EnglishClass101 Review: Worth It? [Price, Features, Alternatives]

EnglishClass101 Overview

EnglishClass101 is a course by Innovative Language, a language learning platform with 34+ language courses available. You can access the course on the app or through the website. EnglishClass101 is a popular choice because it uses audio and video lessons to help you learn how native English speakers speak. There are practice quizzes, vocabulary flashcards, and you even have the option to work 1-on-1 with an English teacher.

EnglishClass101 has 5 levels: absolute beginner, beginner, intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced. The intermediate and upper intermediate levels have the most lessons, but the subscription gives you access to all levels so you can pick what lessons are useful for you. There are lessons in British or American English, and you can do both courses if you want.

The lessons are also 100% in English. This is a useful, immersive approach for learners that already know some English.

EnglishClass101 Price

EnglishClass101 gives free access to some of its content. Additionally, there are three paid subscription levels and you can choose between a 1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 month plan. The more months you buy, the cheaper it costs per month. A Basic subscription costs between $4.00-$8.00 per month. A Premium subscription costs between $10.00- $25.00 per month. A Premium+ subscription costs from $23.00-$47.00 per month.

So is a subscription worth it? That depends on how much content you want to use. With the free plan, you can access about 100 lessons, with 3-5 new ones added per week. There are also free videos on the EnglishClass101 YouTube channel. The Basic subscription gives you access to all of the lessons in the five levels, but you need the Premium subscription to do any of the practice activities. With the Premium+ subscription, you get 1-on-1 feedback from an English teacher that guides you through the course.

If you are a casual learner, the free access or Basic subscription is enough. But if you need to prepare for an exam or a business meeting, getting one of the Premium subscriptions might be better. I like the idea of having access to a teacher, but at the price of $47 per month for the Premium+ subscription, I would look into other platforms that connect you with an online teacher, such as Preply and italki.

EnglishClass101 Free Trial

EnglishClass101 has a free, 7-day trial that gives you access to all the content included in a Premium Subscription. You do not have to enter any credit card information to get the free trial. They also offer a 60-day money-back guarantee. You can cancel your subscription within 60 days and they will refund your money.

EnglishClass101 Discount

EnglishClass101 has many discounts. When you sign up, EnglishClass101 offers a $1 deal that gives you a Premium subscription for 1 month as well as other content and downloads.

Students also receive a 20% discount on any 12-month subscription. The discount is automatically applied without confirming a student email address. During the 7-day trial, EnglishClass101 offered me many discounts to subscribe, both through email and the platform.

EnglishClass101 Review: How It Helps You Learn

EnglishClass101 is one of the easiest platforms to get started on. You just enter and confirm your email address. No need to enter credit card information. Next, you answer 4-5 questions to set up your account. One of the questions asks you which of the 5 levels you would like to start on. There is no diagnostic test, but if you think the level you chose is too easy or hard, you can change it afterwards.

While setting up your account is easy, learning English and sticking with it can be a little more challenging. Let’s look at some of the most difficult parts of language learning and see how EnglishClass101 handles these problems. Hopefully this will show you if EnglishClass101 is the right app for you. If it isn’t, there are other alternatives listed below.

Can EnglishPod101 Help Complete Beginners?

This is where EnglishClass101 could use some improvement. All the Absolute Beginner and Beginner levels, are 100% in English. The teacher introduces a simple word or phrase, but then explains everything in advanced English. This is not helpful for beginners. In the beginning levels, most language apps use the learner’s primary language to give explanations. EnglishClass101 does not have this. For me, it would be very frustrating to start learning a language in which I have no idea what is being said.

A better beginner English app would be Mondly or Babbel. Or, if you prefer more flexibility, MosaLingua is an excellent option.

Learning Thousands of New Words

Learning new words, especially enough to have a conversation, is challenging. EnglishClass101 makes it easy to learn vocabulary. Each lesson has a manageable amount of new words and phrases. The lessons explain the words and then in the lesson notes you can listen to, and repeat, the vocabulary until you have it down.

There are also tons of additional vocabulary practices available for both the free and paid subscriptions. One of my favorites is the list of core vocabulary words, which teaches the most-used words in English.

Remembering the Words You Learned

Since hearing a new word once is not usually enough to remember it, it’s important to review the words. Many language apps use spaced repetition, which periodically brings up the new word again so that you don’t forget it.

EnglishClass101 could use some work in this area. If you have the free or basic subscription, you do not have access to vocabulary practice exercises from the lesson or the lesson flashcard decks. Even with the premium or premium+ subscription, it is hard to find the flashcard decks for your lesson. For practicing vocabulary, Drops and Clozemaster are options to supplement your learning.

Understanding Native Speakers

EnglishClass101 does an excellent job of helping you understand native speakers. A lot of language learning apps use automated voices in their lessons, but EnglishClass101 doesn’t. Native English teachers, like the hosts Alisha and Gina, teach all of the lessons in EnglishClass101. Each lesson includes a dialogue between two speakers, so not only are you hearing a native accent, you are hearing English as it is spoken by native speakers.

