italki vs Busuu
Overview
italki is an online language learning community which connects students and teachers for live online lessons in 150+ languages. It’s highly user oriented: you choose your teacher, the type and number of lessons you take and whether to learn 1-1 or in group sessions. You pay as you go with no subscription and can connect with other learners and native speakers for free via the community.
Busuu is a language learning app with 120+ million learners. It targets all aspects of communication: speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Lessons are interactive and fun and your written and spoken work can be submitted for feedback from native speakers. An AI tool tracks your progress and revisits content you need to work on more closely.
Pros
- Live tutoring from professional or community teachers to help you get fluent fast
- Connects you to native speakers - via the community and by selecting a native speaking teacher
- Flexible - learn what and when you want at your own pace and with no subscription
- 1-1 tuition enables you to personalize lessons 100% to your needs
- 150+ languages to choose from with lessons covering speaking, listening, reading and writing and tutors to cover all levels
- Free italki community to ask questions and receive feedback
- 1-1 or group lessons available
- Free resources to boost learning between lessons
- Comprehensive - Covers speaking, listening, reading, writing and cultural tips
- Fun to use, easy to navigate, interactive and engaging
- Native {{targetLanguage.name}} speakers provide feedback on written and spoken work
- AI powered Smart Reviews revisit content at the right time based on individual performance (Premium membership only)
- You can personalize your language goals
- Lessons cover useful and relevant topics and content is regularly updated
- Available free (with ads)
Cons
- Potential lack of consistency due to tutor availability
- May not suit absolute beginners, or those preferring a more structured approach
- Lack of curriculum
- Free version ads are distracting and intrusive
- Fewer languages offered than its competitors
- Completion certificates are not accredited
- Quality depends on the language you choose
Best for
Best for: Anyone wanting to receive live, individual one to one tuition and connect with native speakers from over 180 countries. Whether this is to learn a new language or improve on your existing skills. Also, those not wanting to commit to a subscription. However, as there is a tendency to use the target language almost exclusively in lessons, it may not suit those who are shy or tentative about doing this - or those who are absolute beginners.
Best for: Anyone from a beginner to intermediate ability in the target language as there’s a range of levels. And if you’re not sure of your level, you can take Busuu’s placement test. It’s also great wherever you want to learn, either on the go or on a desktop.
Price
From $10 per hour
From $6.95 pm
Number of users
5 million
500,000 active subscribers
Overall
Overall: italki is an adaptive, practical way to learn a new language or build on current skills. Live lessons get you reading, speaking, and writing in no time. Unlike many providers, italki connects you with native speakers and live teachers which allows you to get personalized real-time feedback. I found italki to be an effective platform for immersion in a new language but you do need to be prepared to dive right in and speak the target language from the off.
To providerOverall: A fun, comprehensive app that effectively develops all areas of language communication. When you join you become part of the community of Busuu users and can submit written and spoken work to native speakers for feedback. I found Busuu to be very effective and started listening, reading and understanding right away. It’s priced competitively and for what’s on offer, it’s good value.
To providerSupported languages
The most popular are: English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese (Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien), French, Italian, German, Korean, Arabic (Egyptian, Gulf, Levantine, Maghrebi, Modern Standard), Hindi and Russian. But equally, a range of less widely spoken (or even fictional) languages are also on offer including Basque, Choctaw, Dothraki and Klingon.
Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic and Korean.
About
italki launched in 2006 as a social network for language exchange. It connected people around the world so they could learn from one another.
It expanded in 2008 to include a marketplace where learners could pay fees to teachers for live online individual or group lessons.
Italki now has over 5m learners and 20k+ teachers from 180 countries who offer personal tuition in 150+ languages. You select the language you want to learn, the level you want to learn at and the teacher that best suits your needs. And you pay as you go for lessons so there are no fixed fees or rigid timeslots to commit to.
“Busuu’s core belief is that amazing things happen when we learn together and combining human interactions, expert-created courses and smart learning technology is the best way to learn a language,” Neil Ballantyne, Busuu.
Busuu is a language e-learning service founded in 2008 designed to provide a complete self-study and language practice environment.
It’s now one of the best known names in the industry with 120+ million learners.
Via Busuu’s global community you have the opportunity to connect with millions of native speakers - proven to be the best way to learn a language.
Busuu also partners with experts on linguistics and learning to design their courses and keep them relevant and up to date.
Studies carried out by the Universities of New York and South Carolina show that 15 hours studying on Busuu premium is the equivalent of one semester of language college.
How it works
To get started you go to italki.com and simply click on ‘Start now’ and open a free account using your email address, Google, Facebook or Apple.
From that point on, you are in control of what and when you learn, as well as who you learn with.
After selecting the language you want to learn, you can choose your skill level, take a language placement test or work with a teacher to build a customized learning plan.
Teachers will be filtered to match your target language and skill level. Most offer a 30-minute trial at a reduced rate and hourly rates for each lesson. They set their own fees and sessions helping you find those best suited to your budget and schedule. And because you pay per lesson, there’s no fixed fees and you can choose how much time to commit.
The italki Classroom is similar to Zoom but is a built-in feature of the italki desktop and app versions. So, you don’t need to download any additional software. Some tutors also offer the option to use Zoom or Skype.
With the aim of immersing you in a language, italki tutors will speak to you mainly in the target language right from the get go.
You also have the option to record lessons and watch them back as often as you’d like, which is great for revision.
To get started on Busuu you simply sign up for a free account on your laptop or download the app.
You will be asked some simple questions about which language(s) you want to learn and what you hope to achieve. You then either choose your level or take a placement test if you are unsure what level you're currently at.
All Busuu courses fall into 4 levels based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). This provides an approved standard for identifying language proficiency. Each level contains several lessons which target writing, reading, listening and speaking.
