If you or your children are studying Spanish and are having a bit of trouble knowing when to use imperativo, or just find conjugating irregular verbs a bit tricky, you might be interested in hiring an online Spanish tutor.
In today’s digital world, finding a capable, knowledgeable and personable Spanish tutor has never been easier, and with the advent of powerful online learning platforms, it’s never been more effective.
With so many tutoring companies out there it can be hard to know which ones to choose. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best online Spanish tutoring services out there so you can find the tutor that’s right for you and save time, money and (maybe most importantly) frustration.
In a Rush? Here’s who we think can best help you find the right online spanish tutor
If you’d like help matching to a Spanish tutor | Varsity Tutors |
If you like select your own Spanish tutor | Wyzant |
If you need really flexible tutoring | Skooli |
Varsity Tutors
Say hola to a personalized and curated way of finding great Spanish tutors
Founded in 2007, Varsity Tutors is a personalized online tutoring service that goes the extra distance and helps match customers to the right tutor for their needs.
The company offers a fair number of tutoring options, from one on one tutoring to small group online Zoom classes.
In terms of online Spanish tutoring, one on one sessions start at about $50 per hour. You can also book small group Spanish classes (from intermediate to advanced), which are available in pay as you go packages or as part of a subscription ($19/mo for as many courses as you’d like to sign up for).
While perhaps a bit more expensive than some other online tutoring services, the tutors we found available for Spanish were of excellent quality.
All had experience teaching or tutoring Spanish both at the academic level (AP and above) and at conversational levels, with many having lived for extended periods in Spanish-speaking countries, giving them a strong familiarity with various local language nuances and cultural norms.
Unlike most other companies, Varsity makes all tutors go through a full criminal background check and a test of abilities as part of their hiring process, which increases the services safety and the quality of instruction.
While small group classes use Zoom, as can be expected due to its reliability and speed, but one on one tutoring is done through a very sophisticated web-based online classroom, in fact one of the better ones we’ve seen.
The classroom is smooth, easy to use and has both whiteboard and clear audio/visual capability, which makes it feel almost like a tutor was sitting right there with you. You can also record sessions for later review.
Varsity’s customer service is pretty responsive and friendly, and we feel they go the extra mile in helping find tutors for customers, making it feel much like a curated service rather than a standard tutoring service.
If for some reason the tutor they book you with isn’t a good fit, we found that they work pretty hard in finding another one and even throw in a free hours tutoring to see if there is an improvement, so you can rest assured that you’ll find the best Spanish tutor for you as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Read our full review of Varsity Tutors
Bottom Line:
With high quality tutors, excellent customer service, a high tech online classrooms and flexible tutoring options, if you’re need help finding the right online Spanish tutor for you, Varsity Tutors will work hard to help you find one.
Wyzant
Choose your own online Spanish tutors from a huge selection of qualified (and affordable) instructors
If you prefer the freedom of personally selecting your own online Spanish tutor for one on one tutoring, then Wyzant might be the right tutoring company for you.
With an extensive database of thousands of tutors from across the United States, users can browse through and choose Spanish tutors by their years of experience, how many hours they’ve spent tutoring Spanish, their own level of education, and more.
Wyzant can also be pretty affordable, as well. For Spanish, hourly prices tend to start as low as $15 per hour, although they increase with experience obviously.
It’s also a pay as you go service, so you only really pay for the hours you use as you use them, so there’s no need to pay anything up front. This is pretty convenient and lets you scale tutoring up and down as you need them or as your budget allows.
There is however, a 9% service fee on top of the tutors fee, which is a bit annoying.
Overall, the Spanish tutors we found were highly qualified. Many tutors were native speaking Spanish speakers and quite a few were also certified teachers with well over 10 years experience teaching. In fact, many had also spent significant time teaching or residing in Spanish speaking countries, which is excellent for those interesting in learning Spanish Culture and regional/conversational Spanish.
While Wyzant doesn’t require tutors to be certified teachers or have graduate degrees in the subject, they do perform proficiency testing as part of the hiring process and, honestly, the search filtering on their site makes it extremely easy to find certified Spanish teachers and those with academic degrees in the subject.
Similarly, Wyzant doesn’t require background checks per se, they do strongly encourage them and those that pass them can mention it prominently on their profile. In fact, all the Spanish tutors we looked into had passed background checks anyway since, presumably, it helps book clients.
Wyzant uses their own online classroom that is pretty well designed and sophisticated, and it worked smoothly and reliably. It uses a digital whiteboard with HD video and audio and lessons can be recorded for later viewing, which makes their online experience as close to real life teaching as possible.
Finally, despite being more of a DIY tutoring service, we found Wyzant’s customer service to be extremely professional, responsive and courteous. Their cancellation policy is dependent on the actual tutor but generally is quite generous, as well, only requiring 36 hours notice.
Read our full review of Wyzant
Bottom Line:
If you’re someone who prefers to spend a little time and select your own online Spanish tutor from a large range of qualified tutors, then Wyzant is a great tutoring choice that offers a capable online learning environment at a pay as you go price.
Skooli
Flexibility and highly qualified tutoring is the name of the game with Skooli
Founded in 2015, Skooli is a platform that helps people find and match with tutors for online tutoring.
Skooli is, at its core, a highly flexible tutoring system. Unlike other tutoring companies that pay by the hour or lesson Skooli lets you pay by the minute, which gives users a great deal more flexibility, especially useful for those with tight schedules or budgets..
