Quick Access:
- For beginners: Butterfly Spanish, Babbel, Language Tutor, Dreaming in Spanish
- Grammar & Vocab: U. Poli de València, U. of California, Grammar Book
- Specials: Street Interviews, Coffee Break Spanish Podcast, Language Transfer Audio Lessons
Are you interested in learning Spanish but don’t know where to start? Well, you’re in luck! In today’s world, being bilingual can give you a competitive edge, and Spanish is one of the most popular languages to learn. With almost 500 million native Spanish speakers worldwide, it’s a language that’s both useful and fascinating to learn.
With the internet, you can now learn Spanish from home, even for free! Whether you’re a complete beginner or an intermediate learner, there are plenty of online courses available, from YouTube tutorials to university-level courses and podcasts.
In this Best Courses Guide (BCG), I’ll provide you with a comprehensive list of courses that are perfect for those just starting or those looking to improve their skills further with authentic material. So, let’s get started on your Spanish learning journey!
Click on the shortcuts for more details:
Here are our top picks
Learning Guides
Courses Overview
- Almost all courses are free or free to audit
- 1 course offers a free certificate of completion
- The Spanish subject is followed by 7.7K learners on Class Central
- The most featured provider is YouTube with 4 courses.
Best Spanish Course for Beginners on YouTube (Butterfly Spanish)
In Beginner Spanish, Spanish Level 1, A1, B1 by Butterfly Spanish, you will learn the fundamentals of Spanish with an engaging instructor: Ana. In this series, you will learn about grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, tips & tricks, and cultural aspects of the language.
This course is divided into 21 videos of about 5 to 30 minutes each, with over 4 hours of total workload. You will learn by watching the instructor and taking notes for yourself. However, please note that this course does not provide any reading materials or quizzes.
The Most Comprehensive Course for Beginners on YouTube (Language Tutor)
Spanish Lessons for Beginner Learners is a comprehensive course by the Language Tutor channel with Danny Evans. This course will teach you what you need to get started with Spanish and become a confident communicator in the language. The course covers pronunciation, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, tenses, and conversation. Students will also learn about pronouns, verbs, adjectives, contractions, and more.
The course is divided into 128 bite-sized lessons, totaling 23 hours of workload. You will learn by watching the instructor and taking notes for yourself. To assist you in your learning journey, you can download study guides from The Language Tutor website.
Some fun facts about this course:
- You can listen to Danny Evans’ podcast and learn Spanish on the go
- Danny served in the US Marine Corps and took part in Operation Desert Storm. After the war, he began college to major in music but later switched to Spanish Education.
Best Tutor-Based Spanish Lessons (Preply)
With personalized lessons from an individual tutor via Preply, reach your goals and improve your fluency more quickly than following a standard course. Choose your preferred tutor by watching their video clip, reading their bio, and student reviews. And with the lesson insights feature, see how much you spoke during each lesson, review key grammar and vocabulary, and receive guidance on what to focus on next.
Why I Like it
I love the personal connection with the tutor, and you can try a few different tutors until you find the right one. Lessons can be entirely in Spanish or choose a tutor that speaks your language for extra support.
Drawbacks
Can be more expensive than pre-recorded courses.
Who it’s for
Learners at any stage. Choose a tutor and receive lessons to suit your Spanish level.
| Provider | Preply |
| Tutors | 11,700+ |
| Rating | 4.8 (on the app store) |
| Cost | Paid |
| Quizzes/Assessment Items | Yes |
| Certificate | Not available |
Best Platform for Goal-Oriented Learning (Babbel)
If you want to learn Spanish through structured, bite-sized, and interactive lessons (including conversational practice), Babbel is the way to go. It has 225+ hours of Spanish lessons, and you can choose your current level and your goal (general conversations, workplace communication, and more).
I chose to learn conversational Spanish, and the lessons were digestible and had real-world communication scenarios. Babbel combines listening, speaking, and writing, so I could grasp the language well. The interface is clean, and the visual cues make learning and retention easier. It explains grammatical rules and cultural references, which help with understanding the population as well.
