I’ve been learning Spanish for seven years. I’m now fluent and living in Lima, Peru where I speak it every day, and am preparing to take the C1 DELE exam in November.
All this to say, I have more experience researching, trying out, hating and loving Spanish resources than the average person. So to spare you the struggle, here are my top 10 favorite websites for learning Spanish—whether you’re a beginner, advanced or in exam prep like me.
Lengalia is one of my favorite Spanish websites and I still use it today for DELE exam prep.
It has grammar and vocabulary courses for all six of the CEFR levels, A1 through C2. There are also six Spanish business courses (including medical Spanish, presenting and negotiating, etc.), a pronunciation course, two vocabulary-only courses and more.
My favorite thing about these courses is that the lessons are insanely in-depth and provide more than enough practice exercises for you to really get the grammar point down.
Each lesson has a lesson objective and introduction. Then, there’s the grammar explanation—the part of the lesson that introduces you to the new concept and instructs you on all the ways to use it. Then comes the highlight of Lengalia—the practice exercises.
There are 2-3 pages of exercises, with roughly 10 exercises each. They’re mostly fill-in-the-blank exercises where you choose the correct answer from a dropdown. Next comes vocabulary drills, “communication” (where you learn colloquial phrases and sayings), reading comprehension, listening comprehension and dictation exercises.
Once you’ve completed all those exercises, you move on to the next lesson.
Finally, there’s an extensive test at the end of each course that gives you a certificate with the corresponding CEFR level if you pass.
I will say, Lengalia’s in-depth grammar style can be tedious. If you’re studying casually, don’t care about the DELE exam or don’t like intense grammar instruction, you might be better off with one of the more interactive, unstructured resources on this list.
StudySpanish.com is a free website full of grammar lessons. There are vocabulary and pronunciation lessons too—which are great if you’re really on a budget and need something free—but there’s no audio, example sentences or guided instruction. Just lists.
StudySpanish’s grammar section is the only high school Spanish resource I continued to use after graduating. There are nine units with 10-25 lessons each, and the topics range from beginner lessons—like noun gender, plural forms, articles, etc.—to advanced topics like the imperfect subjunctive.
You can follow the lessons one by one exactly as StudySpanish has them structured or use it as a grammar reference guide. For example, I started by skimming through the units and making a list of the grammar points I didn’t recognize. Then, I went through them based on which ones I felt were the most important for me.
Each lesson is a page of notes that includes an explanation of the rule, example sentences for each usage, and exceptions and irregularities when applicable. At the end, there’s a basic quiz, mini-test, two or three harder quizzes, a full test and a “final.”
Like Lengalia, you get plenty of practice before moving onto the next topic. But not so much that it’s intense and feels like homework. And since there’s no progress tracking—you don’t even need an account to use StudySpanish—you don’t feel any pressure to spend time taking quizzes if you don’t need them.
But the website is lacking in other areas. For example, there’s absolutely no content other than the text instruction (in English)—there are no videos, no audio, no dictation, nothing. So you’ll definitely need to supplement it with a more well-rounded resource.
FluentU is a video-based learning program that teaches Spanish through authentic videos that native speakers watch. Music videos, movie trailers, episodes from TV shows like the Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory, news clips, inspiring talks and more.
Each video comes with interactive subtitles, which means you can hover over words you don’t know the meaning of to instantly see the translation. Clicking on it brings you to a small page on the same screen with the word’s meaning, example sentences, a list of other videos where it’s used in context and the option to add it to one of your personalized flashcard decks.
To find videos to watch, you can filter by level (Beginner 1 to Advanced 2), video type and topic—such as health and lifestyle, history and culture, humor, food and more.
Once you’ve found a video, you’re shown a keyword list of new vocabulary, which includes audio pronunciations and the meaning of the words. And once you’ve finished watching, you take a quiz on the new vocab.
One of my favorite things about FluentU is the variety of content types and study formats available. Aside from watching videos, there’s structured course content that uses story dialogues to teach grammar and vocabulary. And there’s also a Netflix extension that lets you watch full-length TV shows and movies with the same interactive subtitle feature the website uses.
One potential downside is that while learning with FluentU videos can be as casual or intense as you want, the quizzes are super thorough—which might make them tedious and less attractive if you just want to dabble in Spanish or study for fun. They take you through tons of vocabulary so you understand as close to everything in the video as possible, which some students might just find unnecessary.
Preply is an online tutoring platform that lets you take one-on-one lessons with private Spanish teachers. As of August 2024, there are over 7,800 Spanish tutors alone.
You can create your own lesson plans with your tutor or choose to follow one of Preply’s pre-designed courses. And there are built-in practice tools you can use within the website, like flashcards, lesson notes and exercises for course lesson topics.
