Preply initially really caught my eye with its language matchmaking between native speakers and language learners. As with some other online Modern Hebrew courses, Preply provides you with a whole range of international languages to explore – and then some.

Instead of relying solely on professional educators, the platform allows passionate language aficionados to offer their tutoring services, even if they’re not native speakers (although most of the Hebrew tutors I encountered were indeed native speakers. But more on that later.).

Preply is on a mission to deliver tailored, one-on-one language sessions that cater to your unique needs. I don’t want to give too much away, but I was pleasantly surprised by this approach. It provided me with an unexpected level of flexibility – although, it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

Preply Modern Hebrew Course Structure and Content

Preply is practically the king of customized modern Hebrew language tuition. That’s because it offers you so many filters to help you find the right tutor and specialism for your Modern Hebrew lesson.

While on other Modern Hebrew language platforms, you might find more of a self-led language learning journey, at Preply you get to choose exactly the type of lesson and focus you want, when you want it, for the price you want it at. Just take a look at these filters on offer:

• You’ll start by choosing the language you’d like to learn. Then you choose the price of the lesson, the tutor’s country of birth (as in, they might not be a native speaker), and times that they’re available.
• Next, you choose the specialties that you’d like to focus on in your lesson. That includes business Hebrew, conversational Hebrew, Hebrew literature, Hebrew for children, Hebrew for beginners, intensive Hebrew, and SAT Hebrew.
• Next, you’ll be able to choose whether your tutor also speaks another language.Tthis can come in particularly useful for non-native English speakers learning an extra language, or for students who would like to learn Modern Hebrew from a starting language other than English.
• You also have the option to include only Hebrew native speakers in your search. This was a really useful filter, and I made very good use of it.
• You’ll then have a sorting option. You can choose to sort by Preply’s top tutor choices, the most popular tutors, the most expensive, the least expensive, the number of reviews or the best rating per tutor.
• If you already have a tutor in mind that you want to learn with, you can also use the search bar to find them by name or by keyword.

As far as Preply’s course content and structure goes, it’s completely individual. As you can see from the range of options you have in choosing a tutor, your choice of course structure is endless. 

Preply Modern Hebrew Learning Methodology

Preply’s sole purpose of being is to match you with a Modern Hebrew tutor that suitable for your needs, meaning that the platform’s learning methodology varies from tutor to tutor. I will say, that of the 117 Hebrew tutors available at the time of writing, of the 20 or so that I worked with I experienced a range of learning methodologies across lessons, but I found myself really enjoying the variation on offer.

It’s important to note that if you’re looking for a self-led Modern Hebrew course platform where you have a very modular set of learning and go at your own pace, with a clear overview of your learning journey, then Preply might not be the best language learning platform for you. 

Preply Modern Hebrew Unique Features

Preply’s entire philosophy seems to be that beauty is in simplicity. As such, it doesn’t really have any unique features that makes it stand out from other online Modern Hebrew courses that I’ve learned with.

However, I was really impressed by the incredibly specific tutor filtering, allowing me to find a range of tutors who could give me the exact Modern Hebrew lesson than I was looking for. Additionally, I like that Preply also offers trial lessons (in some form; I go into it more below in the ‘Pricing’ section), as committing to a certain price point or a certain tutor could be daunting if you don’t feel it’s quite the right fit for you.

All in all, Preply is unique in that it’s not that unique in the Modern Hebrew online language learning space… it does what it does well, with ultimate flexibility and very little fuss, which allows you to get down to doing what you’re there to do: learning. 

Preply Modern Hebrew Flexibility and Accessibility

Thanks to its ability to filter your tutor options all the way down by availability, price point, specialisms and otherwise, Preply scores really high on my flexibility and accessibility scale. I really liked how easy it was to schedule a tutor, 24/7, as well as how easy it was to navigate both the web interface on desktop, mobile, and Preply’s dedicated mobile app.

The app itself scored pretty highly for me, especially its video chatting abilities and seamless message sending. However, since Preply is a tutor broker app, and not a self-led one, it means that you are unable to download content to your device for use when you’re offline. For my long commutes, I would have really liked to have been able to continue studying Modern Hebrew while I was on the go, or in areas with bad reception. Unfortunately, Preply just isn’t built like that. 

