Thanks to constantly evolving technologies, you can now find a business for just about anything you can think of. I still remember the first time I used a ridesharing app in Sydney, Australia. I thought it was both crazy and brilliant that you could just get into a stranger’s car and go from Point A to Point B. It was seamless, efficient and futuristic at the time. Now it’s completely normal and taxis sometimes feel outdated by comparison.
The same shift is happening across all kinds of industries, even those you might not expect. For instance, Preply is a language learning platform that’s for anyone who wants to learn a new language for work, travel or even family reasons, especially if books, apps or even ChatGPT alone aren’t cutting it. The company invited me and my family to try it out; they provided me with $150 in credit. Here’s my honest take on the experience.
The timing couldn’t have been better since we’re currently in Italy. I wanted to pick up more Italian phrases for travel, and I especially want my kids to learn a bit too for obvious reasons and if my parents and grandparents were alive, they would be proud.
How Preply Works: Step-by-Step
How Preply Works: Step-by-StepOnce you sign up, you start by building a profile. Preply asks a series of questions to match you with the right tutor.
For example, they ask:
- What is your goal timeline? (1–4 weeks, 1–3 months, 3–6 months, or “as long as it takes”)
- Is this for a child or adult learner?
- What’s the main reason for learning the language? (school, travel, relocation, family, etc.)
- What level are you starting at?
- What learning style do you prefer? (patient, structured, engaging, goal-focused, etc.)
- What type of tutor do you want? (super tutors, professional tutors, native speakers, etc.)
- Which country would you prefer your tutor to be from?
- Are there specific topics you want to focus on (conversation, beginners, intensive, etc.)
- Any other languages or subjects you might want in the future?
For my set-up, I also added that I have two kids (ages 6 and 9), we’re currently traveling in Italy and I wanted them to learn simple words and phrases to get by. However, the service is really designed as more of an intensive program to really learn a language.
Finding a Tutor
Once you finish the questionnaire, Preply generates a considerable list of tutors, hundreds of pages of options. In my case, there were 347 pages of tutors, with 10 tutors per page. Most had availability within a day or two, although only one or two were available for same-day lessons.
Tip: If you’re traveling, make sure your time zone is updated in your profile. I had mine still set to PST from home in Los Angeles, which would’ve created total confusion for scheduling.
You can also filter tutors by:
- “Super Tutor” (top-rated and highly consistent)
- Professional tutors (certified teachers)
- Price (from budget-friendly to premium)
- Reviews and popularity
- “Top picks” curated by the platform
What really helped me was that every tutor has:
- A profile video (very helpful for personality and teaching style)
- A bio showing language background and fluency level
- A country flag showing where they’re from
- Transparent pricing (ranging from about $3 to $100 per 50-minute lesson)
I spent way too much time watching intro videos. I found myself leaning toward tutors with professional looking backgrounds who also spoke both English and Italian in their intro video, so I could get a better match.
Booking a Lesson
After narrowing it down, Preply asks one final question: “Is there anything else that could help us find your perfect tutor?” I noted that we were traveling with kids and wanted basic conversational Italian for everyday use.
Then I chose a tutor named Nadia. She had over 5,000 lessons completed and a 5-star rating, which gave me confidence that she was experienced and reliable.
What Happens After You Book
Right after booking, you get a trial lesson confirmation and then immediately they send a subscription plan. This is where Preply moves from “try it” to “commit to learning” which is what it’s really designed to do and excels at. If you compare this to language schools, it’s quite the deal. But I do think they should wait until the trial lesson is completed before they send the email offering to sign up for a subscription plan.
Plans range from:
- 1 lesson per week ($192 / 4 weeks)
- 2 lessons per week ($384 / 4 weeks)
- 3 lessons per week ($576 / 4 weeks) — labeled “recommended”
- 4 lessons per week ($768 / 4 weeks)
You can choose based on how intensive you want your learning to be.
The Lessons
I scheduled two back-to-back sessions. My kids had their lesson with Nadia at 9am on a Saturday and I booked my own lesson immediately afterward with Valentina at 10am. Both tutors showed up right on time and everything took place inside Preply’s built-in video “classroom,” which worked smoothly on my wife’s Apple MacBook Pro. My PC constantly gives me problems and my microphone wasn’t working, so I switched to the Mac. I could have used my phone or even switched to Zoom as a back-up, but it was really my issue and not Preply’s since this happens to me all the time.
I thought it might be awkward at first, but it wasn’t. Nadia immediately broke the ice with my kids. She greeted them with a huge smile and said, “Oh my, you’re both so beautiful!” Then she started asking them all kinds of questions, including where they’re from, whether they knew any Italian words and what they wanted to learn.
I chimed in and told her about something that had happened the evening before. We were at the beach and the only people in the water were my daughter, Olivia, and a little Italian girl about the same age (photo above). They were swimming next to each other and obviously wanted to play together. Normally, Olivia would have said hi and asked her where she was from, but she was hesitant because she didn’t know any Italian. It also seemed like the little Italian girl didn’t speak English, so just learning a few basic phrases could make a huge difference.
Nadia agreed and immediately started teaching them all kinds of useful phrases. She shared her screen and created a whiteboard so they could read words and phrases like buongiorno and mi chiamo Olivia/Jack.
Whenever they got something right, she would send hearts flying across the screen, which the kids got a huge kick out of. It was a great way to encourage and motivate them.
My session with Valentina was similar (minus the hearts!) She has an amazingly bubbly personality and immediately told me to go to the Tools section and click on Notes so I could follow everything she was writing (photo above). She typed everything in both Italian and English while also saying the phrases out loud, which made them much easier to understand. I only took one lesson to get a feel for the platform, but both tutors said the overwhelming majority of their students take at least one lesson a week.
Valentina grew up in Milan, became a lawyer, but now teaches on Preply full-time. She recently moved from Australia to Malta and had previously been living in Mexico. She told me she currently has about 40 active students and said that if someone knows they’re traveling to a destination and wants to learn the language, the ideal plan is to take one lesson a week for about three months but you can take just one if you like. I can totally see what a difference that would make. After just one lesson, both my kids and I learned useful phrases and the correct pronunciation that made our trip to Italy even better.
As Valentina pointed out, one of the best things about Preply is that there are teachers all over the world, so students can book lessons almost anytime they want, even at two o’clock in the morning because it’s working hours somewhere in the world.
My overall impression
The platform and the business model is genius. It really seems like a win-win for everyone. Teachers from around the world can set their own schedules, make a living and help people learn a language that can make their travels more enjoyable or even strengthen relationships with family members abroad or at home.
Even after just one lesson, I can see how students can build a real one-on-one relationship with a teacher and a language. For me, that’s much more effective than reading a book, listening to language tapes (remember those?), or even relying entirely on AI. I really wish Preply had been around when I was growing up.
@yuji_beleza Did you guess it right 🤯 . If you want to learn languages, use @preply ✨ Use the link in the BIO and get 50% off on your first class! 📚 #ukraine #peru #latina #vienna #german ♬ original sound – yuji_beleza
As you can see from my experience and from some of the company’s social media videos (I’ve embedded one above), some of their teachers and students are incredibly talented. I highly recommend giving them a try.
