TopTenREVIEWS

By Wanda Richards

The Speak Shop website may look like it's out of the 1950s, but believe us, it's not. Speak Shop makes great use of audio, video, and online lessons to provide a great online learning Spanish solution.

Speak Shop's tutors are experienced teachers, with most of them having at least fifteen years of teaching experience. They all live in Guatemala or Ecuador and they are standing by with their headsets and web cams waiting for students to make appointments.

The classes are private and each tutor has developed their own lesson plans and materials. This gives students wide possibilities of language learning. The student can work with any of the tutors as long as they can find a time that works for both parties.

Unfortunately, the website did not contain relevant materials to enrich the overall experience. When I spoke to the owner, however, he assured me that the tutors have many rich materials available to provide their students. Since they allow the student to pay for one class at a time, there isn't any reason to not give it a go. But we do hope Speak Shop adds more materials and resources to their website.

Another thing that would have made Speak Shop's website more conducive to language learning would be forums enabling students to talk to other students. This is something that significantly enriches a student's experience while learning a language.

Speak Shop's program does have quite a few gems though, and one of them is the fact that they teach vos which is used all throughout Central America, but is always used in Nicaragua and Argentina. If that is any sign, it appears that there is a wealth of information to be had within the Speak Shop courses.

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Supplemental Material:

Clearly with all of the experienced native speaking instructors available at Speak Shop, supplemental material exists, but it is not visible on their website. We truly hope this material is added and we look forward to seeing it.

Audio:

Speak Shop is making very good use of audio because students are working one-on-one with a tutor that can immediately correct pronunciation when necessary.

Tutoring:

Speak Shop's tutors appear to be very interested in their jobs and making the sessions productive. They are all native speakers and are, according to the website, paid a competitive rate in their country.

The tutors reside either in Nicaragua or Guatemala. This is wonderful for learning Central American Spanish, but students would not have a chance to talk from people from Spain nor from South America. The program would be enriched if speakers from other countries were made available.

Learning Options:

Although Speak Shop doesn't publish the fact that they have many options available (it is not stated on their website), each instructor has their own materials they have collected over the years. Speak Shop does cater to special needs such as healthcare, restaurant, and childcare, but you need to review the resumes of the tutors to see which one would be better for you.

Currently there is no forum available on Speak Shop; however, it is very clear that they would be able to add this very easily. A forum for all to talk on would be very rich indeed.

Levels Available/Scope:

Speak Shop has all levels offered and of course you should review the information on the website about each instructor since each of them states which levels they prefer to teach.

Summary:

Speak Shop is truly a diamond in the rough that we look forward to seeing more of. Their quick responses to inquiries will make them very popular with students and the wealth of certified instructors will make a great impression on anyone who decides to give Speak Shop Spanish a try. Or take a look at our higher ranked reviews of Spanish Pod, Livemocha, and NuLengua.