Preply for English Learners: How to Get 50% Off Your First Lesson and Choose the Right Tutor

If you are learning English and you want to practise speaking with a real person, Preply lets you book one-to-one video lessons with a tutor you choose, and through our link you get 50% off your first lesson. The first lesson is a trial. Use it to test whether the tutor is right for you, not to learn grammar. Then book regular lessons, two a week if you can, with a clear goal you have told the tutor. This guide explains how to do each of those steps well.

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What Preply Is

Preply is a website and app where you find a private English tutor and take lessons by video call. You choose the tutor yourself. You choose the time. You decide how often you meet. If the tutor is not right for you, you can change to a different one without losing the lessons you have already paid for.

The tutors are a mix of native speakers and fluent non-native speakers from many countries. Some are qualified teachers with many years of experience. Some are university students. The price and the experience vary a lot, and that is the point: you can find the person who fits your level, your budget and your goal.

How the 50% Offer Works

When you open Preply through our link, you see an offer of 50% off your first lesson. This first lesson is your trial with a tutor. You pay half the tutor's normal price for it. After the trial, you buy more lessons at the normal price.

Two honest notes. First, the offer is set by Preply, not by us, and it can change. Check what you see on the page when you arrive. Second, the discount is on the first lesson only, so choose the tutor for your trial with care. Do not waste it on a tutor you already know is not the right one.

Before You Choose a Tutor: Know Your Level and Your Goal

Tutors ask two questions in the first lesson: what is your level, and what do you want to improve? Have answers ready.

If you do not know your level, take our free English level test. It takes a few minutes and gives you a CEFR level (A1 to C2) that every tutor understands.

Your goal should be specific. "I want to improve my English" is not a goal. These are goals:

- "I have a job interview in English next month."

- "I understand everything but I speak slowly and I lose my words."

- "I need to write emails to customers and I make mistakes."

- "I want to pass IELTS with a 7."

- "I want to talk to my colleagues at lunch without feeling nervous."

A tutor can plan lessons for any of these. A tutor cannot plan lessons for "improve my English".

How to Read a Tutor Profile

Every tutor has a profile with a video, a written description, a price, reviews and a calendar. Here is how to read each part.

The video. Watch it fully. Can you understand this person easily? If their speech is too fast or the accent is difficult for you now, you will spend your lessons trying to understand instead of practising. Choose a tutor you understand about 80% of the time. Not 100%: a little difficulty is good.

The description. Look for your goal in their words. A tutor who writes "I specialise in business English and interview preparation" is a better match for an interview than a tutor who writes "I love to chat about everything". Look also for how they teach: do they mention correcting mistakes, using materials, giving homework? If you want structure, choose someone who describes structure.

Native or non-native. Both can be excellent. A non-native tutor who learned English as an adult often explains grammar more clearly, because they had to learn the rules themselves. A native tutor gives you natural pronunciation and everyday expressions. For a beginner, a tutor who also speaks your language can be very helpful. For an advanced learner, it does not matter much.

Reviews. Read the recent ones. Look for comments about the things you care about: "corrects my mistakes", "well prepared", "patient", "always on time". Ignore the number of reviews; a new tutor with five good reviews can be better than a busy tutor with five hundred.

Price. Higher price usually means more experience, but not always. For a trial, a mid-price tutor in your goal area is a sensible choice. You can go up or down later.

Calendar. Check that the tutor has free times that match your week. The best tutor in the world is useless if you can only meet at 2am.

What to Say in the First Lesson

The trial lesson is a conversation, not a test. Most tutors follow a similar structure: introductions, some questions about your goal, a short activity to hear your level, and a plan for future lessons.

Prepare three things:

1. Your level and goal, in one or two sentences. "I am B1. I want to speak more fluently for my job in a hotel."

2. One example of your problem. "For example, when a guest asks a question I do not expect, I stop and I cannot answer." A real example helps the tutor understand exactly what to fix.

3. Two questions for the tutor. "How do you correct mistakes?" and "What will we do in a normal lesson?" are good ones.

Then relax and talk. The tutor is listening to your speaking, and you are listening to whether you feel comfortable. At the end, ask yourself: did I understand them, did they understand me, did they correct me in a way that helped, and do I want to talk to this person again next week? If the answer is yes to all four, book more lessons.

If the answer is no, that is fine. Choose a different tutor. Preply lets you change without losing your balance.

How Often to Book

Two lessons a week is the sweet spot for most learners. One lesson a week is enough to keep your English alive but progress is slow. Three or more is excellent if you have time and money.

More important than the number is the routine. The same days, the same times, every week. Book several weeks ahead so the slots are protected. Learners who book "when I have time" stop after a month. Learners with a Tuesday and Thursday habit are still going a year later.

Between lessons, do something small every day. Listen to something in English for ten minutes. Write three sentences about your day. Speak to yourself in English while you cook. Our post on how to think in English explains why this daily practice matters more than the lesson itself.

Getting the Most from Each Lesson

Ask for correction. Some tutors are gentle and let mistakes pass so you feel confident. If you want to improve, ask them to correct you, and ask them to write the corrections in the chat so you can review them afterwards.

Keep a notebook. After every lesson, write down the new words and the mistakes. Look at it before the next lesson.

Do the homework. If the tutor gives you something, do it. If they do not, ask for something.

Tell them when it is not working. If lessons feel too easy or too hard, say so. A good tutor will adjust in one lesson.

Change tutors if you need to. Loyalty is nice but progress is the goal. It is normal to try two or three tutors before you find the right one.

Is Preply Right for You?

It is a good fit if your main problem is speaking and you learn best with a real person who listens and corrects you. It is less useful if you need to learn grammar from zero; a course or a book is cheaper for that, and a tutor is more valuable when you already have some English to practise.

If you are ready, take the level test first, write your goal in one sentence, and then choose your trial tutor with the profile guide above.

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