Pros & Cons
-
- Affordable
- One-on-one and small group classes via Zoom
- Qualified, enthusiastic instructors
- Excellent learning materials
- Includes placement test
-
- Offers classes for only a few languages
- No software-based courses
Lingoda Specs
| Average Duration of Lesson (Mins) | 60 |
| No. of Languages Offered (Not Incl. English) | 4 |
| Price Includes | Small Group Classes and Materials |
| Style of Program | Live Video Call Classes |
If you've spent any time in language classes, you know what makes a good one stand out: challenging but appropriate materials, enthusiastic teachers, one-on-one or small group instruction, and the right amount of time per class. Lingoda succeeds in all of those aspects, putting you in live virtual classes with real people. Combined with excellent supporting course materials, the online language learning platform pushes you beyond your comfort level to express your thoughts instead of just translating words. We wish it offered more languages, but it still easily earns our Editors' Choice award thanks to its top-notch instruction and challenging, interactive teaching approach.
Pricing: Affordable, But Variable
Lingoda offers a variety of plans for one-on-one and small group classes. The prices are reasonable, but they vary based on your commitment level and language of choice. For example, German is more expensive than Spanish, and Business English classes cost the most. Note that you must pay up front every four weeks for a package of classes rather than on a per-class basis. Packages can contain 5, 12, 20, or 40 classes per month.
For one-on-one class packages, the per-class rate is between $23 and $48. For group classes (between three and five students), the per-class prices are between about $11 and $23. For English, French, and Spanish, a five-class package costs $79.99. For Italian and German, it's $94.99 and $99.99, respectively. The equivalent Business English package goes for $114.99.
Every so often, Lingoda offers special Sprint and Super Sprint plans that offer up to 50% of your money back if you meet their challenges. (Previously, you could earn 100% back, but no longer.) You essentially pay up front for 60 days of classes and pledge to complete either 30 (Sprint) or 60 (Super Sprint) sessions in that time frame. If you make it to all your classes, you get a 50% refund. There are some other rules, and the Sprint and Super Sprint aren't available for all languages, so be sure to read the fine print. Again, the prices vary based on the language, but here are the highest and lowest ones: Business English Sprint ($1,140) and Super Sprint ($640); Spanish Sprint ($320) and Super Sprint ($530).
Alternatively, you can pay for tutors. Rype and Preply, for example, connect you to teachers for private lessons. The lengths and rates of classes can vary by tutor, and it's possible to find very low rates if you're interested in only 30-minute sessions. But the lessons don't have as much quality control or uniformity as what you get from Lingoda or Babbel, both of which use the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR). This is helpful because it lets you match up your level in other apps that use it, too, such as Busuu and Duolingo.
What Languages Does Lingoda Offer?
As mentioned, Lingoda offers courses in English, Business English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. That's a limited selection compared with Babbel's 14 languages.
Lingoda teaches British English, though teachers might come from Canada, South Africa, the UK, the US, or other English-speaking regions. The variety of instructors is similar with the other languages. It uses Castilian Spanish for course materials, for example, although many of the teachers are from Latin America. Similarly, Lingoda teaches standard German, but some instructors are from Austria and Switzerland. The French class is European French, though you might get an instructor from Québec or another French-speaking region.
(Credit: Lingoda/PCMag)Classes strive to be immersive and provide instructions in the target language as much as possible. In testing, however, a beginner German class used English as the language of instruction. In Spanish classes at the intermediate and higher levels, instructors used very little English but would sometimes clarify a point in English.
Class Selection and Preparation: Plenty of Options
When you create an account with Lingoda, you can log in to see what classes are available on certain days or at certain times. The tools for filtering are intuitive, simple, and useful. Before booking a class, Lingoda confirms the time by stating the current time in your time zone. That way, you won't have any doubts as to when a class starts.
Every class has a title and description, which includes the type of focus for the class (such as grammar, reading, speaking, or vocabulary), the name of the instructor with a link to learn more about them, and a number showing how many seats are still available. Instructor bios don't always say what other languages they speak or where they're from, linguistically speaking. Those details might be helpful to know if you prefer teachers from a particular dialectical region, such as Central America versus Spain or Germany versus Switzerland.
(Credit: Lingoda/PCMag)If you are a beginner, you can enroll in the first level for the language you choose. If you have prior experience with the language, you can take a short placement test to find where you should start. As mentioned, Lingoda bases its levels on the CEFR. The number of levels available varies by language. For Spanish, Lingoda offers A1.1 through B2.3. For German, you can learn all the way up to C1.4. The highest level in this system is C2. If you begin taking classes and find the level isn't appropriate, you can change it to a higher or lower one at your discretion.