There are two ways to find a Preply tutor. Let Preply match you with a few based on your answers to their questions when you sign up, or search for them yourself using the many filters available. Filters let you set your price range—you can find tutors for as low as $4 per hour—country of birth, availability, teaching specialties (such as conversational Spanish, beginners, DELE prep, etc.) and more.
You first book a trial lesson with a tutor, which is refundable if you aren’t happy with the class. Once you’ve chosen one, you buy a subscription of a certain amount of hours based on how many classes you want to take each week.
Some people don’t like this and would rather pay by the lesson. But I love it. Having a balance of prepaid lessons keeps me motivated and encourages me to keep a consistent learning schedule instead of haphazardly scheduling lessons when I remember, “have the time” or want to spend money. I’ve studied with my Mexican Preply tutor for three years now and my Peruvian DELE prep tutor for a year and a half (we also ended up meeting in person when I started solo traveling Peru in 2023).
Memrise is a very well-known language learning app often compared to Duolingo, but it’s undergone lots of changes recently. It’s best known for teaching vocabulary through spaced repetition flashcards, but there are quite a few new features as well.
The Spanish course is broken down into seven levels, starting from Absolute Beginner and ending with Mastery. The homepage has an overview of your progress, including how long you have to go until you reach the next level. Underneath, there’s a box that shows how many new words you’ve learned, how many new videos you’ve watched and how many conversations you’ve had.
Unlike most programs, Memrise’s courses don’t follow a specific structure. You level up based on how many points you earn, which you earn through learning new words. To learn new words, you go to “Scenarios,” which brings you to a huge collection of mini-courses you can take. These include Activities, Education, Health, Opinions, Relationships and more.
Once you start a lesson, you learn the new vocabulary through drills that include translation, matching and listening exercises. Once you’ve completed enough exercises, Memrise marks the word as “learned.” From there, you continue to review your words using Memrise’s spaced repetition algorithm.
The videos and conversations are newer features. You can watch videos of native speakers based on your current level, which are followed by a comprehension quiz. And the conversations are had through a chatbot with AI.
Now, here’s the feature I use most. Memrise also has a community website where you can find user-created courses and make your own courses (which are basically flashcard decks). This was the old version of Memrise. I use it today (alongside Anki) to house my DELE exam prep flashcards.
Although I love Memrise for learning new vocab, there’s really no focus on grammar. So I wouldn’t recommend using it as your only resource. And the videos—while a great concept—are scripted, so they aren’t really authentic.
You can read more about Memrise in our in-depth review here:
Can you master a foreign language with Memrise? In this review, we’ll investigate how the Memrise program teaches languages and whether it’s worth the cost of a…
Pimsleur is an audio-based program that offers courses in over 50 languages. Their Spanish course has five levels total, and they offer separate courses for Castillian Spanish and Latin American Spanish.
Each lesson opens with a conversation between two native speakers—even the very first one. You won’t be able to understand it, but by the end of 30 minutes, you will.
After the conversation, the host guides you through each word and phrase by having you listen and repeat after the native speakers. He uses English to explain what they mean, but as the course progresses, the English becomes much less common.
Throughout the lesson, he revisits words you learned a few minutes prior and challenges you to use them in new ways, such as asking you to translate a sentence into Spanish that you haven’t heard before (but know the words).
Each lesson is 30 minutes each and there are 30 lessons per level. Since there are five levels, there are 150 lessons in total.
Pimsleur is an excellent choice if you’re busy and want something you can use on the go, or if you’re an auditory learner who prefers to start listening and speaking from day one. And the website does have extra features like flashcards and a reading guide if you want to use them. But if you’re more visual or prefer more traditional study, it’s probably not the program for you. If it’s caught your interest, I recommend checking out our full Pimsleur review here:
Is Pimsleur’s popular, audio-based language learning program right for you? I’ve put together an in-depth Pimsleur review to help you decide. Discover the pros and cons of…
Lingoda isn’t another tutoring website—it’s an online language school. You take group classes of no more than five people with teachers who follow a structured, professionally designed course.
They’re famous for their “Lingoda Sprint,” which is a two-month challenge where you take 15 or 30 classes per month. If you complete it successfully, you get 50% of your money back.
The courses are designed to correlate with the CEFR requirements, starting from level A1 and ending at level B2. Each of the levels is broken down into mini-courses with 13 “chapters.” For example, there’s B1.1, B1.2 and B1.3 before moving on to the B2.1 course.
