babbel live updated review - private classes?

[@joreneelanguages]

This video was filmed a little while ago, everything is still accurate as far as I know except that private classes are currently available for English, Spanish AND German! (and now French!)

[@chickpease]

What ruined Babbel Live group classes was the other students who should have been in higher-level classes but were doing A1-A2. It was ridiculous.

[@CampMom2012]

I reached out to Babbel Live to ask about French individual classes. The tentative plan is to add them this fall. I’ve tried many, many platforms and this is my favorite hands down. Thank you for the update!

[@joreneelanguages]

Ooo that is exciting!!

[@vivaobento]

Thanks for your review videos! I chose Babbel Live over Lingoda after watching your comparison video.

[@7uss240]

I watched your older video before buying the 6-month group plan. Now I have two months left in my plan, and I really don't want to waste them, but I also want to buy the private plan. :( I have some favorite teachers whom I want to join for a private lesson. (I am learning German at around the B1 level, and I believe private lessons would be both enjoyable and highly beneficial for my language learning.) I really appreciate your review

[@joreneelanguages]

you wouldn’t necessarily be wasting the 2 months, they add it to your time through some kind of conversion. I had about 6 months of group classes left when I purchased 3 months of private classes and I ended up with roughly 7 months of private/group classes. idk exactly how they do they calculation but in my particular case at least it worked out well.

[@cococake0315]

I'm also really enjoying Babbel Live since I subscribed after watching your video :) What I love most is the flexibility and freedom to choose teachers who suit me best, and above all, I can take as many classes as I want! I'm mostly taking intermediate Spanish classes (wondering why I haven't seen you in class🤔) and prioritize choosing classes with fewer students for more speaking practice. I'm also taking French classes as a total beginner (if not counting my previous use of Duolingo), and I like every teacher I've had so far-they are just so nice! I would consider switching to the private class plan if it's available for French, as the group classes are usually very full. Thanks so much for your introduction of this platform❤

[@joreneelanguages]

@@cococake0315 oo I hope to run into you! Running through the B2 classes again rn. I hope they’ll add the private classes for all the languages eventually! I also really really want them to add Portuguese classes 😆

[@cococake0315]

@@joreneelanguages I've been mostly doing B1 and just started B2 recently, so maybe that's why. Hope to see you soon:) I'd also like to have Portuguese available!

[@qandrewq5708]

I'm loving Babbel Live too. The group classes are very well organised. I'm a near beginner in French (did it in school 45 years ago, so I'm busy mining for lost vocab and grammar!). I've found the teachers great and really like how structured the classes are. Even when I visit a theme that's of little interest to me there will always be grammar or tense elements that make it worthwhile. The integration between the self-study classes and review material in the app and on the website and the Live classes is really good but I don't think they signpost this very well. I took a couple of classes unprepared at first because I didn't realize the resources were there. Now I know, I don't make that mistake. I'm so glad I signed up.

[@paulwalther5237]

You should get commission. I went ahead and grabbed a subscription based on your review (for Spanish). If I were focusing 100% on Spanish and not dividing my attention between multiple languages I'd really be able to exploit the all you can study option. I have almost zero (but not quite) interest in the app - I'm all about the group lessons. It seems I have 2 weeks to change my mind and back out but as long as I get what I think I'm getting I'll keep it. It cost me $39 per month if I signed up for a year. That's compared to $199.00 per month for Japanese unlimited lessons (with Native Camp). According to their placement test I just took (it just asked me to rate myself on some situations and included no actual Spanish) I would be A1.1. I wonder how accurate that is haha. I rated myself in the middle (I can do it but still need some practice) for all the questions they asked. The questions asked me to rate myself on output only. They're not interested in whether I have read Harry Potter in Spanish or not lol. Neither is any placement test I've ever taken for any language. EDIT I signed up for a lesson on telling time. That was one of the questions on my placement test. I can tell someone what time it is but not with confidence. I don't know what level in their sequence this is but it's pretty close to 0 probably. So if there are beginners in the class (and there probably will be) they may be intimidated if I start speaking full sentences off the cuff lol. I did download the app. The app saw I signed up for a lesson on telling time and there's an option to prepare for the class and so I did some exercises on telling time. There was a full dialogue in the lesson so maybe not too beginner? I don't know. It actually was not bad as far as app content goes. This is basically studying grammar and it helps me a LOT that I know I'll be taking a class on the material. The lesson feels more relevant etc. If you're just immersing and trying to study grammar to support your immersion it can feel like a real slog.

[@joreneelanguages]

@@paulwalther5237 I’m interested to hear your thoughts once you’ve tried them!

[@paulwalther5237]

@@joreneelanguages I enjoyed the lessons. It turns out they have me in a false beginner curriculum so the other students weren't beginners like you in your French class. I really like group lessons. I had this with Japanese - when I started initially in the classroom and later doing small group lessons very similar to these. I can't seem to find it for Korean unfortunately. Honestly it's a huge change going from Asian languages to Spanish. The teacher is teaching us beginner material and yes we're false beginners but they're using Spanish to teach and everyone understood pretty much. That would NOT happen in a Chinese/Korean/Japanese class at this level. People would be struggling a LOT.

