Live Lingua Review: Worth It? (See Cost, Features, Alternatives)
Kelsey Wetherbee
Published on April 18, 2022
Helpful (but expensive) private language lessons
Live Lingua is an online platform that connects language learners with native teachers. The price is higher than other teaching platforms, but all the teachers have over two years of prior experience. It’s an excellent way to practice speaking and conversation, but is an expensive option for beginners who could learn the basics elsewhere. It’s a relatively small company so you also might have difficulty finding a tutor that works with your schedule.
PROS
- Highly-qualified teachers
- Guided lesson plan to follow
- Good for practicing conversation with a native speaker
CONS
- Small company with few teachers
- Some languages have less than 10 teachers
- More expensive than competitors
Languages Available on Live Lingua:
Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean
Table of Contents
Live Lingua Overview Live Lingua Price Live Lingua Review: Getting Started- Is Live Lingua Good for Complete Beginners?
- Learning & Remembering New Words
- Understanding & Speaking to Native Speakers
- Making Language Learning a Routine
Live Lingua Overview
Live Lingua is an online platform that connects you with a native teacher. You take classes with your teacher via Zoom or Skype. The story of how the company got started is quite charming. The founder, Ray Blakney, joined the Peace Corps and volunteered in Mexico. He took Spanish classes with his teacher Laura, whom he eventually married (cue *awwww* sounds).
They began a brick-and-mortar language school but soon expanded to online classes where they are now focusing their efforts. It is still a small company compared to other teaching platforms, but because of this, it still has a personalized and family touch.
Live Lingua is an effective way to learn a language. However, intermediate and advanced learners will benefit more because they already know some of the language, and will be able to communicate more easily. Taking classes from the beginning level is also useful, but it might be a good idea (and less expensive) to study with another app like Pimsleur or Babbel to learn some basic words and phrases before beginning classes. This will help you make the most of your time.
Live Lingua Price
You pay for every Live Lingua class by the hour, and you pay less per class when you buy multiple classes at once. Each language has a different price. The least expensive language is Spanish, which costs $27.00 per hour. An English class costs $32.00 per hour. French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Korean each cost $38.00 per hour.
The prices of the Live Lingua classes are similar to other platforms such as italki or Preply. The difference is that Live Lingua charges the same rate for all teachers, but italki and Preply let the teachers set their own rates. This means they have a wider range of prices available. Because you are paying a premium for a qualified teacher’s time on Live Lingua, it is more expensive than using a language app such as Mondly or MosaLingua. But there is no substitute for having a qualified teacher help you learn.
Live Lingua Free Trial
Live Lingua offers a free, 30-minute trial class to all new users. After entering some basic information, such as your availability and why you are studying a language, you are paired with a teacher for your trial class. You do not have to enter credit card information.
Live Lingua Discount
Live Lingua offers a discount if you buy more classes upfront. You can save up to 25% by booking 40+ hours of classes.
Live Lingua Review: Getting Started
It’s very easy to sign up for Live Lingua. You only have to enter your name and email address. No credit card is required until you are ready to buy classes. Soon after I was on the Live Lingua page, I was offered a free trial class, which was very easy to sign up for.
The platform assigns you a teacher, and you cannot choose which teacher you want for the trial class. But don’t worry, all teachers are qualified: To be a Live Lingua teacher, you must have a degree in education and at least 2 years of teaching experience.
If you want to choose a teacher, you can skip to the profile section. You have to pay to take a class with your preferred teacher though.
Once you have your account and have signed up for the trial class, the real work begins! Let’s look at how Live Lingua tackles some of the common difficulties language users experience:
Is Live Lingua Good for Complete Beginners?
A complete beginner might experience anxiety because they can’t communicate well with their teacher. I think that starting with an app that is good for beginners, such as Rocket Languages and Pimsleur can help beginners learn a few words and phrases before being thrown into the deep end with a live teacher.
The teachers on Live Lingua are highly qualified and know how to teach complete beginners. It’s important to keep in mind that you are paying a premium for these classes because you are taking classes with a live teacher. If you have the budget, I think taking classes from the beginning is wonderful! However, not everyone is able to afford this.
Learning & Remembering New Words
With a Live Lingua class, you will learn many new words in the context of the lesson. However, vocabulary is a skill that is easy to learn on your own time. I recommend using a complementary app, such as Drops or Lingvist, that teaches vocabulary. This will help you spend your time in class focusing on skills like listening, grammar, and conversation.
Understanding & Speaking to Native Speakers
Because Live Lingua offers classes with native teachers, it’s easy to practice your listening and conversation skills! All teachers have a native level in the language that they teach, so you are hearing an authentic accent. You can see what other languages the teacher speaks when you are choosing who you want to take class with. But even if they speak English (or another language you know) most teachers take the approach of speaking as much as possible in your target language. This has proven to be the best way to learn a language.