Chapters are the lessons you complete by taking classes. Each chapter has a specific lesson topic, such as job interviews, talking about the past, the evolution of technology, etc. Before taking the class, you’re expected to read over the chapter material—a PDF that includes the new vocabulary, practice exercises and grammar notes when applicable.
Classes are an hour long and are very interactive—you’re encouraged to discuss the lesson material with your fellow students and the teacher. Classes are also immersive, meaning they’re 100% in Spanish.
Something I love about Lingoda is that there are classes available 24/7. The tutors come from all parts of Latin America and Spain, making it possible to find classes available in your timezone at almost any hour.
There are also options for one-on-one classes, but they’re more expensive. And while you’re encouraged to follow the same CEFR course structure, you can request that your tutor teach you a specific subject outside of the curriculum.
If you want a thoroughly structured pathway to Spanish proficiency with lots of support from native-speaking professionals, I highly recommend Lingoda. But if you’re more of an independent studier like me, it’s probably not your cup of tea and can feel stifling. Here’s our complete Lingoda review if you want to learn more:
Lingoda is an online language school that offers small group classes and one-on-one tutoring. This is my full Lingoda review. Learn the ins and outs of this online…
Dreaming Spanish uses a unique approach to teaching Spanish. Like FluentU, you learn by watching native-speaker videos in Spanish. But that’s all you do—literally.
Dreaming Spanish uses the comprehensible input method, a concept theorized by Stephen Krashen. It proposes that language should be acquired, not learned. And you acquire a language by consuming content slightly above your current level. “Learning” refers to traditional study methods like flashcards, quizzes, note taking, etc., and it’s highly discouraged in this method.
And if you’re wondering if this applies to absolute beginners as well, it does. Dreaming Spanish has tons of videos—and they continue to upload new videos on their website daily—for absolute beginners through advanced, fluent learners.
I wrote all about Dreaming Spanish and my experience with it in the detailed review you’ll find at the end of this section. But what I can say now is that even the newbie videos are incredibly engaging and despite being fluent in Spanish, I can see how they’d work for someone with no experience.
Dreaming Spanish has a series dedicated to each level: Superbeginner, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. The series is comprised of themed playlists. I still use Dreaming Spanish every once in a while because the videos are that entertaining. I’m almost finished with the “Relationship Problems” series hosted by two Mexican women and a talk show covering social issues hosted by an Argentine and Mexican speaker.
The progress tracker is one of my favorite features. There are seven levels to Dreaming Spanish, and you level up by compiling “watch hours”—how much time you’ve spent watching videos. For example, reaching level two takes 50 hours, level three takes 150, etc. Dreaming Spanish automatically adds time to your watch hours as you watch videos on the platform, but you can also manually add them if you’ve watched something on a different one, like YouTube or Netflix.
If you’re looking to learn Spanish the “ultra natural” way using comprehensible input, Dreaming Spanish is hands-down the resource for you. The only problem is that many people actually like traditional learning styles, and Dreaming Spanish strongly discourages any type of studying. Plus, even though you can argue that comprehensible input is more effective in the long run, it takes significantly longer to be able to have conversations in Spanish by just consuming content.
Here’s my Dreaming Spanish review I mentioned earlier:
Dreaming Spanish uses the comprehensible input method to teach you Spanish from zero to “native level fluency,” only using fun videos and no study tools. Click here to…
SpanishPod101 teaches Spanish through podcast and video lessons. There are thousands of them, and they continue to produce new content regularly.
You start by choosing a learning path. There are multiple, but taking a placement test or specifying your level when signing up lets SpanishPod101 recommend one to start. Learning paths are based on topics so you can easily choose something that you’re interested in—such as business, regional slang, expressing emotions, etc. There are also learning paths specifically focused on grammar and culture.
Aside from those, SpanishPod101 also has specialized learning paths for several Spanish dialects, including Peruvian Spanish, Costa Rican Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Castilian Spanish and more.
The lessons start with either a podcast or a video where you’re introduced to the new vocabulary and grammar. They’re normally pretty short, between 10-15 minutes. Then, you practice with the various study tools—quizzes, downloadable PDF lesson notes, audio reviews, lesson transcripts and grammar notes.
There are also several other features on SpanishPod101, and they have quite a few standalone resources, like their Top 2,000 Spanish Words list. There’s also a Word of the Day and a built-in dictionary.
Premium Plus members also have access to the “Live Spanish Tutor” resource. It’s 24/7 messaging access to a native Spanish tutor who can give you tips, correct your homework and answer your questions. There’s also an option to take private or group classes with your tutor.