While the first lesson is free, you’ll need a paid subscription to continue. Babbel has plans ranging from monthly to lifetime access, based on your learning goals.
Best Collection of Authentic Material in Spanish for All Levels (Dreaming in Spanish)
Dreaming Spanish provides a collection of playlists with authentic materials for all levels to practice listening skills and increase vocabulary with real situations, different accents, and a variety of topics. Their content is 100% in Spanish, so if you are a complete beginner, you might find it difficult to follow.
There are four main categories to start learning according to your level:
- Superbeginner Dreaming Spanish (80 videos)
- Beginner Dreaming Spanish (263 videos)
- Intermediate Dreaming Spanish (266 videos)
- Advanced Dreaming Spanish (75 videos).
This course provides over 900 bite-sized, 5- to 10-minute videos. You will learn by watching the instructor discuss a topic. For the most basic levels, you will receive clear instructions and visual aids to follow along, and it gets more challenging as you progress. You can also browse their videos through their own platform and sort them by level, dialect, instructor, and topics at www.dreamingspanish.com.
Authentic Interviews in Spanish for Advanced Learners (Easy Spanish)
Easy Spanish – Learn Spanish from the Streets! by Easy Languages provides hours of authentic Spanish interviews from the streets of Spain, Mexico, and Argentina. You will have the opportunity to practice your listening skills and increase your vocabulary with real people answering questions on various topics, with subtitles to help you follow along.
This series of interviews covers a variety of topics, from politics to holidays, food, sports, cultural differences of Spanish-speaking countries, and more.
The course is divided into 265 bite-sized videos, with a total of over 32 hours of material. You will learn by watching the interviews, taking notes of new vocabulary, and practicing it whenever possible.
Best University-level Spanish Course for Beginners (Universitat Politècnica de València)
The free-to-audit courses from the Universitat Politècnica de València cover a broad range of topics related to the Spanish language. Students will learn about pronunciation, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, tenses, and conversation, with a focus on work life, family life, city life, and outdoor life.
You will learn with various tools, including videos, texts, audios, glossaries, quizzes, and grammar cards, as well as opportunities for oral practice with other students. Students can monitor their progress through performance tests and a final achievement test (paid). Additionally, the course offers recommendations for external internet resources to continue learning Spanish. By completing the three courses, you will have an A2 proficiency level (elementary).
This course has also been featured in The Best Free Online Courses of All Time.
Great University-level Spanish Vocabulary Course for Beginner (University of California)
The Learn Spanish: Basic Spanish Vocabulary specialization by the University of California is intended for beginners who wish to learn Spanish for personal, travel, or business purposes, or to build cultural awareness. The course uses a topical approach to develop vocabulary sets that will provide a foundation for a broad understanding of the language.
You will start with the basics of pronunciation, grammar, and common expressions, then progress to building a functional vocabulary of the 1500 most commonly used Spanish words. The specialization comprises 4 free-to-audit courses that progressively build on previous skills, followed by a project that allows learners to apply their knowledge and language skills.
- Course 1: Spanish Vocabulary: Meeting People
- Course 2: Spanish Vocabulary: Cultural Experience
- Course 3: Spanish Vocabulary: Sports, Travel, and the Home
- Course 4: Spanish Vocabulary: Careers and Social Events
- Course 5: Spanish Vocabulary Project.
Great University-level Cultural Spanish Course (The Open University)
In Getting Started with Spanish 1 course by The Open University, with a free certificate, you will learn the basics of Spanish with greetings, pronunciation practice, and the most essential verbs. This course will also teach you some cultural differences between Spanish-speaking countries.
You’ll learn the vowels through listening and speaking practice. You’ll also learn the pronunciation of the ‘h’ consonant and how to greet people at different times of the day. The second week will cover how to introduce yourself, formal and informal forms of address, giving information about the people you are introducing, and the intonation of questions.