[@xojaci]

oooo appreciate this review. i'm looking to try a new platform soon to get in speaking practice, but havent decided yet 👀

[@mtsbarbosa]

very helpful, thank you

[@anhtuhoang4543]

Tôi là người Việt Nam không biết gì về Tiên Anh có thể học áp này không?

[@susanc1179]

Do you feel that your speaking has improved with all the classes you’ve taken on Babbel Live? I’ve done a lot of grammar study, and my last test showed me at about a B.1 level, but I don’t speak anywhere near that level. I’m thinking about taking the private lessons on Babbel Live to translate my theoretical knowledge to actual speaking.

[@joreneelanguages]

@@susanc1179 yes and no. I kind of thought/hoped that the classes would be basically miraculous for my speaking 😆 and they have not been a magic pill (of course), but it definitely has forced me to do a lot more speaking than I was doing before. I don’t think it helps much more than plain language exchanges if you can get one going that you stick with, but I’ve never successfully done that. Edit: accidentally hit submit too soon lol. The advantage over an exchange is the built in topics which forces you to discuss a lot of different things and use vocab/grammar you might not choose on your own.

[@susanc1179]

@@joreneelanguages I’m vacillating between Lingoda and Babbel but leaning toward Babbel. Would you say both are equally helpful for speaking with the constraints you mentioned above?

[@joreneelanguages]

@@susanc1179 yes, I would say they are very similar but actually despite potentially larger class sizes, I generally speak more in babbel classes than I did in lingoda from what I recall, because they are more conversational

[@susanc1179]

@@joreneelanguages Thank you!

[@michelelehdey5097]

Is it possible to take a private lesson, or did I miss that. I am at A2 only, or do all the lessons have the same material. I am new and I had one group lesson and clearly most of the other students were well above my level. That is not great for any of the participants and awful confidence wise for me.

[@joreneelanguages]

The private lesson membership costs extra, you have to upgrade to it, but yes it exists for Spanish, German, and English currently. They have lots of A1 and A2 classes, you can filter based on level to find an easier class! I agree, I find it really demoralizing when everyone is too high of a level.

[@azmrdn]

Thanks for the video! I'm trying to choose between italki and Babbel, and with the number of classes I'll take, the cost will be about the same. Did you feel the teachers were more experienced on italki or Babbel?

[@joreneelanguages]

I think it depends a lot on the teacher on italki, if I had to guess I’d say the best of the best teachers are probably on italki, but Babbel has a more reliable screening system so maybe less unqualified tutors. If the cost is the same, I think working with the same person every lesson is probably better

[@azmrdn]

@@joreneelanguages Thank you for your response. That was my thought as well. Plus, on italki, you can choose the instructor's location, which is great if you want to focus on learning Spanish from Spain versus Latin America.

[@AdamH-n3l]

Hey do you know if its possible to do babbel live solely from a smartphone ? If someone does not own a computer or laptop? Or do you know any spanish school that someone can access from a smartphone? Please let me know thank you!

[@joreneelanguages]

yes, I believe you can do everything from a smartphone! I only have experience with the iOS app but you can book classes through the app and you just have to have zoom installed to join classes. a lot of people seem to take them on their phone.

[@AdamH-n3l]

@@joreneelanguages You are awesome thank you

[@iviebx]

I have a question. If you sign up for live classes in Babbel you can choose/book whatever amount, right? Because I know the plans in Lingoda already states the number of classes you're aloud to take

[@joreneelanguages]

@@iviebx yep, it is unlimited! You could book three+ classes a day in three+ different languages if you wanted

[@user-tm8qm7qx5w]

Is it actually feasible to take 1 private class everyday? Do they have enough materials? I have plenty of time everyday and would be super committed so that's what makes me nervous. Thanks Jo Renee!

[@joreneelanguages]

yes, it depends on what you’re wanting to do exactly, but you could take a class every day. each language/level has a different number of classes available, so depending on the level you’re at you might get through the whole level in a little over one month, which would be moving pretty quickly, but you can also retake classes, which I’ve done quite a bit.

[@user-tm8qm7qx5w]

@@joreneelanguages thank you so much Jo Renee!!! :)

[@alexisk4407]

for a brand new day one learner would you recommend babbel live?

[@joreneelanguages]

it depends on the person, for me I don’t enjoy speaking right away, I’d prefer to get some knowledge of the language first, but some people really like speaking right away! because you get the app as well, you could always do some babbel app lessons first as well. however, for me personally, no I’d use videos, podcasts, clozemaster etc to get basic vocab down first before subscribing.

[@mostafamourad9584]

On babbel live, is it normal to stick to one teacher? I know you have a bunch of teachers to choose from but would you reccomend just sticking to one?

[@joreneelanguages]

I definitely have favorites that I take a lot of classes with, but I change it up to get different dialects and styles & also to schedule more classes

[@AdamH-n3l]

Hello are the private classes better overall?

[@joreneelanguages]

it depends on what you’re looking for. the materials are the same. in the private classes you get more personal attention and more time talking, so it is more “difficult” and rigorous. it can also be more boring because you’re the only student, so group classes are more fun and interactive, and other students may ask questions or cause the teacher to explain things you wouldn’t have even thought of. I like a mix of both.

[@AdamH-n3l]

@@joreneelanguages Excellente!