That being said, you might find the lesson structure repetitive or that there’s too much focus on dialogues instead of having varied teaching methods. I recommend using SpanishPod101 as a supplementary resource, but not as a standalone one. I prefer something more structured, and there are so many learning pathways that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
If SpanishPod101 sounds like a resource you might want to use, I recommend learning more about it in this review here:
Are you thinking about using SpanishPod101? Read this review to deep dive into this program’s features, strengths and weaknesses (as well a full breakdown of pricing). If…
Glossika is unique in that it doesn’t teach you Spanish words—it teaches you sentences. The idea is that you learn Spanish naturally by learning small sentences rather than isolated words, and through them you pick up on grammar.
The sentences start out short in the beginning levels, normally two to three words long. There aren’t any lessons—instead, you have training sessions. Each session introduces you to five new sentences and you complete five repetitions for each one, so you do 25 reps total.
The reps are basically flashcards with native speaker audio. First, you hear and see the English, then the Spanish. If you do full-practice mode, you then write the Spanish sentence into the box and record yourself saying it.
You set a daily rep goal and a daily review goal. The reviews are the same as the training sessions, but instead of learning new sentences, you complete reps of the old ones. Glossika uses a spaced repetition system, so the reviews only make you do reps for the sentences you’re close to forgetting.
Something I loved when using Glossika was that the progress tracking was super detailed. It keeps track of your study hours, how many reps and reviews you’ve done in total, how many times you’ve reached your goals and how many sentences you’ve learned.
The only drawback is that it gets very repetitive. All you’re doing is completing sentence reps, and I found myself dozing off a few times if I did too much. So I’d suggest only studying for 15-30 minutes. There’s also no grammar instruction, so if you like studying grammar (like me), you’ll need to supplement it with another resource.
I also wrote a review of Glossika while I was using the program, which you can find here:
Glossika uses spaced repetition and sentence training to teach vocabulary and grammar as naturally as possible. Click here to read my honest Glossika review after using it…
These are some of the most tried-and-true websites, many of which I still use today as an advanced speaker in DELE prep.
Try out your favorites and experiment. Once you’ve found two to three, you’ll have a solid Spanish resource collection that can take you far.
Honorable Mentions
Here are a few more Spanish websites that I found helpful. I’d recommend using these as supplemental resources when you want something different or want to consult a different source.
Duolingo. Duolingo uses a “skill tree” to introduce vocabulary and grammar rules through a series of entertaining quizzes, building to more advanced skills as you go. It has a gamified approach to language learning and offers a rather straightforward and fun way to learn Spanish. You may already be familiar with the app, though its website platform and its online language forums are also helpful. See our full Duolingo review here.
Mango Languages. Mango Languages is a self-paced course that uses algorithms to individually tailor learning material for each learner. Lessons are a blend of listening and reading activities that focus on conversational mastery by demonstrating how things are actually applied. Memory-building exercises, grammar notes and critical-thinking activities all help learners build strong language skills. Cultural notes enhance the experience and provide idioms and insights that make the language come alive. Read our full Mango Languages review here.
Babbel. Babbel is a great app for anyone just starting a new language, with content that can provide a solid foundation for later learning. However, the app is limited in its scope, not offering much for intermediate and advanced learners, despite its promises to teach “language for life.” Read our full Babbel review here.
Busuu. Busuu is a language learning program that encourages you to develop all your language skills—speaking, listening, reading and writing—at once. For example, it has a speech recognition tool that helps you improve your speaking skills just using your phone. There’s a desktop version with an easy-to-use interface. Of course, you can download the app for your iOS and Android devices. Busuu also provides offline lessons so you can download them to study without an internet connection. Read our full Busuu review here.
Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone has been a language learning giant since the 1990s. Today, it continues its legacy with an updated interface and streamlined instruction, but sometimes falls short of providing a comprehensive language learning experience. Read our full review of Rosetta Stone here.
Rocket Languages. Rocket Languages promises to teach you to talk “just like locals do.” We can assume that this means we’ll learn through authentic conversations in Spanish, and that there will be targeted pronunciation exercises throughout each course. The program also claims you will “learn how the language actually works.” This means that the program also includes explicit grammar instruction. Read our full review of Rocket Languages here.
BBC Spanish. The British Broadcasting Company, renowned for its international news coverage, is also pretty great at providing language learning content. All the content on BBC Spanish is free to use and it includes a lot of Spanish language culture, fun video aspects and plenty of reading material.
MosaLingua. MosaLingua is a simple but effective Spanish learning website with over 3,500 flashcards featuring the language’s most used words. Because the site only teaches vocabulary, it should be thought of as an add-on to another language learning website that covers grammar and culture more explicitly.