After completing this course, you can jump right into the next one in this series: Getting started with Spanish 2 where you will learn how to tell time and the present tense of regular verbs, and finally, Getting started with Spanish 3 where you will learn vocabulary for events, tone and intonation, telephone expressions, and different phrases for Spain and Chile.
The Open University has other Spanish courses for intermediate and advanced learners:
- Intermediate Spanish: Understanding spoken Spanish
- Advanced Spanish: Art in Buenos Aires
- Advanced Spanish: Arts and crafts
- Advanced Spanish: Language in context.
Best Audio-based Course (Coffee Break Spanish)
The Coffee Break Spanish Podcast by Coffee Break Languages is a high-quality podcast that is divided into seasons based on your language level. It’ll provide you with everything you need to prepare for your next trip to Spain. The episodes are the perfect length to listen to while you’re doing the dishes or going for a walk. The podcast covers a wide variety of topics from food to travel and even soap operas. All of the lessons are very practical, so you can communicate in real-life scenarios after just a few lessons.
Each season consists of 40 episodes, each 20 minutes long, with over 50 hours of material in total. Coffee Break Spanish also offers a premium (paid) version of the podcast that includes additional materials such as lesson notes, transcripts, and bonus audio.
The platform offers four main seasons of Spanish learning:
- Season 1 teaches the basics of Spanish for communication purposes
- Season 2 focuses on constructing language with an emphasis on verbs, conjugation, reflexive verbs, adjectives, and tenses
- Season 3 involves cultural relevance and learning Spanish through various topics such as holidays, travel, and music
- Season 4 is the most advanced level, mostly in Spanish, covering idiomatic expressions, grammar, and vocabulary.
Some other series on this platform are also worth checking out: The Coffee Break Spanish Magazine and CBS Travel Diaries (for intermediate learners).
The Most Recommended Audio-based Course on Reddit (Language Transfer)
The Complete Spanish course by Language Transfer is one of the most recommended audio courses on Reddit. It focuses on teaching the foundations of Spanish using the Thinking Method, which is an approach to language learning that emphasizes the importance of developing a thinking process while learning a language, rather than just memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules.
This course is divided into 90 lessons, each 7 to 15 minutes long, with over 14 hours’ worth of material. You will learn by listening to the instructor and a learner talking about a specific aspect of the Spanish language while discussing its Latin roots and how it compares to English.
Additional Resources
Having support from a strong community can really help us in our language learning journey. The r/Spanish community on Reddit is a very active and supportive community, and they also have an awesome wiki full of learning resources. There is quite a handful of things to check out, but I’m going to share my personal favorites:
- In Basic Spanish Vocabulary by Spanish Playground, you will learn basic conversations in a soap opera format
- Spanish Listening Comprehension for Advanced Learners by SpanishPod101 provides listening exercises for advanced learners in a variety of topics
- Learn Spanish Grammar at StudySpanish.com is my go-to free online Spanish grammar textbook.
If you have any other recommendations, please leave a comment below.
Why You Should Trust Us
Class Central, a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 100 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 250,000 online courses and 250,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.
How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them
Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how I approached this task.
First, I combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid open courses, some with certificates. You don’t need to enroll in a university to learn Spanish.
When choosing courses, I considered the following factors:
- Renowned Institutions: I looked for recognized institutions in Spanish
- Instructor experience: I sought instructors with extensive experience in Spanish and engaging presentation styles
- Popularity: I checked numbers of enrollments and views to find popular courses
- Course content: I examined courses that covered a range of topics and presentation styles, including the basics and more advanced topics. I watched some course videos to sample courses I hadn’t already taken
- Learner reviews: I read learner reviews (when available) to get a sense of the quality of each course, leveraging the Class Central database with its thousands of course ratings and reviews written by our users as well as available course provider reviews.
- Then, I defined the scope for these recommendations. A Spanish course can cover various topics, so I chose top courses from a range of sub-fields.
Ultimately, I used a combination of data and my own judgment to make these picks. I’m confident these recommendations will be a reliable way to learn Spanish.
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