Times are tough and yet you want to learn Spanish, so maybe you’re trying to figure out if it’s even worth it to learn Spanish online for free. After all, there are plenty of places to pick up some free information on the language and Youtube videos that will teach you a few of the basics for totally free. But just how good are those free options?

Free Spanish Classes Online

Some lessons online are for free and the people who offer these free Spanish classes are actually making money off of their advertising. That could be a good deal for you, right? Some of the free options for learning Spanish include:

DuoLingo – this app is designed to help you learn a variety of language, including vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and more. It’s definitely useful, since you can do quick lessons while you wait in line at the school pickup or while at the doctor’s office.

YouTube – Many people offer free lessons via YouTube, where you can watch the videos and practice pronunciation. These are often handy if you want to speak Spanish, but not necessarily read or write it.

Free Websites – You can even find free sites where they’ll teach you to learn a language with written and video content. While useful in some regards, these sites are often packed with spam content and lots of ads, so you have to be willing to wade through all that to get to the good stuff.

Books – Of course, you can also find books that you can learn from, both online and off. These are great for learning to read and write, but they don’t help much when it comes to actually speaking.

You can certainly find free Spanish lessons online, but they’re not always the best quality. Not everyone can learn this way, either.

The Downsides of Learning Spanish Online for Free

Free lessons are great and can be a really good way to start off and see if you’re actually interested in continuing to learn Spanish. However, they do have a few downsides to them, as well.

You have to be self-motivated. Not all of us are great at pushing ourselves to do things that are hard. Learning a whole language is hard. If you’re the sort of person who finds it difficult to exercise daily without outside motivation, for example, then learning on your own probably isn’t for you.

You’ll probably miss something. Free lessons are cheap for a reason and most of them focus on one area, such as writing/reading, or speaking. You can certainly learn to speak Spanish from a Youtube video, but you may have difficulty learning to read and write it.

If you have questions, the answer is harder to find. Many times, you’ll find yourself wondering about a piece of grammar or a certain word. Where do you use it correctly? How do you make it plural? If this isn’t included in your lesson, it’s not like you can ask someone how to use the word.

You have no practice. When you learn online for free, you will find that you struggle with getting in the necessary practice. Unless you have a friend who speaks Spanish and is willing to chat with you in their native language, you’ll find it very difficult to get that practice in.

You’ll miss the cultural nuances. Spanish classes that are free and only offer a pre-recorded or written lesson will give you the basics of the language, but not how to use it. When you are speaking with someone who actually grew up with the language, they will have ways to use it that won’t be found in a textbook. There are a lot of cultural things that go into a language.

Some stuff may not be available. This is a common complaint we see with freebie lessons and videos. You may learn how to conjugate irregular verbs on a YouTube channel, but then have to search for a list of verbs to conjugate. Maybe you learn basic greetings, but how do you know how to ask for a bandage if you’re injured? Videos and other types of free classes are often lacking in more than the basics.

As you can see, free classes in Spanish are fine for getting a basic foundation, but you really want live classes if you can get them.

Free stuff is often worht exactly what you paid, so it’s a good idea to look into just how much it would cost you to get online Spanish classes with a native speaking teacher. You will find that the ability to have lessons tailored to your needs and interests is a much better way to do things.

We offer a free trial so you can test our methods out for yourself, as well as packages to make learning Spanish one of the best investments you’ve ever made toward your future.