123TeachMe. 123TeachMe offers a selection of free Spanish learning materials. It’s a great resource for consistent Spanish practice that you can use every day, either for focused study or just to get in a few minutes of practice in your downtime. You’ll find self-study courses covering everything from basic survival Spanish to dental Spanish. There’s also a massive selection of verb conjugation charts, tests, quizzes, a word of the day, a phrase of the day and a verb of the day.
ProfedeELE. ProfeDeELE is full of diverse content for all learning levels. Materials include songs, podcasts, lectures and videos and are separated to conform with those levels as laid out in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Cultural activities are part of the program, as well, and there are quizzes to help learners keep track of how their language learning is progressing. ProfeDeELA is a comprehensive option for learners, especially those who appreciate a clear-cut method for starting from beginner and moving onward.
Coffee Break Spanish. What’s really enticing about this website is the invitation to sit down with a coffee as you learn Spanish. The website’s easy-to-follow sessions also add to its appeal and are well worth checking out. Some of the resources on the website are free, including the two-minute challenges and the podcast. If you’re looking to properly immerse yourself in Spanish with this site you’ll at least need the low-cost subscription. This will include audio and video lessons with notes to help develop your Spanish in an organized and fun way. Read our full Coffee Break Spanish review here.
University of Texas. Starting at the beginner level and progressing through to advanced and superior, the University of Texas’ Spanish Proficiency Exercises page has activities organized by task. Each task includes videos, grammar, vocabulary, phrases and a podcast. The tasks all have some kind of language focus. Some are about describing things or situations, and others are grammar-based, like using conditionals to talk about hypothetical situations. There are also functional language tasks, such as booking a reservation or making a complaint. The website layout is somewhat dense and decidedly plain, but the material is high-quality and very structured.
Speaking Latino. Speaking Latino is a teacher and student resource site aimed at real-life and authentic Spanish learning. Grouped by country, this site has a ton of resources to learn slang and general vocabulary, and it includes articles, books, videos, websites, podcasts and more. By noting the differences in Spanish between countries, you will have a better idea of how different types of Spanish speakers communicate.
SpanishDictionary.com. Besides functioning as a Spanish dictionary and translator, SpanishDict also has plenty of useful learning resources. There are mini grammar lessons and curated vocabulary lists with quizzes. The grammar lessons include teaching videos and review exercises that are primarily in fill-in-the-blank format. Conveniently, the questions also include audio snippets spoken by native speakers. The vocabulary quizzes ask you to translate words (with included visual guides) into their Spanish counterparts.
Conjuguemos. Conjuguemos has a ton of fun interactive activities for conjugation, vocabulary and grammar practice. The platform was actually designed to be a classroom aid, with graded quizzes, flashcards and games aligning with popular Spanish learner textbooks. The free account gives you access to plenty of comprehensive exercises that will keep you occupied for a long time. Conjuguemos also allows you to download helpful charts and notes for your convenience.
Fluencia. Fluencia guides you seamlessly through an expansive amount of learning, beginning with a quiz to start you off at the right level. From there, it’ll have you focusing on specific areas that you’re interested in or need help with. Most of the process is based on translating exercises, but they are well thought out. There’s a monthly subscription fee once you reach a certain level, but the site’s simplicity, quality and encouraging messages seem to make it worthwhile.
Amauta. Amauta is a Latin American Spanish school. Its website is one of the few offering level testing in Latin American Spanish, although its exams only cover beginning through intermediate levels. The level tests are purely grammatical. However, the website does have online learning exercises for all levels—including advanced—with games, vocabulary, idioms and more, as well as information on a range of Latin American recipes, music and literature.
Cervantes. Cervantes is another Spain-based school with rigorous online testing. The testing format is easy to navigate and modern, though heavy on grammar, and you have to start at the first out of five levels and see how far you get. The Cervantes system has a strong reputation for quality teaching and its tests match that.
Polly Lingual. Polly Lingual offers beginner through advanced Spanish courses in addition to specific courses on grammar, travel, business and medicine. Lessons are grouped thematically, so it’s easy to pick and choose the topics that are most relevant to you. Polly Lingual also offers different exercises to practice lesson content such as crossword puzzles, conjugation trainers, and reviews. Plus, Polly Lingual also offers affordable tutoring with native Spanish speakers.
Learn Practical Spanish Online. Practical Spanish offers beginner through advanced Spanish lessons that focus on Latin American Spanish. You’ll learn vocabulary and grammar rules ranging from beginning topics like possessive pronouns to intermediate topics like the subjunctive. The lessons provide written tutorials as well as audio to help you absorb native-speaker pronunciation. Practical Spanish also offers e-books for purchase that come with recordings. There are options for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners.
Brooke Bagley Last updated: 
