Learn languages: Babbel now with live private lessons

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Many people are probably only familiar with the Babbel app of the same name. However, the Berlin-based company has also been offering live lessons online for some time now, supplementing its self-developed learning concept for self-study with language training with teachers. Previously, these lessons were only available in small groups of up to six participants, but now "Babbel Live Private Classes" have been added. c't has already been able to try out the online private lessons.

It is currently available for English and Spanish - in the five learning levels A1 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, with A1 and A2 each divided into two sub-levels. All in all, the learning plans each comprise almost 200 lessons.

Each lesson usually deals with a typical everyday situation - such as greetings, shopping or weekend planning - and focuses on grammar. Lessons take place live via the Zoom video chat platform, with each private lesson lasting 45 minutes - ten minutes shorter than group lessons, but usually much more challenging.

Netflix for languages

One-to-one online lessons with language teachers can also be booked via intermediaries such as iTalki and Preply. The highlight of Babbel Live, however, is that you take out a flat-rate subscription and can therefore take as many lessons as you like in any of the languages on offer for a fixed amount. There are no fixed times or class structures to follow. Instead, the service offers lessons around the clock, which you can take at your convenience. Babbel employs teachers around the world for this purpose.

Subscriptions for private lessons can be taken out for a year, half a year, a quarter or a month; the monthly price is between 74.50 and 149 euros, depending on the term. In comparison: Group lessons, which are also offered as a subscription, cost between just under 50 euros (annual subscription) and 99 euros (monthly subscription).

Subscribers to Babbel Live Private Classes receive access to the entire Babbel platform, including online group lessons and the Babbel app for self-study. The idea behind this combination is that the online lessons focus on speaking, while students learn grammar and vocabulary themselves using the app.

In online lessons

Babbel Live claims to only employ native-speaker teachers who are C2-certified and have years of experience in teaching. In fact, all the teachers we took lessons with seemed qualified and motivated. If you are unsure about your own language level, you can book a placement test in which you have to answer a series of predetermined questions in the 45 minutes mentioned above.

You receive the teaching material in advance as a PDF, so there is no need for an additional textbook. The texts used in the individual lessons are the same as those used in the group lessons. During the test, all teachers stuck to the templates, but enriched them with their own examples and mainly used them as a hook for dialogs off the beaten track. No homework was given. Who is supposed to correct it with the constantly changing classroom staff?

The international orientation is reflected in the teaching material and lessons: everything is in the target language, there is no source language - at least in theory: in an earlier test of group lessons, we experienced a teacher switching to English because a student no longer understood anything in the target language. However, you shouldn't expect help in German. As a student, it is not so easy to succumb to the temptation to switch to a familiar language when you don't have the right words. However, the concept also creates an entry hurdle that you first have to overcome in order to be able to follow at all.

In the test, it was somewhat negative that the slides with the teaching material offer very little space for notes and are therefore quickly filled with notes. Added to this is the fleeting nature of the information: Notes on the slides must be saved before the end of the lesson, otherwise they are lost. During the test period, one teacher made comments and screenshots of the annotated slides available for download via the chat window. This is one option, but Babbel would be well advised to find a more elegant solution here.

Preliminary conclusion

After a few days of testing, it is already clear that one-to-one lessons are ideal for those who learn best with the undivided attention of a teacher - a point that Babbel CEO Arne Schepker also emphasizes. There is also no doubt about the flexibility of the 1:1 courses: where else can you take language lessons in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening and even in the middle of the night, depending on your own needs?

Anyone looking for lessons that are completely tailored to their own needs and approach, or looking for a commitment to an individual teacher over a longer period of time, may also be disappointed by Babbel's private lessons: Teachers generally follow the official concept and Babbel does not guarantee that you will always receive lessons from the same person.

Nevertheless, individual lessons are much more effective than learning in a group: in 1:1 lessons, the student has the opportunity to work with the teacher specifically on individual "problem topics" and thus eliminate comprehension problems. In a group, some students are more likely to forego a second or third question so as not to blow up the lesson. (nij)