Tonight it finally happened: our very first Spanish lesson through italki. We’ve been working on our Spanish for a while now, in all sorts of ways, but this felt like a new step. Real lessons with a real teacher — no games, no cartoon owl. That appealed to us.

Our learning journey so far

But let me go back to the beginning. This isn’t our first encounter with Spanish. We spent a year taking classes at the local adult education centre — a solid foundation, classroom-based and structured. After that, we gave Duolingo a go for half a year, until we realised we’d been learning Latin American Spanish. Not quite what we had in mind.

These days we use Busuu, and we genuinely get a lot out of it. The app also offers AI conversations, which is great for practice — though it does sometimes cause confusion at home. You think someone is calling you, but they’re just sitting there practising with the app. Picture someone calling out “Hola, ¿cómo estás?” across the room and nobody even looks up.

Busuu is great for vocabulary and grammar, but something was still missing when it came to actually speaking. We had also considered going to the language school in Lugo, but that turned out to be less practical than we’d thought. Nearly an hour’s drive, twice a week, for two hours of class — before you know it, you’ve lost an entire day. We’d rather spend that time on the learning itself. And honestly, once you factor in fuel costs and travel time, the price difference with online lessons isn’t that significant. Now we can just have our lesson from the kitchen. That’s a different story altogether.

So, italki. It’s an online platform where you can take one-on-one language lessons with native speakers and professional teachers from around the world. You choose a teacher that suits your level and goals, agree on a time, and the lesson takes place over a video call. You pay per lesson, no mandatory subscription.

There are two types of teachers: professional teachers with a formal qualification, and community tutors — native speakers without formal training, but often more affordable and focused on everyday conversation. For Spanish, there’s a huge range of teachers available, from Spain, Mexico, Colombia and beyond.

The lesson itself

Our teacher turned out to be no-nonsense from the start. No lengthy introductions or lengthy explanations of how the platform works — we just got stuck in. I appreciated that. It didn’t feel like a trial lesson where you get shown around for half an hour, but like a proper lesson.

We learned something straight away. Small things, but concrete and useful. Exactly how you want it: by the end of the lesson, you’ve actually got something to take away.

Why italki and not just an app?

Apps are useful as a supplement, but they don’t really teach you to speak. italki does. You talk, you make mistakes, and you get immediate feedback from someone who knows the language inside out. That’s a completely different level of learning.

Another nice feature: you can filter by learning goal. Whether you want to learn business Spanish, prepare for a trip, or simply become fluent in conversation — there’s a teacher for every purpose.

What I’m taking away from this

The first lesson has left me enthusiastic. The hurdle — logging in for the first time, choosing a teacher, actually starting the lesson — is behind us now. And that’s perhaps the most important thing about a first lesson: you know what it feels like, and it’s easier than you expected.

To be continued. ¡Hasta la próxima!