EnglishClass101 also does a good job describing situations in which you would use certain words or phrases. There are tons of cultural lessons that help you learn more about the United States and United Kingdom.

Speaking with Strangers

This is another aspect that is better/worse depending on your subscription level. For the free, basic, and premium levels, there is almost no speaking practice. In the lessons, you listen and repeat after the teacher, but there is no meaningful feedback. The only way to get feedback on your speaking is if you have a premium+ subscription and have access to a teacher.

But even with this feature, you are mostly communicating through writing, and not speaking. Better apps to practice talking to native speakers are italki, Busuu, HelloTalk, or Tandem.

Consistency & Making it a Routine

Because the lessons are short, it is easy to complete one or two a day. If you download the app, you can turn on notifications and get reminders to practice. I also received periodic emails reminding me to practice. Some apps try to gamify the language learning experience with leaderboards and rewards, but EnglishClass101 does not have any of that extra stuff. In the end, you are responsible for making studying a habit.

EnglishClass101 Review: Overall Learning Experience

English101 is a fun and practical way to practice English and learn from native speakers without having to pay for a 1-on-1 tutor. There is a large variety of content and they add 3-5 new lessons every week. The free version is a bit limited, so I would recommend getting at least the basic subscription so you can access whatever content you want.

Because EnglishClass101 uses audio and video for each lesson, it is an effective way to hear and understand English in a meaningful way. They use an immersive experience because everything is 100% in English. The in-depth lessons allow for more explanation of when and how to use certain phrases that other language apps don’t include.

EnglishClass101 Review: Areas of Improvement

My biggest complaint about the platform is the classes for absolute beginners. The “pathway,” or course track that you are automatically set on, has videos that are NOT made for true beginners. The videos use complicated explanations, which are not helpful. But, if you explore the platform more, there are other lessons that do a better job explaining the new phrases. I’d check out other apps to learn English if you need beginner-friendly lessons.

On a similar note, the other area that could use improvement is the overall course design. Once you set your level, you are given a pathway to follow. But, there are tons of other lessons available. The way that the lesson library is set up is not intuitive, and you could potentially miss out on a lot of good content.

If you sign up for a Premium+ subscription, your 1-on-1 teacher will set out a course plan for you, but for all of the other levels, you just click around and hope you find something useful. Apps like Duolingo, Mango Languages, and LingoDeer offer a lot more structure and guidance in this respect.

EnglishClass101 Alternatives and Competitors

EnglishClass101 is a fantastic app to learn English, but there are many others to choose from too. If you want to take online classes with a teacher, you can try Babbel Live or Lingoda. If you want shorter lessons that are more like games, DuoLingo or MosaLingua might be good choices. Pimsleur or ELSA Speak are some choices if perfect pronunciation is your goal. Babbel is an excellent app if you are looking to improve quickly.

EnglishClass101 vs Rosetta Stone

Both EnglishClass101 and Rosetta Stone give you the option to interact with native English teachers. EnglishClass101 offers 1-on-1 feedback to assignments, and Rosetta stone has live classes you can join. Rosetta Stone offers lessons that focus on one topic, such as listening, speaking, and grammar. EnglishClass101 mixes all of this in one lesson. Both apps are similar in price when you pay for a monthly subscription, but, Rosetta Stone is the better option if you want to learn more than one language. Learn more about it in this Rosetta Stone review.

EnglishClass101 vs Pimsleur

EnglishClass101 and Pimsleur both use audio lessons. Pimsleur’s lessons focus more on listening and repeating to practice perfect pronunciation, but the EnglishClass101 lessons are more about how to use the speech in context of a conversation. Paying by the month, the two apps are similar in price. In my opinion, EnglishClass101 is the better choice because the speech is more natural. Read more about Pimsleur in this review.

EnglishClass101 vs Babbel

Babbel and EnglishClass101 are similar because they both use dialogues to teach vocabulary and grammar. While Babbel’s lessons are shorter and more visual, they usually have more reading and less listening. EnglishClass101 includes a lot of listening, and you can even complete the lessons without looking at the screen. In terms of price, EnglishClass101 is cheaper than Babbel if you choose the Basic or Premiun subscription. All in all, I’d choose EnglishClass101 over Babbel because it offers more content for a lower price. Read more about Babbel in this review.

EnglishClass101 vs MosaLingua

MosaLingua and EnglishClass101 use a variety of content to introduce new topics. To start, EnglishClass101 lessons are more comprehensive, but take more time. MosaLingua focuses mainly on vocabulary, but does offer resources to learn more culture and grammar. MosaLingua is the cheaper option between the two and also has a more extensive content library. I think MosaLingua is a better value for beginners, but it might be worth it to switch to EnglishClass101 once you reach an intermediate level. Read more about it in this MosaLingua review.

EnglishClass 101 Review FAQ

About This EnglishClass101 Review

This is an independent EnglishClass101 review, and the company has not sponsored this article. To write this review, I used the Premium subscription to thoroughly test its content and features. I also found additional information on the EnglishClass101 website to verify my findings.