I Speak French Daily… So Why Am I Still Taking Lessons? (Preply Review)

Last Updated on 29th June 2026 by Sophie Nadeau

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No matter your age, language learning can end up being somewhat of a daunting experience. You may lack confidence, pronunciation can be a constant stumbling block, and it’s easy to forget important vocabulary (not to mention the ever present and dangerous false friends)!

Enter: Preply, an online learning platform focused on one-to-one learning, where flexibility is built into the strategy and learning is designed around your personal needs rather than a one-size-fits-all strategy.

Unlike traditional classroom settings where you’re surrounded by other students or rigid apps that feel more like games, the learning on Preply is focused on your goals, your schedule, and the situations you actually need language for be it for work, leisure or a mix of the two. In this review I’ll cover my own language learning journey, my experience with Preply, and who Preply might work well for.

My personal language learning journey

Everyone has their own unique story when it comes to why they want to learn (or improve on) a language. I grew up in a bilingual English-French household and am now married to a French citizen.

Most of my husbands friends and family speak little to no English and even within my own family, we often end up speaking in French. I have also spent most of my 20s living in Paris, immersed in daily French life.

As a full-time YouTuber, I regularly need to film interviews in French as part of my work. So with that level of immersion, you might assume I wouldn’t need any support at all when it comes to the language…

Why I decided to try Preply

Although I’m constantly surrounded by French speakers and use French in my everyday life, my friends, family, and interviewees aren’t professional language teachers. They can’t always explain why something is wrong, or help me improve the structure, grammar, or pronunciation in a systematic way.

I’ve never had any formal French training or lessons, which is something I’ve realised becomes increasingly important when you’re using a language as nuanced and grammatically complex as French.

In the past, I’ve also found it difficult to carve out the time to work with a tutor, especially as I’m constantly travelling between countries and working on the road. As Preply is an online solution where everything is fully remote, I decided I wanted to try something that would give me some flexibility.

What is Preply?

Preply is a global online educational platform which is also the and the world’s largest online marketplace for language learning. There are over 100,000 tutors covering over 90 languages.

Preply operates on a subscription-style model, where students typically commit to regular lessons with one chosen tutor rather than booking one-off sessions. This helps learners build consistency, stay accountable, and make steady progress over time.

Overall, it makes the learning experience feel more like a personalised journey rather than occasional tutoring. It’s designed to adapt as your needs evolve, allowing your lessons to grow and shift alongside your goals.

Something else to note about the platform is that you can find a tutor no matter what your language level. So whether you’re starting out from scratch or are almost fluent (as is my case in French), you can filter through tutor options to find the right fit.

Who is Preply for?

Preply seems particularly well-suited for:

• People who want to work one-on-one with expert tutors who give personalised lessons
• Travellers or digital nomads who need flexible scheduling across time zones (you can book classes at times which suit you)
• Busy professionals who need lessons that fit around unpredictable schedules
• Those who struggle with consistency and need accountability through regular sessions (you have to use up the credits you purchase because Preply is a subscription model rather than singular lessons)

Preply is probably not for you if:

• You only need a few basic tourist phrases rather than deeper language learning
• You only want one-off lessons
• You work better with solo, self-paced learning and don’t want scheduled lessons
• You need your learning to feel more gamified or app-driven to stay motivated
• You want instant, bite-sized practice rather than scheduled sessions
• You’re not ready to commit to paying for lessons over time
• You prefer learning without interacting in real time with another person

How does Preply work?

Here’s a clear breakdown of how it works:

• You choose the language you want to learn (e.g. French, Spanish, English)
• You browse tutor profiles, which include their experience, teaching style, availability, and hourly rate
• You can filter tutors based on your goals (conversation practice, business language, academic language, grammar, exam prep, etc.)
• You book a trial lesson or regular sessions with a tutor you like
• Lessons take place online via video call at a time that suits you
• You and your tutor build a personalised learning plan based on your goals and level
• You can message your tutor between lessons, reschedule easily, and switch tutors if needed

My first impressions of using the platform

When you log into the platform for the first time, I appreciate that you’re given a short questionnaire asking what your needs are. After selecting what language you’re looking to learn you can start looking for tutors, filtering by specific regions (for example, French from France vs Canadian French), and using Preply’s only filter which will use the information you gave in the initial questionnaire.

As soon as you’ve selected a tutor that you think will meet your needs, it’s time to book a trial session. My experience couldn’t have been better with my tutor, Clotilde.

What I also appreciated is that there’s no pressure to “get it right” the first time. If your Preply tutor isn’t quite the right fit, then you can simply try someone else until you find the teaching style and personality that works for you.

My first language lesson

For my first trial lesson, I decided to book a longer session, which meant that I could start learning straight away. I really appreciated the quick communication with my tutor Clotilde and she contacted me ahead of our session in order to learn more about my needs, gauge my language ability, and plan a lesson that we could follow on the day.

After logging into the platform you can access the classroom directly in desktop (I like that there’s no need to download additional apps). During the first part of my trial, Clotilde and I got to know each other a bit (entirely in French but again this is dependant on your language level and comfort) and she asked me plenty of questions to assess exactly what I wanted to get out of the lessons.

She also explained to me that different students like to focus on different things. For example, whereas I would like to work on my written grammar and pronunciation, some students might want to focus on conversational French or business French for a specific field.

I particularly enjoyed that feedback is immediate and there are a number of ways you can communicate during the lesson. As well as being on a video call, you can send messages to each other (perfect for practicing writing and grammar) and share slideshows (perfect for sharing lesson plans).

Final thoughts: was Preply worth it for me?

Although I haven’t yet had a great deal of experience using the platform yet, I am planning to continue with French lessons with my tutor Clotilde as she filled me with a lot of confidence after our trial session.

I set out with very clear goals: I want to specifically improve grammar and pronunciation and she came up with a timeline for when I might get to each goal and even gave me homework for our next lesson.

While there are a few downsides, such as varying tutor experience levels, and a strict cancellation policy, in my opinion, Preply is great for people who want human to human learning based experiences with real-time feedback and the possibility to learn flexibly.