- Beginner A1
- Elementary A2
- Intermediate B1
- Upper Intermediate B2
What a lesson is like
Lessons on italki vary depending on the teacher you choose, lesson length, your skill level and your individual preferences.
Teachers will assess your current level if you’re new and help to develop a programme that suits you if you choose to commit. You can contact any teacher to clarify lesson content prior to purchasing.
Once you’ve chosen your teacher, you connect via italki’s own version of Zoom. This is built-in so you don’t need to download any software. The connection is stable and high quality so you can stay focussed on the lesson.
In a typical lesson you will:
- Converse directly with your tutor in the target language as much as possible (aiming for this to become 100% of the time)
- Speak, read and translate phrases from a worksheet, with real time feedback to help pronunciation
- Engage with interactive whiteboard content
- Pick up new vocabulary with picture clues and real life examples
Use the note function to write phrases
Each tutor and every lesson I took was conducted mostly in the target language. This was rather intimidating at first. But repetition, visual clues, use of worksheets, notes and the interactive whiteboard help to make things clear.
You can also review lesson content by re-entering the chat page and your teacher can share resources and set tasks to take learning beyond the classroom.
Busuu’s lessons are grouped around communication topics depending on your purpose for learning (eg: business, travel, etc.). Each one is designed to teach useful phrases and sentences which you then practise.
Practice activities include gap fills, multiple choice questions, sentence reordering and writing activities. You can also have written and recorded speaking exercises corrected by native speakers. Or use a private messaging facility, which allows you to chat with language partners in the community.
Generally, whatever the level or language, lessons are structured in a similar way.
- They start by teaching the target vocabulary for that level and topic using video flashcards, translations, audio clips, gap fill, matching and writing activities, etc.
- Within the first couple of lessons you will be given the chance to connect with the community to receive feedback from native speakers. You’ll also be asked what your native language is and will receive requests for feedback from others learning your language
- After each group of lessons there is a checkpoint. This may include quizzes, puzzles, games, missing word exercises and word identification. You must score at least 80% to move to the next level
Who is it good for?
The italki learning style would suit anyone who:
- Feels they’d benefit from 1-1 teaching
- Is keen to spend time practicing conversation in their language of choice
- Is unable to commit to rigid programmes and fixed time slots
Already has some foundational skills and is looking to advance
While italki is designed for students of all skill levels, you will be expected to converse in your chosen language. So, coming to italki with some basic knowledge to build upon is ideal.
Right away, italki has you speaking and listening in your chosen language. This means you get real-life experience talking to a professional teacher and/or a native speaker!
The Busuu learning style would suit anyone who:
- Wants to learn a new language from scratch
- Has some grasp of a language and wants to improve
- Has a busy schedule and needs to fit lessons around their life
- Loves interactive apps with a strong community feel
- Wants a focus on developing conversational language
Likes the flexibility of learning on mobile and desktop
While Busuu would be ideal for anyone who’s always wanted to start learning a new language it will also suit those who are relatively proficient but want to improve.
Right away Busuu will have you speaking, listening and improving your conversational skills and grammar in your chosen language.
Features
- Personalized 1-1 live tuition
- Direct contact with native speakers
- Immersion
- Flexible pay as you go learning
- Desktop- or device-based to best suit your needs
- italki Challenge
- Gamification
- Personalized learning
- Fun, interactive lessons that touch all learning styles
- Checkpoints
- Cultural insights
- Flexible learning
- Speech recognition
- Ability to connect to native speakers
- Smart reviews
Is it worth it?
In short, it depends on your preference.
If you’ve tried out some other providers like DuoLingo and found the content hard to translate into everyday life, italki is an excellent resource for building your speaking and listening skills.
Also, if you have a busy/unpredictable lifestyle and find that you can’t commit to fixed days, italki makes the scheduling process easy and convenient for you by letting you choose your time slot.
Although I don’t have extensive speaking skills in my chosen language, I found that after only a couple of hours I had so much more confidence speaking Italian aloud than I ever did from using previous sites. That being said, as someone with zero knowledge of Welsh I felt very overwhelmed at first - though I did make progress by the end of the lesson.
While being thrown in at the deep end and conversing almost solely in your chosen language is intimidating, it is arguably the best way to progress and advance those foundational skills.
With trial lessons starting at as little as $5, with no commitment needed, you have very little to lose and a whole lot to gain. If you’re looking for adaptive learning that suits your needs and helps you to become fluent fast, italki is one of the best e-learning options out there.
So, why not browse the teachers and give it a go?
Busuu aims to help you become confidently conversational in your target language and it does a pretty good job of achieving that aim.
I found it easy to use and thought the lessons were well structured, engaging, effective and ‘sticky’. Not surprising when Busuu partners with the likes of Pearson, McGraw Hill, and El País to keep abreast of the most cutting edge teaching and learning methods.
Busuu’s stand out feature is its strong community feel. Your written and spoken work can be submitted for feedback from native speakers which is the best way to authentically learn a new language.
It’s also comprehensive, helping you to improve all aspects of communication: speaking, reading, writing, and listening.
That said, there’s always room for improvement. Busuu does not offer as many languages as some other apps, and its quality is not consistent across all the languages offered.
It’s great for the more common languages like Spanish and French, but its Chinese, Arabic, and Russian courses aren’t as comprehensive. That said, you can use the free version to see if the language you want to learn is taught in a way that suits you before committing to a subscription.
There’s no free trial, but you can use the free version for as long as you like to see if this is the right platform for you. The pricing point is very competitive and there are frequent discounts available making it even better value.
Busuu is well worth your time and money if you’re considering learning a new language. With the option to use the free version for an unlimited period of time, plus a 14 day refund window if you do purchase premium membership, what have you got to lose?