Preply Modern Hebrew Instructor Quality

Instructors are the ultimate backbone of Preply’s entire operation, so it’s great that the platform has a huge range of dedicated instructors, most of whom are native speakers. 

As I mentioned above, the incredibly thorough filtering system allows you to find exactly what you’re looking for in a tutor, from native speakers to non-native speakers (who have gone through the same journey as you have to learn Modern Hebrew). 

Of the 20 or so instructors that I experienced at Preply, I’m happy to say that I was impressed at how dedicated they were, and how well-planned each of the lessons were. I was also happy as a native English speaker that each instructor could pretty much foresee the pitfalls I was likely to make, and corrected them with thoughtful explanations. 

It’s important for me to point out that as with most online language learning platforms, with Preply’s Modern Hebrew course, anyone who’s interested in teaching can become a language tutor. 

That means the Preply doesn’t certify or validate an instructor’s teaching credentials, and it’s more up to the users to verify whether or not someone is a good tutor. This is very standard with this kind of language learning platform, and while most of the time the tutors you encounter will be fantastic, there’s also a chance you might also fall on some who don’t make the cut.

Preply Modern Hebrew Course Platform

It was really easy to navigate both Preply’s desktop and mobile versions and mobile app. Although at first glance the dashboard can look a tiny bit overwhelming, after a few moments it’s very intuitive.

One huge blaring omission is the lack of a community forum for all learners. I often feel that one major aspect of learning any language is discussing your learning journey. Especially with a language as multifaceted as Modern Hebrew, I felt that not having other learners to talk to about words I’ve learned, my experiences, or even hearing more from expert tutors was a huge loss. 

Preply Modern Hebrew Student Interaction and Engagement

As I mentioned above, one thing that was sadly missing from Preply was a community forum of students also learning Modern Hebrew or other languages.

A second aspect of my language learning journey that I felt was a bit lacking for me personally is that Preply is very focused on one type of learning: discussion. But for learners who are more self-led, or enjoy interactive content such as quizzes and games, then Preply might not be the Modern Hebrew course for you.

Preply Modern Hebrew Cost and Value for Money

Preply’s pricing structure is a little more complicated. While tutors set their own rates, there are also subscription offers that you can take with a tutor that you enjoy learning with.

Here’s how it works in general:

• Every tutor at Preply sets their own rates, with more popular or higher-rated tutors setting higher rates (but also being less available), with newer ones setting rates as low as $5 to attract customers.
• Preply also provides a subscription model, where a student can choose how many hours of lessons they wanted to take weekly and then set up an automatic recurring payment for every 28 days. You can schedule lessons for any date in the future, even outside the current payment period. You can choose anywhere from one hour a week to five hours a week of lessons on a subscription. You should know that subscriptions automatically renew every 28 days until they are canceled by the student. 
• Preply also offers trial lessons, which aren’t really as they sound. Instead of offering a lower price for an initial lesson to try a tutor out, if you’re not satisfied with the lesson, instead of a refund, Preply will offer you a replacement lesson with a tutor of your choice, no matter the price difference. I didn’t really like this approach, as I felt it was unfair to the student to have to potentially shell out a lot of money before finding a tutor they might be satisfied with.

Overall, my experience with testing a random sample of 20 tutors at all price points, including native speakers and non-native speakers, was very interesting. I found that tutors from all walks of life, backgrounds, ages and specialist levels gave me very different experiences, but I was always satisfied with the lessons. 

If I could give one tip on how to source a good initial tutor without having to pay each time to try one out, it would be to read the bios that tutors write about themselves on the tutor selection page. I found these really valuable to get a sense of who the tutors were, and what sort of approach they would take with me and my lesson. I would also advise you to look at some of the newer tutors, who charged less than the more popular and more expensive tutors, but still gave me an excellent lesson.

The Bottom Line on Preply Modern Hebrew Course

Much like other online modern Hebrew courses, Preply delivers the goods… with some caveats. On the plus side, you’ll be able to super-narrowly filter down a range of tutors offering Modern Hebrew lessons to find the exact type of tutor and specialism you’re looking for.

However, if you’re more of a social sort, then Preply might not be for you. That’s because it lacks a student forum where language learners around the world can gather and discuss their language learning experiences. Preply may also not be for you if you enjoy self-led learning, or interactive elements.