Speak Better Spanish vs Local Spanish Classes

Speak Better Spanish is better if you want one-to-one coaching with a plan, the same small team of coaches, and a recording and notes after every session, at $81 to $90 an hour. Local classes, at a community college, adult education program or language school, suit people who like a classroom, a set course and classmates. Prices vary by school. See all our comparisons, or read Speak Better Spanish vs a Language Exchange.

Speak Better Spanish vs Local Spanish Classes at a glance

	Local Spanish Classes	Speak Better Spanish
Price	Varies by school and city. Check your local community college, adult education program or language school.	$90 for a 60-minute coaching session or $50 for 30 minutes. Packages of 12, 24 or 48 hours bring it down to $85.50, $83.25 or $81 an hour.
Format	Usually a group class in a classroom, on a set schedule.	Live one-to-one coaching on Zoom: 60-minute coaching sessions or 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions.
Approach	Teaching. A teacher works through a set course with the whole group.	Coaching. A free Roadmap Session sets your plan before you pay, every session has a job, and the same three coaches get to know you.
Who teaches	A teacher hired by the school.	A small team of three coaches: Hannah (19+ years teaching), Arturo and Jacky. Package hours work with any of them.
Speaking time	Shared with everyone in the class.	The whole session is you speaking with a coach about your life, your goals and a topic you choose.
Plan	The same course plan for everyone in the class.	You start with a free Roadmap Session that maps your level and goals. Each session is built around your goals and a topic you choose, in real-life Mexican Spanish.
Plan before you pay	Up to the school.	Yes. A free Roadmap Session maps your goals, your level and what holds you back, and your written plan comes by email the same day. No payment info needed.
Same coaches who know you	Usually one teacher for the course, shared with the class.	Yes. Hannah, Arturo and Jacky, so you hear more than one accent without starting over with a stranger.
Notes and recording after every session	Up to the teacher.	Yes. The recording, your notes, your vocabulary and your practice, by email after every session.
Support between sessions	Up to the teacher.	Yes. Email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it.
Money-back guarantee	Up to the school.	Full refund if you are not fully satisfied, as long as you tell us within 28 days.
Immersion trips	Depends on the school.	Yes. Small-group trips in Mexico hosted by Hannah, where you use Spanish in real situations every day.
Included with packages	Depends on the school.	The recording, your notes and your practice after every session, email support between sessions, certificates as your sessions add up, and a free workbook. 24-hour and 48-hour packages also get a free 30-minute session in your birthday month. The 48-hour package also gets 10% off immersion trips, group workshops and add-ons.
30-minute conversation sessions	Rarely. Most local classes are groups on a set schedule, and you share the speaking time.	Yes. 30 minutes in Spanish with Hannah, Arturo or Jacky, and you get the recording and your notes after. Sessions use the same package hours as coaching. We have held more than 1,000 since 2017.
Best for	Learners who like a classroom, a fixed schedule and meeting classmates in person.	Adults who want to actually speak Spanish, with a plan, the same small team of coaches and help between sessions.

This page describes local classes in general, so it quotes no outside prices or policies. Prices, schedules and policies vary, so check with the school before you pay. Our prices are on the pricing page.

Are local classes better than online coaching?

They can be, if you learn best in a room with other people. A class gives you structure, a teacher and classmates. The tradeoff is speaking time. In a group, each student gets a small share of it, and the class moves at the group’s pace, not yours.

Coaching vs classes

A class works through the same material with everyone. Coaching starts with a different question: what is stopping you from speaking, and what plan gets you past it?

What about price?

We did not compare prices on this page, because local class prices vary too much. A group class splits the teacher’s time, so it can cost less per hour than one-to-one coaching. The tradeoff is that the hour is shared, and it follows the course, not your goals. If you like learning with other people, we also run small group conversation classes on Zoom, with a maximum of 8 students and one topic per series. See the pricing page for both.

What working with Speak Better Spanish looks like

1. You book a free Roadmap Session on Zoom. There is no payment info and no commitment. We look at your goals, your level and what is holding you back.
2. Your written plan comes by email the same day. It shows where you are, where you are going and the best next step. Some people take the plan and keep going on their own, and that is fine.
3. If you go ahead, you pick a coach and a time: a 60-minute coaching session built around a topic you choose, or a 30-minute Spanish-only conversation session.
4. Every session starts with something you are celebrating, and you speak from the first session. Your coach corrects you in the moment and tells you why.
5. After every session you get the recording, your notes, the vocabulary from your own conversation and your practice for the week, by email.
6. Between sessions you can email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it.
7. You keep working with the same three coaches, and every session is recorded and written up, so nobody starts from zero and nothing you learn gets lost.
8. If it is not right for you, tell us within 28 days for a full refund.