Making Language Learning a Routine
As with any class or app, it is up to you to put in the effort and practice your target languages. Live Lingua makes it easy to schedule your classes, especially once you have an established teacher. I also received many emails (maybe too many) reminding me of my upcoming class so there is no way I could forget! The teachers give you homework to complete outside of class so you can practice on your own time too.
Live Lingua Review: Overall Learning Experience
I had a good experience taking a Live Lingua class. I took a French lesson, and I was a little nervous because I have a low level and can only have a basic conservation. My teacher was very knowledgeable and helped me feel relaxed though. If I didn’t understand something, we would use the chat box so I could see the words. She also used additional materials to keep the class interesting. After the class, I received a report that evaluated my level. As you can see below, my French level is not very high and I need to keep practicing!
In all, I would love to continue taking classes on Live Lingua, but it is a little outside my price range. If the classes fit your budget, I think it is definitely worth the price.
Live Lingua Review: Areas of Improvement
I really enjoyed using Live Lingua, but as with any platform, there are some areas to improve. Since they are still a small company, there is a lack of teachers for certain languages. Currently, there are around 200 teachers on the platform. They originally started as a Spanish language website, so they have many teachers for this language, but for Italian, there are only 7 teachers, and for Japanese, there are 4.
The lack of teachers might cause problems with scheduling, especially if you live in a different time zone than where the teachers live. Because they are a growing company, I will keep an eye on them to see how they expand. Bigger platforms like italki, Preply, and Verbling have a wider selection of teachers.
Live Lingua Languages
Live Lingua currently offers classes in 7 languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Korean. As mentioned above, there are more teachers for some languages, but less for others. There are many tutors for Spanish, and you can choose which country your teacher is from, such as Spain, Colombia, or Mexico. There are also quite a few German and English teachers. But for the other languages, such as Italian, Japanese, and Korean, there are only a few teachers available.
Live Lingua Alternatives and Competitors
If Live Lingua isn’t the right choice for you, there are many other alternatives. If you want to take classes with a native teacher, you can try italki or Lingoda. If you want to have a language exchange with a native speaker without taking classes, you can find a language partner on HelloTalk or Tandem. If you want a structured way to learn a language, check out Babbel or Rosetta Stone. And if you want to practice listening skills, you can use an app like Lingopie or Yabla.
Live Lingua vs Verbling
Live Lingua and Verbling both offer live classes with native teachers. Verbling gives you the option to choose the teacher you want for your trial class, but Live Lingua assigns you one based on your learning goals. In general, the prices are similar, but since Verbling allows teachers to set their prices, you can find cheaper options. For me, it’s a tie. Take a free trial class on both platforms to see which one you prefer. You can also read more about Verbling in this review.
Live Lingua vs italki
italki also offers live classes with native teachers. However, italki offers the option to take a class with a tutor, which is a less expensive option if you don’t mind having a class with someone who isn’t a certified teacher. For me, it’s a question of budget. If you can afford to take classes with a qualified teacher, then Live Lingua is better. But if you are trying to save money, italki might be the better choice. You can learn more about how it works in this italki review.
Live Lingua vs Babbel
Both Live Lingua and Babbel will teach you a language, but they are very different. Babbel is an app with predetermined lessons and Live Lingua connects you with a live teacher. Because Babbel doesn’t use real teachers (except in the Babbel Live subscription), it is much cheaper than Live Lingua. If you are a beginner, Babbel is the better choice to become familiar with the basic vocabulary of the language. But if you are advanced, there is no substitute for taking classes with a native speaker. You can learn more about Babbel in this review.
Live Lingua vs Memrise
Both Live Lingua and Memrise use native speakers to produce their content. Live Lingua offers one-hour classes with teachers that offer a conversational approach though, while Memrise offers short video clips of native speakers to help you learn basic phrases in the language. Memrise is more expensive, but there’s plenty of free content so you don’t have to pay for a subscription. If you have the budget, Live Lingua is better. If you are a casual or beginner learner, Memrise is a better choice. You can see more of its features in this Memrise review.
Live Lingua Review FAQ
Live Lingua is an online platform that connects language learners with native teachers. You pay for a live online lesson with an experienced teacher. Currently, there are very few additional study materials offered in addition to the classes.
Live Lingua offers a free trial class to new members. After the free trial class, you have to pay for each one-hour class with a live teacher.
Currently, Live Lingua has teachers for 7 languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Korean.
Live Lingua teachers are highly qualified, but because of this, you pay a premium to take their classes. Italki teachers set their own rates, usually based on experience, so there is a wider range of prices that might fit your budget.
About This Live Lingua Review
This is an independent Live Lingua review, and the company has not sponsored this article in any way. To write this review, I reviewed the website and took a trial class to thoroughly test its content and features. I also found additional information on the Live Lingua website to verify my findings.