Tutoring costs $0.82 /min, which means that a 30 minute session will cost about $24.60 and an hour will cost about $49. The exact amount of time you wish to book is up to you, although there is a minimum of 15 minutes.
The company offers both dedicated one-on-one tutoring, where students can meet the same teacher, and as-needed tutoring, which allows you to book a tutor pretty much at any time (although you may experience slight delays if you feel the need to conjugate some futuro imperfecto at 4 am).
In terms of Spanish tutors, instructors at Skooli are of very high quality and skill. In fact, all tutors have to either have graduate degrees (Masters degrees or PhDs) or be certified teachers. In fact, we saw quite a few Spanish tutors that were both certified teachers, had graduate degrees and had several years experience teaching Spanish.
Overall, we found a variety of Spanish tutors teaching at a variety of levels: high school/AP Spanish, college level, Spanish as a second language and Spanish at the conversational level (introductory through advanced). We even found quite a few US-based tutors of Latin American and Spanish origin as well, which is nice.
All tutors go through background checks in order to receive a verification checkmark and are pretty thoroughly screened for proficiency and skill at teaching.
Skooli’s online tutoring uses a super easy to navigate and use online classroom with all the tech needed to deliver a proper one on one teaching experience, including a responsive digital whiteboard, HD audio and video, lesson recordings, screen-sharing and file sharing.
Skooli’s Customer Service is pretty decent as well, with a well-deserved reputation for responsiveness and courteousness. Being pay as you go services they are also quite generous with cancellation policies (requiring only 12 hours notice).
Check out our review of Skooli
Bottom Line:
Easy and free to sign up for, with a pay-as-you go system and with highly educated and experienced teachers available 24/7 or by appointment, Skooli is one of the most flexible and effective online Spanish tutoring options we’ve seen.
What We Look for in an Online Spanish Tutoring Service
To compile our list of the best online Spanish tutoring companies, we examined a variety of companies and compared them based on what we think are the most important features in providing high quality language instruction over the internet.
Experienced and Capable Spanish Tutors
It may seem obvious, but teaching a language involves a great deal more than simply being fluent in that language.
Therefore, we looked for online tutoring companies that didn’t just offer lessons with native Spanish speakers but employed tutors who actually have experience teaching Spanish as a second language, such as former and current certified teachers, language instructors, AP Spanish tutors and so on.
We also looked for companies that had Spanish proficiency and teaching skill checks as part of their hiring process.
Background check
The Internet can be a dangerous and very strange place and we felt users should have some certainty about those they will meet in an online video and chat experience, particularly when it comes to tutoring for kids.
That’s why we only included companies that either background checked their tutors (mandatory or encouraged) or give users the ability to do so themselves.
Online Classroom technology
While Skype and Zoom have revolutionized online chat, we feel that users are better served with more sophisticated online classroom technology. In particular, we looked for tutoring companies that made use of online classrooms with the following features:
Clear, HD audio and visuals
In order to hear and pick up on the nuances of language, we felt audio and video have to be as clear as possible.
Digital whiteboard
Often with language instruction, students benefit from the teacher demonstrating concepts visually, such as breaking down sentences or running through a verb’s conjugation.
Online whiteboards act much like real life whiteboards, letting tutors highlight, write and even draw as they need to, making the online tutoring experience that much more like having a tutor sitting right next to you.
Screen Sharing and document uploads
Whether it’s showing a YouTube video or song or uploading a composition or homework sheet, the ability to share screens and upload and work on documents in real time can be a real plus in tutoring, expanding the learning opportunities substantially.
Customer Support
While we’re sure that most of the time tutoring will probably go smoothly, sometimes life happens and you need to contact the company. Whether there is a bad fit or or some kind of scheduling issue, the ability to reach the company and find a successful resolution with a minimum of fuss is vital, especially with online businesses.
Why use an Online Tutor for Spanish
If you’re looking to improve your or your child’s Spanish skills with a tutor, online tutoring has a number of advantages over traditional, in person lessons.
Convenience
With online tutoring, you can work on your Spanish pretty much whenever and wherever it’s most convenient for you. Most tutoring companies can find high quality tutors in a variety of time zones, letting you fit lessons around your schedule instead of working around someone else’s.
There’s also no need to drive anywhere or meet in person, which we all know can be quite a hassle these days, lessons take place online and from the comfort of your house, a coffee shop, anywhere with a high speed internet connection, really.
Price
If you live in a community that has only a few Spanish speakers, or if you live in an area with high demand, you’re probably aware of that classic economic truth – with great demand and limited supply comes the ability to charge a higher price, often regardless of actual teaching skill.
Sourcing from around the country, or even around the world, online tutoring companies often are able to offer access to a wide range of tutors at an even wider range of price points- you can easily find a Spanish tutor that fits your budget.
Experience
Unlike in-person tutoring, with online tutoring you aren’t dependent on the availability of Spanish tutors in your area. Instead, you have access to tutors from around the country or even around the world, giving you unmatched choice in experience, education, and expertise in learning Spanish, whether you’re looking for AP Spanish teachers, experienced Spanish as a second language teachers or even experts in Spanish Culture and Language
FAQ
About the Author
Anne Miller is the editor of The Smarter Learning Guide and is a passionate advocate for education and educational technology. A mom of two, she majored in English Language and Literature and worked as a substitute teacher and tutor for several years. When not writing she continues to root for the Yankees and the Giants.