Lingoda assumes that you will put in some time to learn and study the language beyond the materials you get from it. When you show up to a class, you should be ready to practice what you know and learn a little more along the way.
Each class has a topic or theme and a downloadable PDF of materials that you can review in advance of the class. These learning materials have prompts for discussion, short reading passages, and other activities, most of which you should do aloud. By going through the PDF, you can prepare for the class, look up any vocabulary you don't know, and make notes. In testing, I found it worthwhile to set aside about 20 minutes a few hours before a class to review the PDF. Most students should still be able to participate in the class just fine if they don't put in this learning time in advance, however.
Similar Products
Our Current Picks for The Best Language Learning Apps for 2026
(Credit: Lingoda/PCMag)Class Experience: Engaging and Intimate
Lingoda very specifically doesn't classify itself as a language learning app. It's a service that offers classes with teachers. Classes are engaging and use some standard language learning topics to get you talking. To test the service, I tried German classes for beginners and Spanish classes on the Sprint plan. The placement test for Spanish, which took less than 15 minutes to complete, placed me at an appropriate level.
Classes take place over Zoom. Lingoda provides the link to the class on your account page a few minutes before the start time. When you join the class, your Zoom name automatically appears as [First Name] Lingoda; for example, Jill Lingoda. No matter what settings you previously had for your display name, your surname won't ever appear.
In most classes, the instructor greets everyone and spends no more than five minutes asking you about where you are from and why you want to learn the language. Depending on your language ability, this might happen in English or the language of instruction.
(Credit: Lingoda/PCMag)For the bulk of each hour-long class, the instructor shares their screen to display the PDF for the class. The instructor asks participants to take turns answering questions, asking questions of another participant, and reading passages aloud. Typically, the teacher marks up the PDF as the class works through various exercises, either to make notes or write down corrections and give feedback.
Classes aren't scripted, so instructors might linger on an activity that is getting learners to speak or skip an exercise that isn't. Lingoda requires all instructors to be at the C2 level or above in the language they teach. They must also have a certificate to teach in that language and at least two years of teaching experience.
I find the classes engaging and effective, especially given the cap of five students. When a class has only a few other students, you can really focus on learning. In fact, Lingoda is one of the few language services that I have paid for out of my own pocket when I actually needed to improve my Spanish.
Video and Chat Are Optional, But Beneficial
Turning on your video camera is optional. Aside from one class where even the instructor kept her camera off, the majority of students and instructors enabled video. Video makes for a better experience for many reasons. For one, you can see when someone's connection freezes. Another example: The instructor might be able to tell from your facial expression when you need a moment to think about how to respond to a prompt. Additionally, you can see mouth and lip movements, which helps with language learning.
Some classes actively use Zoom's chat feature. In a few classes, instructors ask the learners to type their replies to a question in the chat. In such cases, Lingoda provides a downloadable copy of the conversation after the class ends. Other classes ignore the chat.
(Credit: Lingoda/PCMag)Post-Class Actions: Feedback and a Short Quiz
After each class, you can rate the instructor using a short feedback form. Additionally, you can optionally take a short quiz on the Lingoda website that's relevant to the topic of the class. The quizzes are multiple-choice and don't count for anything, but they might reinforce what you learned.
Lingoda vs. Other Language Learning Platforms
Lingoda's small group classes in which you hear and speak the language are excellent, but it doesn't offer an accompanying self-paced course of study. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make for some differences with other learning platforms I've tried.
Rosetta Stone, for example, also offers live online classes to practice speaking and interacting. But each class directly ties in with a course you complete in the Rosetta Stone software. You can sign up for these classes as you have time, and you know what to expect because it's the same material from the associated lesson. The problem is that classes end up being highly scripted. By contrast, the instructor in a Lingoda class can explain something or perhaps even raise a point about regional linguistic differences.
Fluenz offers live classes, too, though they require a long-term commitment: either 15 hours ($1,815) or 30 hours ($3,277) in 90-minute, one-on-one sessions with a language coach. You can learn through Fluenz's program in tandem with its online software, but it doesn't strictly require it like Rosetta Stone.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Lingoda)
Lingoda
Speaking and interacting with others is a crucial part of learning a language, and Lingoda offers hour-long lessons with excellent instructors and compelling teaching materials to get you there.