OCTB Blog

Should you learn a new language with Preply?  Italki?  Verbling?  Overcome the Barrier?

No one has time to review all of them.  Except for language nerds. So we thought we'd do the dirty work for you, and compare these four language companies. If we missed a feature or another company, please write it in the comments below.

The Breakdown

Italki has grown exponentially in the last few years. Let's see what drives this ever-growing popularity.

👍 PROS: You can learn any language, and you have over 10 000 teachers to choose from (you can also select 'community tutors' or 'certified teachers'). Many influencers now offer $10 italki credits, which means you could get a few lessons for free!

👎CONS: Although it has a reputation for having cheaper prices, that is not the case. The prices are actually higher on average than the other platforms, with some teachers even charging $80/hour.  As well, there is no platform or structure used by the teachers, which leaves one wondering about their lesson plan and evaluation of their students' progress.

OCTB Overcome the Barrier has been offering corporate language training to companies like IBM and Caterpillar in the last 10 years, and recently branched into the individual market for Spanish classes.

👍 PROS: The price is only $8/hour. They only accept native speaking teachers who go through a teacher training. The teachers follow a curriculum and use the OCTB platform, which allows students to visualize their mistakes in real time during the class. These mistakes are then turned into personalized homework. The platform also tracks students' progress on a lesson-by-lesson basis. 

👎CONS: It does not have the wide variety of languages, teachers, and schedules that the other platforms offer. You are initially assigned a teacher, and you can request to switch if you're not satisfied with the first.

Preply offers one-on-one lessons in 24 languages. You find the tutor of your choice, you choose when you want to have your lesson, and you have a live conversation with this tutor.

👍 PROS: You can select your price range, your teacher, and your schedule. They offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which is great. You can also post a request with your requirements for your ideal tutor, and let them find you. 

👎CONS: The tutors are not certified, they do not follow any particular structure, and there is no platform to visualize the content of your lesson.

Verbling offers one-on-one lessons in 10 languages. It's very similar to Preply, but with a few more features.

👍 PROS: It has a built-in classroom, a word bank that tutors can use during the class, and the platform offers several exercises you can complete in your own time. You have a wide variety of teachers to choose from, whether they be tutors or professional teachers.

👎CONS: It's quite expensive. Depending on the language, prices generally hover between $10 and $25/hour. As well, there is no curriculum or guidelines for the teachers to use, which can easily lead to a lack of lesson structure and measured progress for the students.

Well, we hope that this article has helped you make a decision as to which language company to go with. And if you're still not sure, why don't you try a lesson with all four, and that should seal the deal.

1. Career advancement in the post-COVID-19 economy

Our economy is increasingly become global and digital. According to Indeed, the most common filter used in job search engines in 2020 is 'remote positions'. An important factor here is obviously the COVID-19 crisis, but experts predict that this trend will only continue. Jobs that were restricted to on-site workers are now open to workers all over the world. One of the consequences is that the job market is becoming increasingly competitive. With nearly every applicant for every position possessing an undergraduate degree and soft skills such as 'great team worker', 'problem-solver', 'excellent command of Word', and 'attention to detail', what hard skills will distinguish you from the hundreds of other applicants?          Being bilingual is certainly one of them. In fact, in 2018, CNN Money named bilingualism as the hottest skill for job seekers.

Not only will your chances of getting hired increase, but so will your pay. According to the Schwartz Insurance Group, bilingual employees make between 5% to 20% more per hour than monolingual employees. Recent statistics show that companies are hiring more bilinguals than monolinguals.

Now if you're planning to start your own business, all the more reason to learn Spanish!  You will be able to expand your business to Mexico, Spain, and all of South America. That's a huge potential market.

2. You will perform better in your daily tasks

Thinking of learning Spanish? Here are five ways you can do it.

Don't have the time to read, watch this video instead

Language learning apps like Duolingo, Babbel, and Rosetta Stone have gained great popularity over the last decade. Is the hype justified?

Don't have the time to read? Watch this video instead.

Don't have the time to read, watch this video instead

Watch this video where OCTB founder debunks the myth of comprehensible input as it's currently applied in language classes.

Wait...what is Comprehensible Input again?

Study Abroad Trips Cancelled

For high school students studying a foreign language, the highlight of the year is often the study abroad trip to a country where that language is spoken.  It's very unfortunate that nearly all these trips were cancelled because of coronavirus, and will certainly not resume until 2021. 

So what can replace these study abroad trips? 

The odds are stacked against the teacher. The kids enter the classroom speaking all day in their native language and, no matter how hard the teacher tries, it's impossible to switch that off. Students also don't understand why they need to learn something they are never planning to use in their daily life. On top of it, English is much easier to learn compared to other languages that have conjugations. So, by the time an average US student wraps his mind around what conjugations really are, they are edging towards the tail end of the second year. In the end the one-to-many #classroom setting is not an effective way to learn a #foreign_language.