Hannah founded Speak Better Spanish, and she is not a native speaker. She learned Spanish herself, first in school and then by living in Spain and Mexico, so she has been where you are. In her words: “I’m a non-native Spanish speaker who started from scratch.” (Hannah, on our YouTube channel)

Our 30-minute conversation sessions

Most intermediate adults understand more Spanish than they can say. Our 30-minute conversation sessions are for that gap. You talk with Hannah, Arturo or Jacky in Spanish about your own life: your week, a trip, your work, your family. Your coach keeps you talking, helps when you get stuck and corrects the mistakes that matter, without turning it into a grammar class. You get the recording and your notes afterward. Sessions use the same package hours as 60-minute coaching, so many students take a coaching hour one week and a conversation session the next. We have held more than 1,000 of these sessions since 2017. A session is $50 on its own, and less with a package. See how conversation sessions work.

What you only get at Speak Better Spanish

• Three ways to practice with the same coaches: 60-minute coaching, 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions (free-flowing or themed, with one small thing to practice and nothing to hand in), and small group conversation classes on Zoom with at most 8 students. Each series has one topic, Mexican culture is part of every class, and every class is recorded.
• Coaches based in Mexico who teach the Spanish people there speak every day. The whole team is bilingual: Hannah, Arturo and Jacky all speak English and Spanish, so beginners can ask questions in English.
• Immersion trips in Mexico hosted by Hannah, like the La Paz trip, where you use your Spanish in real situations every day.
• A free library for the days between sessions, made by the same team: our blog, YouTube channel, podcast and free Spanish Starter Pack.
• Research from our own lessons. Our study of 1,896 one-to-one lessons found that the first class decides most of it: 13.4% of adults never took a second class, and 77.1% of those who reached a fifth went on to ten or more.

What our students say

“I took classes in high school, and later in adult school, but never felt that I was making much progress.”

david wilson, Google review

“I’ve tried apps, textbooks, and other classes, but nothing compares to the personalized approach here.”

Cody McLain, Google review

Who should choose a local class

• You learn best in a classroom with other people.
• You like a fixed weekly schedule.
• You want a course that counts toward a certificate or credit at that school.

Who should choose Speak Better Spanish

• You want every minute of speaking time to be yours.
• You need sessions that fit a busy schedule, on Zoom.
• You want a plan before you pay, from a free Roadmap Session.
• You want a recording, notes and practice after every session, and someone to email between sessions.

See how our coaching works, read what students say (19+ years teaching, founded in 2014, 3,300+ live sessions coached, 5.0 on Google), or read why you freeze when someone speaks Spanish to you.

Frequently asked questions

Are local Spanish classes cheaper than Speak Better Spanish?

Often, per hour, because a group class splits the teacher’s time. Prices vary by school, so check with the one near you. Speak Better Spanish costs $90 for a 60-minute coaching session or $50 for 30 minutes, and packages bring it down to $81 to $85.50 an hour.

Is Speak Better Spanish coaching or classes?

Coaching. A class usually works through material. A coach looks at what is stopping you from speaking, builds a plan around your goals and guides real conversation practice. You start with a free Roadmap Session, every session has a job, and you get the recording, notes and practice afterward, plus email support between sessions.

Does Speak Better Spanish have group classes?

Yes. We run small group conversation classes on Zoom, with a maximum of 8 students and one topic per series.

Can I take a local class and coaching at the same time?

Yes. Many learners use a class for structure and coaching for speaking. Bring what you learned in class to your session and practice saying it out loud.

Which is better for a nervous adult learner?

Some nervous learners find it hard to speak up in front of a class. Our coaching is built for adults who feel nervous speaking: mistakes are expected, nobody puts you on the spot, and the free Roadmap Session sets a plan before you spend anything.

Start with a free Roadmap Session

If your goal is to speak Spanish, this is the place to start. Book a free Roadmap Session. In one Zoom call we look at your goals, your level and what is holding you back, and your written plan comes by email the same day. It is free, with no commitment and no payment info. You leave with a plan, and it can include a local class.

Book your free Roadmap Session