Use Speak Better Spanish if you want to speak with a real person: live one-to-one coaching with a plan, a coach who corrects you, and a recording and notes after every session. Pick StoryLearning’s self-paced story courses, like Spanish Uncovered, to build understanding. Coaching costs more per hour, at $81 to $90. See all our comparisons, or read Speak Better Spanish vs Coffee Break Spanish.
Speak Better Spanish vs StoryLearning (Olly Richards) at a glance
| StoryLearning | Speak Better Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Spanish Uncovered Level 1 is $297 once, with a 7-day free trial. The Gold Bundle of 6 levels is $997. | $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 | Self-paced story courses with video lessons and a private community. A separate VIP coaching cohort is priced on a call. | Live one-to-one coaching on Zoom: 60-minute coaching sessions or 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions. |
| Approach | Self-paced story courses. | 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 | Olly Richards’ StoryLearning team, through recorded lessons. | A small team of three coaches: Hannah (19+ years teaching), Arturo and Jacky. Package hours work with any of them. |
| Spanish taught | Audio in Castilian (Spain) and Latin American Spanish. | Real-life Mexican Spanish, built around your goals. |
| Speaking practice | None live in the courses. VIP coaching adds 1:1 sessions. | The whole session is you speaking with a coach about your life, your goals and a topic you choose. |
| Guarantee | 365-day money-back guarantee on Spanish Uncovered; 30 days on the bundles. | Full refund if you are not fully satisfied, as long as you tell us within 28 days. |
| Plan before you pay | No personal plan from a person. You choose what to study. | 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 | No coach on the self-paced courses. A separate VIP coaching cohort is priced on a call. | Yes. Hannah, Arturo and Jacky, so you hear more than one accent without starting over with a stranger. |
| Notes and recording after every session | Not listed. | Yes. The recording, your notes, your vocabulary and your practice, by email after every session. |
| Support between sessions | A private community. | Yes. Email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it. |
| Immersion trips | Not listed. | Yes. Small-group trips in Mexico hosted by Hannah, where you use Spanish in real situations every day. |
| Included with packages | Not listed. | 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 | Not in the courses. A separate VIP coaching cohort adds one-to-one sessions, priced on a call. | 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 enjoy stories and studying on their own. | Adults who want to actually speak Spanish, with a plan, the same small team of coaches and help between sessions. |
StoryLearning details come from its own website, checked October 24, 2026: Spanish Uncovered page; Spanish Gold Bundle; StoryLearning VIP coaching. Prices and policies can change, so check their site before you buy. Our prices are on the pricing page.
Is StoryLearning enough to speak Spanish?
Stories are a great way to take in lots of Spanish, and the courses are well made. Reading and listening build understanding. Speaking still needs a person who asks you something and waits for your answer.
How to use StoryLearning and coaching together
Read a chapter during the week. Then tell your coach what happened in your own words, or talk about your own week. Your coach corrects you, and your notes and recording show what to review next.
Coaching vs self-study
StoryLearning is mostly self-study, so you set the plan and the pace. Coaching adds what self-study can’t: a person who listens to you, corrects you and plans what comes next.
What working with Speak Better Spanish looks like
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- After every session you get the recording, your notes, the vocabulary from your own conversation and your practice for the week, by email.
- Between sessions you can email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it.
- 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.
- 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: “Spanish became part of my real life long before it became my business.” (Hannah, About Hannah)
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 437 YouTube comments and 95,086 search queries found that learners search for single words, but when they stop to comment, they ask which word a real Mexican would use.
Why the cheaper option can cost more
StoryLearning costs far less than a coach, and it does its job well. The hidden cost is time. It is easy to spend months on lessons and videos and still freeze when someone talks to you, because nothing in self-study makes you answer a real person. A few planned hours with a coach can save you a lot of those months.
What our students say
“…allowed me to customize my learning with personalized lessons.”
Colleen Wysocki, Google review
“All three of my teachers, Hannah, Arturo, and Jacky are excellent and bringing their own style to our lessons…”
Leisa Canter, Google review
Who should choose StoryLearning
- You enjoy stories and reading.
- You want a self-paced course you own.
- You like a long money-back window.
Who should choose Speak Better Spanish
- You understand a lot when you read but freeze when you speak.
- You want to speak with a real person who corrects you kindly.
- 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 our guide to passive listening in Spanish.
Frequently asked questions
How much does StoryLearning Spanish cost?
Spanish Uncovered Level 1 is $297 once, with a 7-day free trial. The Spanish Gold Bundle of 6 levels is $997.
Does StoryLearning include a live teacher?
The courses are self-paced. StoryLearning also has a separate VIP coaching cohort, priced on a call.
Is Speak Better Spanish more expensive than StoryLearning?
Yes, if you compare live help. StoryLearning’s courses are self-paced and do not include a live coach. 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.
Can I use both?
Yes. Use stories for input and coaching to speak.
Which is better for a nervous adult learner?
Reading is low pressure. 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 StoryLearning.
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