Is Online Learning as Good as Classroom Learning?
In this article, we’ll pit e-learning against traditional learning to determine whether online learning is really as good as classroom learning.
LingQ Spanish: Our Verdict (2023)
Platform Rating
4.6 / 5
LingQ Spanish is an online language learning service that provides content on almost all relevant linguistic skills necessary to learn a language properly and engagingly. The well-crafted structure of lessons and courses on grammar, daily-life situations, cultural insights, and even popular contemporary sources of entertainment make this option one of the most useful tools to learn Spanish.
Pros
- An outstanding balance between formal and contextual language learning content
- Good balance between design and platform usefulness
- Personalization of learning paths
- Can cover all language learning competencies
Cons
- The method can become lengthy
- Relatively expensive
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The LingQ service was created by the Canadian polyglot Steve Kaufmann, renowned worldwide for his outstanding linguistic capacities in 20 languages. Learning Spanish with the LingQ method, you will primarily take in the language through reading and listening to the content of your interest. You can choose between different grammatical, daily-life, cultural, or professional themes. While reading the content of each lesson, you will be saving unknown vocabulary to a list of words that will progressively increase as you go through more new lessons. In this review, we’ll have a closer look at how the platform works for learning Spanish.
Table of Contents
LingQ offers excellent coverage of all the learning formal and contextual fields you should dig into to learn a language properly. It features not only lessons about daily-life situations or grammar but also mini stories (in a Latin American or European context), news, books, podcasts, business, sports, health, science, travel, pronunciation, culture, history, and even Netflix and Mexican Telenovelas. Apart from learning structures and vocabulary, LingQ will become a place to consume daily life and entertainment content as you would in your native language. This can potentiate the learning experience as you follow the content you love or find more relevant to your linguistic needs. This possibility gives a strong feeling of agency in personalizing your learning experience. However, if you are looking for a more structured way of learning, the guided courses offer specific learning paths where you will go through each lesson and move to the next one. Combining these two modes can ensure a truly immersive, relevant, and fun experience.
The LingQ method replaces memorization and grammar drills with a natural learning experience. It emphasizes the importance of consuming lots of content arranged following your needs.
The method follows a learning path that comprises the steps read, listen, repeat, accelerate, and enjoy.
- Read: This first stage focuses on encountering new vocabulary you can save for later practice as
- Listen: This part highlights the importance of having listening exposure to audio content, even when you are not actively paying attention. This allows your brain to adapt to the phonetics and listening comprehension of the language.
- Repeat: Although excessive repetition is one of the greatest downsides of many platforms, in LingQ, it is well balanced.
- Accelerate: As you progress through the lessons, the learning rate will increase as you save more words from diverse contexts.
- Enjoy: The service allows you to choose under which topics of your interest the content will be delivered.
How does it work?
On the dashboard, you will find a long list of lessons and courses that often follow a story. You can select the lessons’ difficulty level, from Beginner 1 to Advanced 2. Therefore, the platform allows you to see only the content that suits your learning level.
The platform will ask you about the intensity you seek in learning. Each level rewards you with a different number of coins.
- Casual (10 min/day): 50 coins.
- Steady (20 min/day): 100 coins.
- Casual (40 min/day): 200 coins.
- Casual (60 min/day): 400 coins.
Then, it will ask you to choose amongst different topics so the platform can customize your lesson feed.
Each lesson features a short text in Spanish that you can read or listen to. The method’s core is a system of color-codification that you can use to let the platform recognize what knowledge you already have and what you still need to learn or practice.
- Words with a white background: words that you already know.
- Words with yellow background: words that you are currently learning.
- Words with blue background: new words you need to put into either of the above-cited categories.
When you click a word, a box will appear at the right of the screen, showing you different meanings that the word can have depending on the grammatical context. You will see the formal characteristics of the word, the dictionary definition, popular meanings related to it, and related phrases associated with it. When you select one of the meanings listed, the word will be marked with a yellow background and will pass to the status of new. Depending on how much you encounter and recognize the word during the lessons, words can change to different statuses: new, recognized, familiar, learned, or known. The last two will mark the word with a white background, indicating the platform that the word should not be revised later.
Tutors
LingQ features the possibility of booking classes with native Spanish speakers. When you open the Tutors tab, you will see a list of possible teachers who can help you with specific topics. Classes can be sorted by country, native language, and availability, allowing you to personalize live tutoring corresponding to your needs. Lessons range from €12 to €25 depending on the tutor’s experience level or can be accessed by paying a Premium Plus plan.
Community
This section features many interesting options for connecting with others, sharing questions and information, or engaging in fun and motivating challenges. You will find a forum to post questions and discuss technical issues. In this tab, users can also submit small written text in the language they are learning to be corrected by other users.
In this section, you will find the stats of your profile, where you can track your learning progress and streaks in a very engaging, straightforward way.
Finally, in this section, you will find options for contributing to the platform professionally as an editor, librarian, or chief librarian. These roles can be interesting for those experienced learners who want to take their learning path to the next level. Apart from these roles, you can help translate the user interface or add a new language to LingQ.
Pricing
The complete LingQ learning service can be purchased in Premium or Premium Plus. The Premium plan unlocks most of the content and costs €12.99 for a month, €71.94 for six months, €107.88 for one year, or €191.76 for two years. The Premium Plus plan includes live tutoring, writing correction, and premium lessons and costs €39.99 for a month, €233.94 for six months, €419.88 for one year or €815.76 for two years.
LingQ offers a free 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee if unsatisfied with the service. However, if you change your mind after a month of the purchase, you won’t get your money back.
What are the pros and cons of LingQ Spanish?
Pros:
- An outstanding balance between formal and contextual content: LingQ Spanish offers lessons on formal aspects of the language, such as grammar, daily-life conversations, or pronunciation, but also features contextual content on the culture, history, and entertainment dimensions of the language.
- Good balance design-effectiveness: The platform features a polished design and access to interactive elements.
- Personalization of learning paths: With LingQ, you can choose between going through varied lessons with different difficulties or following a pre-arranged set. Or you can also combine both!
- It covers all language learning competencies: The LingQ method allows you to practice your reading, writing, listening, speaking, and vocabulary-building skills.
Cons:
- The method can become lengthy: Going word by word in the first lessons can become boring or time-consuming. However, the more lessons you do, the less content you must review, and the faster the learning process will become.
- Relatively expensive: This one can be less affordable than other online Spanish learning services.
What is the audience for LingQ Spanish?
This might be the best option for learners who understand the importance of combining formal and contextual aspects of the language. The great diversity of grammar, pronunciation, reading, or listening content, combined with topics that target learning the culture, history, or even entertainment from different Spanish-speaking countries, allows you to have one of the best immersive Spanish-learning experiences you can find online. However, accessing the full plan can be costly, and if you are looking for a well-balanced, more affordable option, other services might suit your needs better than LingQ Spanish.
My overall review
Because of the content diversity that offers LingQ Spanish, I would say this is one of the best options you can choose from to ensure an interesting, fun, and engaging learning experience. However, the method can become slightly monotonous after a while, and you might lose interest in pursuing more advanced knowledge. Nonetheless, the platform offers so many complementary learning spaces you can shift from one to another, allowing you to get training in different aspects of your learning path.
