the way across that finish line. Babbel is perfect for beginners trying to achieve intermediate fluency. Babbel is great at building foundational knowledge and working up from there. And Babbel does it in a really smart and fun way.
One of my absolute favorite things about Babbel is that their lessons are fast-moving and engaging. Each lessons takes just 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and is actually fun. This is mainly the result of their lessons being comprised of quick-hit exercises that are highly varied. You’ll complete fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice questions, speech drills, quick mock conversations, and speed rounds, among several others. Among all of the speech recognition tech we’ve used and evaluated, Babbel might be the best. I personally found their voice recognition tech to be accurate when I tested it out by giving mispronounced answers.
Babbel works grammar content and instruction into your lessons in a very streamlined way, which is something I can’t say for all language apps. I love this as grammar is critically important, but you don’t want to be hit over the head with it. In short, Babbel offers one of the best platforms in language learning. The program seamlessly works in visuals and glides through exercises with nice transitions.
Read also: Self-learning Spanish: A complete guide
Lessons only take 10 or 15 minutes each, and they are actually engaging and fun. At less than $10 per month, Babbel offers a ton of value. Most Spanish apps today cost $15+ per month (or a couple hundred dollars for a lifetime plan). Babbel doesn’t offer the depth of instruction of other courses (like Rocket Spanish or Pimsleur), but it is absolutely perfect for beginners. Babbel and Lingvist both include structured grammar modules.
Pros:
- Best voice recognition tech.
- Lessons are fast-moving and engaging.
- Babbel works grammar content and instruction into your lessons in a very streamlined way.
- Affordable option to start.
Immersion-Style Learning
Hotel Borbollón: Most Fun
Hotel Borbollón, is a little unconventional in a variety of ways. For years I've been a big fan of the French equivalent of this course, so it's hugely exciting to have a Spanish version.
Firstly, it's a course that's based around a story: A surgeon from Buenos Aires inherits a struggling hotel in Madrid, and hilarity follows. The lessons use animated videos, comic strips and audio to tell a story full of eccentric characters, different Spanish language accents, and amusing professional and personal situations. Spanish is taught through activities based on the story.
You'll learn Spanish through the activities that are based on the story. Each lesson includes a mix of grammar, vocabulary and comprehension activities and takes 10 - 15 minutes to complete. At the end of the lesson you submit your answers and receive an instant "correction". This tells you what you got right and wrong, and also includes discussion of language and grammar points (which is sometimes as amusing as the lesson itself).
The second interesting thing is that the program adapts to your level. After an initial "training" period, the AI learns your strengths and weaknesses and tailors the lessons specifically for you. (The storyline stays the same.)
This is not a "structured" Spanish course: You can't look ahead and see what topics you're going to be covering, and when. You'll cover a mix of grammar and vocabulary features in each lesson, so you can't really refer back to "that lesson about XYZ". So it may not be suitable for your "core" learning method. (You should pick up something like Rocket Spanish or Ouino Spanish instead.)
But Hotel Borbollón makes a good supplement to use alongside your core method, with lots of authentic cultural references and a wide variety of Spanish accents (both South American and European).
Note that it's created by a French company, and it puts equal emphasis on both European Spanish and Latin American Spanish. You're given both options in exercises, so you might need to quickly brush up on those vosotros/vosotras conjugations if you've only studied Latin American Spanish up until now!
It's also important to note is that this is a semi-immersion style product. All the instruction is in Spanish. There are English translations available, but it's likely to be intimidating for anyone who is brand new to Spanish.
Hotel Borbollón is available as a monthly subscription. Regardless of your membership level, you only ever receive a maximum of 4 lessons per week, which can make it frustrating if you feel like binging your Spanish lessons. (Or if you want to lessen the amount of time you have to pay that monthly subscription!)
You can often pick a membership up on sale.
Pros:
- Features a wide array of Spanish-speaking accents, and covers both Latin American and European Spanish.
- Fun format with videos, comics and audio.
- Smart AI adapts the lessons to your level after a period of "training".
Cons:
- Monthly subscription pricing is quite high.
- You only receive one lesson per day, up to four lessons per week, so it's not really suitable as your "core" learning method.
- Humor is a bit more restrained than the French version (which has aliens and a naked Victor Hugo), but still might be a bit quirky.
Note that the first 7 lessons are essentially a placement test, so don't worry if you find them too hard or too easy. At the end of 7 lessons you'll receive an assessment, and you'll start receiving customized lesson plans.
LingoPie: Immersion Through Entertainment
If you are seeking a fun, entertaining way to learn Spanish, look no further than LingoPie. Now to be clear, LingoPie is not a conventional language learning program. There is no clear curriculum or set lesson plan. In fact, the LingoPie app actually offers TV shows and movies directly from Netflix. Lingopie’s approach to learning Spanish is simple-watch Spanish language shows and movies and learn along the way. But there’s much more to it than just reading subtitles. And the content they offer is premium. We’ve seen other apps, like Yabla and FluentU, use similar teaching methods, but they don’t have the content that Lingopie does. Basically, assuming you have Netflix, you can watch almost any show or movie on the planet and get all their cool learning features.
Now, one downside with Lingopie is that there is no defined learning framework. You just login and start watching. This can give the program a bit of an unstructured feel.
Pros:
- Tremendous bang for your buck.
- Offers premium content.
Cons:
- No defined learning framework.
Rosetta Stone: Immersive Imagery
Rosetta Stone is one of the most popular brands in language learning, so it shouldn’t come as a total surprise that they made our list. When you first dive into the Rosetta Stone Spanish program, it’s a little intimidating. I’m not going to lie. This program is based on the concept of immersion and you’re thrown into the fire. The straightest blue line path to true fluency is immersion. There is no way around it. Want to learn to speak Spanish fluently as fast as possible?
Rosetta Stone strips out all English translations and directions and tosses you straight into exercises. The issue with this is that it can be highly intimidating and frustrating for some learners. But here’s the thing: it works. After the first few lessons, you get the hang of it, learn how the program works, and establish a baseline of vocabulary. The greatest benefit of this is that you end up associating the Spanish words you’re learning with the actual objects and actions they represent. In other words, you cut out English as a go-between and just start thinking in Spanish.
As part of this learning framework, you will constantly see images in the Rosetta Stone program. How else do you make someone associate a Spanish word with an object without telling them what it is in English? This makes the Rosetta Stone Spanish program perfect for highly visual people. Their Spanish program is built almost entirely around imagery. In fact, almost every drill and exercise within the Rosetta Stone lessons contain some sort of image or graphic. From a pricing perspective, the Rosetta Stone subscription plans are pretty affordable.
Pros:
- Subscription plans are pretty affordable.
- Perfect for highly visual people.
Focus on Pronunciation
Pimsleur: Best for Pronunciation
Pimsleur is one of the pioneers of "learn Spanish at home" courses, and it's still going strong after all these years. It's consistently rated as one of the best courses for improving your pronunciation, for a few reasons:
- It's audio-only. The original Pimsleur audio courses were designed to be used without writing anything down or reading anything alongside. The idea being that seeing words and letters will cause your first language to interfere with your Spanish. It's easier if you get used to saying the words first, and only THEN see how they're written.
- They teach you syllable by syllable, forward and back: Not only will the tutors break down each new word by sound, they'll also get you saying those sounds backwards, so that the last syllable comes first. This is really useful for paying attention to all the sounds in longer words - especially words that are similar to English words.
- There is a LOT of repetition: It might be tedious, but you'll repeat, repeat, repeat until that pronunciation is perfect. Pimsleur pioneered the concept of spaced repetition, where language will keep popping up - at increasing intervals - so that it effectively makes its way into your long-term memory.
Pimsleur isn't one of those courses that spends a lot of time explaining how Spanish works. It's mostly focused on learning practical phrases and common words. If you need a grammar resource, you might also get a course like Rocket Spanish or Ouino to use alongside or afterwards. Pimsleur also isn't big on personality. If you're looking for fun, engaging lessons to plug into your podcast rotation - Pimsleur might not be your best bet.
There are a range of packages and levels to get your hands on the Pimsleur lessons, but the general rule is that purchasing any Pimsleur course outright is very expensive. The best option is to get their monthly subscription product.
Pros:
- Excellent focus on pronunciation (so long as you do what they say, and actually say things out loud).
- Lessons are a convenient 30 minutes in length, and 100% audio so you can listen to them on the go.
- Teaches practical everyday language from the outset.
- Spaced repetition (and a small vocabulary list) means you'll likely retain the material very well.
- The Pimsleur audio lessons come with a special driving mode, so if you’re a busy professional that has a long commute or you just find yourself on the road a lot, then Pimsleur may be the more convenient choice.
Cons:
- Can be quite dry.
- Doesn't teach a lot of language (but what you do learn, you'll learn really well).
- They teach you the formal way of saying things, and touch on subjects that feel more adult.
Audio-Based Learning
SpanishPod101: Best Audio Course
SpanishPod101 is likely the largest collection of learn-Spanish podcasts and audio lessons available online. There are quite literally hundreds of hours of audio lessons on a wide variety of topics, and representing a few different varieties of Spanish. (Fantastic if you're specifically wanting to focus on Mexican, Peruvian, Costa Rican, or European Spanish.) If you're looking for a huge library of Spanish audio (and video) lessons.
Other Programs
Course No.
In this highly effective course, we're pleased to present an approach that turns the tables on the problems so many people face in learning a new language. In 30 engaging lessons, this ingeniously constructed program leads you through the core building blocks of Spanish. Get “under the hood” of the language, learning the key concepts of grammar, culture, and vocabulary that will make Spanish easier than you ever imagined. You'll also gain a rich working vocabulary that will prepare you for a wide range of everyday situations. The end of each lesson includes audio exercises that will build your pronunciation, comprehension, and conversational skills. Plus, the workbook includes plenty of reading and writing exercises to practice and build upon what you learn. Your teacher, world-class language instructor Professor Bill Worden, has refined this approach over more than 20 years, distilling the step- by-step system that works best for adult learners.
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